HMAS Whyalla (FCPB 208)

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

For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Whyalla.
History
Australia
Namesake: City of Whyalla, South Australia
Builder: North Queensland Engineers and Agents
Laid down: 13 July 1980
Launched: 22 May 1982
Commissioned: 3 July 1982
Decommissioned: 2 September 2005
Homeport: HMAS Cairns
Motto: "Thrust Ahead"
Honours and
awards:		 Three inherited battle honours
Fate: Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and 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)

Design and construction
Main article: Fremantle class patrol boat

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. 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.[4][3]

Whyalla was built by North Queensland Engineers and Agents, in Cairns, Queensland.[2] The ship was laid down on 13 July 1980, launched on 22 May 1982, and commissioned on 3 July 1982.[5]

Fate

Whyalla was based at HMAS Cairns, and was decommissioned on 2 September 2005.[6] The patrol boat was broken up for scrap in Darwin during 2006, at a cost of $450,000 to the Australian government.[7]

Citations
  1. Mitchell, Farewell to the Fremantle class, p. 105
  2. Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 89
  3. Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 88
  4. Jones, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 222
  5. Moore, Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86, p. 26
  6. "Farewell old friend". Navy Annual 2005. Royal Australian Navy. 2005. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
  7. Australian National Audit Office (5 February 2015), Management of the Disposal of Specialist Military Equipment (Report), Government of Australia, p. 62, retrieved 24 April 2015

References
  • Gillett, Ross (1988). Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946. Brookvale, NSW: Child & Associates. ISBN 0-86777-219-0. OCLC 23470364.
  • Jones, Peter (2001). "Towards Self Reliance". In Stevens, David (ed.). The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-555542-2. OCLC 50418095.
  • Mitchell, Brett (2007). "Farewell to the Fremantle Class". In Forbes, Andrew; Lovi, Michelle (eds.). Australian Maritime Issues 2006 (PDF). Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs. Sea Power Centre - Australia. ISBN 0-642-29644-8. ISSN 1327-5658. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
    • The chapter is available separately as Semaphore, Issue 17, 2005 in PDF and HTML formats.
  • Moore, John, ed. (1985). Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86. London: Jane's Yearbooks. ISBN 0-7106-0814-4.
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