HMAS Albany (ACPB-86)

History of HMAS Albany (ACPB-86)

Australia's long coastline requires a large offshore patrol. Typical of this fleet are the 14 Armidale-class ships built by Austal Ships in Australia from 2004 to 2007. The force entered service in 2005, and HMAS Albany (ACPB-86) (the focus of this article) is one of them (13 ships remain in active service and one ship is decommissioned as of April 2020). This class was designed to replace aging Fremantle-class ships in the late Cold War.

These were scrapped in 2007.

HMAS Albany (ACPB-86) commissioned on 15 July 2006 and is the home port of HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin. Her battle motto is "Stand High". The ship is a collaborative effort that includes European propulsion systems, U.S. weapons and local construction.

The end result is a multi-mission vessel capable of fulfilling multiple maritime roles as part of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) or while on duty with national authorities.

When constructed, the patrol boat is rated to displace 300 tons under standard load, with dimensions including a barrel length of 186 feet, a beam of 32 feet, and a draft of 8.9 feet. Of note is the low draft, which allows the boat to sail relatively close to the shore/coast.

The ship's profile includes a trainable gun mount in the forward stair, a streamlined hull directly aft, a midship bridge section with double masts, and a lowered stern section that accommodates two inflatable gangways.

The HMAS Albany is powered by 2 (German) MTU 4000 series 16V marine diesel engines producing 6,225 hp to drive the twin shafts under the stern. Thanks to its slender hull design, the boat advances at 25 knots in ideal conditions and can reach 3,000 nautical miles while cruising at 12 knots.

There is a typical operator on board with 21 people, but this can be increased to 29 if required and can carry up to 150 people if required. The vessel can stay at sea for up to 42 days, although a 21-day deployment is more typical for the series.

The boat carries 2 x Zodiac Rigid-Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIB) for boarding target boats/boats and is equipped with Prism III series Radar Warning System (RWS) and Toplife (EO) electro-optical systems. Detection Systems. "Warlock" as a tracking unit.

The "Bridgemaster E" provides the necessary surface search/navigation capabilities.

In terms of armament, the ship is equipped with an American-origin M242 "Bushmaster" series 25mm chain gun on a trainable stand above the bow, stabilized by the Israeli Raphael "Typhoon" system.

HMAS Albany is currently part of the Attack Division and joins sisters HMAS Armidale, HMAS Larrakia and HMAS Bathurst. The ship's mission is for peacekeeping operations, including immigration control, customs enforcement, fisheries protection services and drug countermeasures.

There is also general patrolling, which will be the ship's main policy in the event of a total war in the area.

Specification

Basic

Year of Service

2006

Origins

Australia

Status

In service

supplement

21

staff

Class information

Class

Armidale Class

Class Size

14

ships

Class

HMAS Amide (ACPB-83); HMAS Larrakia (ACPB-84); HMAS Bathurst (ACPB-85); HMAS Albany (ACPB-86); HMAS Piri (ACPB-87); HMAS Mette Blue (ACPB-88); HMAS Ararat (ACPB-89); HMAS Bloom (ACPB-90); HMAS Bundaberg (ACPB-91); HMAS Wollongong (ACPB-92); HMAS Childers (ACPB -93); HMAS Launceston (ACPB-94); HMAS Maryborough (ACPB-95); HMAS Gleneig (ACPB-96)

Operator

Australia

Roles

Offshore Operations

Nearshore activities in support of Allied activities.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

186.0 feet

56.69m

Ray

32. 0 feet

9.75m

Draft

8.9 feet

2.71m

Shift

300 t

Power and Performance

Installed Power:

2 x MTU marine diesel units developing 6,225 horsepower driving 2 x Shafts under stern.

Surface Speed

25. 0 kts

(28. 8 mph)

Range

3,041 nm

(3,500 mi | 5,633 km)

kts = knots | mph = miles-per-hour | nm = nautical miles | mi = miles | km = kilometers1 kts = 1. 15 mph | 1 nm = 1. 15 mi | 1 nm = 1. 85 km

ARMAMENT

1 x 25mm M242 Bushmaster automatic cannon (Rafael "Typhoon" stabilization system). 2 x 12. 7mm Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs).

AIRCRAFT

None.