HMAS Melbourne (FFG-05)

History

Modern combat frigates must perform a variety of missions at sea, including direct combat, deterrence, escort and reconnaissance. In the 1970s, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) developed six powerful Adelaide-class ships to fill the same role as the aging Darede-class destroyers after World War II.

The Adelaide class is derived from the Australian Corvettes program that ended in 1973 and is based on the new Oliver Hazzard Perry class guided missile frigate design criteria adopted by the United States Navy (USN). The American class beat a competing design of British origin, the Type 42 series destroyer.

Initially, the Australian Navy was assigned two warships by the government, but this was eventually increased to four, then six. In Australian Navy service, the series is known as the Adelaide class, with HMAS Adelaide at the helm they are also the first RAN ships to be powered by gas turbines.

One of her sisters became HMAS Melbourne (FFG-05).

HMAS Melbourne was ordered under the 1980 Defence Budget and laid on 12 July 1985 by shipbuilder Marine Engineering Associates of Australia. The ship was launched for sea trials on May 5, 1989 and officially commissioned on February 15, 1992. Under the motto "Vires Acquirit Eundo" (translated as "She gathers strength as she advances"), the warship has been fighting at sea.

Since serving in the RAN - has been since April 2018. She inherited three combat honors from previous RAN warships and two of her own (East Timor 200 and Persian Golf 2002).

At the time of construction, the warship had a displacement of 4,100 tons, an overall length of 453 feet, a beam of 45 feet, and a draft of 25 feet. Power comes from conventional GE LM2500 twin marine gas turbine units that put out 41,000 horsepower and drive 2 shafts under the stern.

2 auxiliary propulsion nozzles also provide an additional 650 hp. Under ideal conditions, it can reach a top speed of 29 knots and a range of 4,500 nautical miles.

With a crew of 184 on board, including an Air Force squadron, two medium helicopters are supported by a helicopter-based joint helicopter hangar section (usually a Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk). The warship is equipped with a variety of sensors and processing systems, including today's AN/SPS-49 air search radar, AN/SPS-55 surface search radar and SPG-60 fire control radar.

In terms of armament, the ship carries a 1 x 76mm OTO Melara deck gun with turrets in the forward turret, 1 x 8 cell Mark 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) (for Evolved Sea Sparrow surface-to-air rockets") and 2 Three triple Mark 32 torpedo tubes. Completing the weapons package are 1 x 20mm Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS), 2 to 6 x 12.7mm trainable heavy machine guns and optional 2 x 12.7mm Raphael M2HB "Mini Taifun" "CIWS.

Original weapons include support for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and RIM-66 Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles launched from Mark 13 series carrier units. The Mark 41 VLS appeared in 2005 as part of a modernization effort to keep the ship viable in modern naval warfare.

Melbourne's first assignment resulted in her being sent to the troubled Persian Gulf theater in 1996. In early 2000, she was stationed near East Timor to help deal with unrest there. In 2002, the warship participated in Operation Slippers as part of a UN-led law enforcement operation against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. In 2003, she participated in the US-led invasion of Iraq that ended Hussein's hold on power (but severely destabilized the region).

In the mid-2000s, the class, including Melbourne, underwent a major modernization of their weapons, sensors, radar, and general readiness and capabilities. HMAS Melbourne returned to Middle East waters in mid-2010 to conduct anti-piracy operations in and around the Arabian Sea.

She has been involved in anti-smuggling operations in waters across Australia since 2014.

Four of the four Adelaide-class ships in service were decommissioned in April 2018. They are Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney and Darwin. Adelaide and Canberra sank as diving wrecks in 2011 and 2009 respectively, while Sydney was abandoned. Darwin was decommissioned in December 2017 and awaits scrapping.

Only HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Newcastle are still active in the original stock - although their age seems obvious.

Specification

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