HMAS Ardent (P 87)

HMAS Ardent (P 87)
Career (Australia)
Builder:	Evans Deakin and Company
Laid down:	October 1967
Launched:	27 April 1968
Commissioned:	26 October 1968
Decommissioned:	6 January 1994
Recommissioned:	Date unknown
Reclassified:	Training ship (date unknown)
Motto:	"Flame And Fury"
Status:	Status unknown
Badge:	Ship's badge
General characteristics
Class & type:	Attack class patrol boat
Displacement:	100 tons standard 146 tons full load
Length:	107.6 ft (32.8 m) length overall
Beam:	20 ft (6.1 m)
Draught:	6.4 ft (2.0 m) at standard load 7.3 ft (2.2 m) at full load
Propulsion:	2x 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines 3,460 shp (2,580 kW) 2 shafts
Speed:	24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Range:	1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement:	3 officers, 16 sailors
Armament:	1 x Bofors 40 mm gun 2 x .50 calibre M2 Browning machine guns Small arms

HMAS Ardent (P 87/A243) was an Attack class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Design and construction

Main article: Attack class patrol boat

The Attack class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boats (based on lessons learned through using the Ton class minesweepers on patrols of Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and to replace a variety of old patrol, search-and-rescue, and general-purpose craft. Initially, nine were ordered for the RAN, with another five for Papua New Guinea's Australian-run coastal security force, although another six ships were ordered to bring the class to twenty vessels. The patrol boats had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load, were 107.6 feet (32.8 m) in length overall, had a beam of 20 feet (6.1 m), and draughts of 6.4 feet (2.0 m) at standard load, and 7.3 feet (2.2 m) at full load. Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied 3,460 shaft horsepower (2,580 kW) to the two propellers. The vessels could achieve a top speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), and had a range of 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors. Main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, supplemented by two .50 calibre M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms. The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible: the Attacks were to operate in remote regions of Australia and New Guinea, and a town's hardware store would be more accessible than home base in a mechanical emergency.

Ardent was laid down by Evans Deakin and Company at Brisbane, Queensland in October 1967, launched on 27 April 1968,^{[citation needed]} and commissioned on 26 October 1968.

Operational history

Ardent was transferred to the Hobart Port Division of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve on 18 June 1982. The patrol boat was paid off on 6 January 1994.^{[citation needed]} She was later recommissioned with the pennant number A243 and used as a navigation training ship for junior warfare officers based in Sydney.^{[citation needed]} Ardent was replaced by the Defence Maritime Services vessel Seahorse Mercator in December 1994, and was later decommissioned from service.

Fate

Following decommissioning, the ship was marked for preservation in Darwin as a museum ship. Ardent was instead sold into private hands, sailed to Singapore, and converted into a pleasure craft.^{[citation needed]}

References

• Blackman, Raymond, ed (1968). Jane's Fighting Ships, 1968-69 (71st ed.). London: Jane's Publishing Company. OCLC 123786869. 
• Gillett, Ross (1988). Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946. Brookvale, NSW: Child & Associates. ISBN 0-86777-219-0. OCLC 23470364. 
• "The patrol boat". Australian National Maritime Museum. http://www.anmm.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=1369. Retrieved 30 June 2011.