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HMAS Whyalla (FCPB 208)
Career (Australia) Naval Ensign of Australia
Namesake: City of Whyalla, South Australia
Builder: North Queensland Engineers and Agents
Decommissioned: 2 September 2005
Homeport: HMAS Cairns
Motto: "Thrust Ahead"
Honours and
awards:
Three inherited battle honours
Status: Sold for scrap
General characteristics
Class & type: Fremantle class patrol boat
Displacement: 220 tons
Length: 137.6 ft (41.9 m)
Beam: 25.25 ft (7.70 m)
Draught: 5.75 ft (1.75 m)
Propulsion: 2 MTU series 538 diesel engines, 3,200 shp (2,400 kW), 2 propellers
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range: 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph)
Complement: 22
Armament: One general purpose 40/60 mm Bofors gun
Two 12.7 mm machine guns
One 81 mm mortar (removed later)

HMAS Whyalla (FCPB 208), named for the city of Whyalla, South Australia, was a Fremantle class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Design and construction[]

Starting in the late 1960s, planning began for a new class of patrol boat to replace the Attack class, with designs calling for improved seakeeping capability, and updated weapons and equipment.[1] The Fremantles had a full load displacement of 220 tonnes (220 long tons; 240 short tons), were 137.6 feet (41.9 m) long overall, had a beam of 24.25 feet (7.39 m), and a maximum draught of 5.75 feet (1.75 m).[2] Main propulsion machinery consisted of two MTU series 538 diesel engines, which supplied 3,200 shaft horsepower (2,400 kW) to the two propeller shafts.[2] Exhaust was not expelled through a funnel, like most ships, but through vents below the waterline.[3] The patrol boat could reach a maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), and had a maximum range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph).[2] The ship's company consisted of 22 personnel.[2] Each patrol boat was armed with a single 40 mm Bofors gun as main armament, supplemented by two .50 cal Browning machineguns and an 81-mm mortar,[2] although the mortar was removed from all ships sometime after 1988.[citation needed] The main weapon was originally to be two 30-mm guns on a twin-mount, but the reconditioned Bofors were selected to keep costs down; provision was made to install an updated weapon later in the class' service life, but this did not eventuate.[3][4]

Whyalla was built by North Queensland Engineers and Agents, in Cairns, Queensland.[2]

Operational history[]

Fate[]

Whyalla was based at HMAS Cairns, and was decommissioned on 2 September 2005.[5] She was scrapped in Darwin.[citation needed]

Citations[]

  1. Mitchell, Farewell to the Fremantle class, p. 105
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 89
  3. 3.0 3.1 Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 88
  4. Jones, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 222
  5. "Farewell old friend". Navy Annual 2005. Royal Australian Navy. 2005. Archived from the original on 21 March 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20110321100958/http://www.navy.gov.au/Publication:Navy_Annual_2005/Farewell_Old_Friend. Retrieved 11 September 2008. 

References[]

All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at HMAS Whyalla (FCPB 208) and the edit history here.
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