Attack-class patrol boat

The Attack-class patrol boats were small coastal defence vessels built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and operated between 1967 and at least 1991. Following their Australian service, twelve ships were transferred to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

For the patrol boat class used by the Royal Navy and Lebanese Navy, see Attacker-class patrol boat.

HMAS Advance, now a museum ship at the Australian National Maritime Museum
Class overview
Name: Attack class
Builders:
Operators:
Preceded by: Bathurst-class corvette
Succeeded by: Fremantle class
Cost: A$800,000
Completed: 20
Lost: 1
Retired: 9
Preserved: 2
General characteristics
Type: Patrol boat
Displacement:
  • 100 tons standard
  • 146 tons full load
Length: 107.5 ft (32.8 m)
Beam: 20 ft (6.1 m)
Draught: 7.3 ft (2.2 m) at full load
Propulsion:
  • 2 × 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines
  • 2 shafts
Speed: 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)
Complement: 3 officers, 16 sailors
Armament:
Notes: Taken from:[1]

Construction

Twenty boats were ordered by the Department of Defence in November 1965[1] at a cost of around A$800,000 each from two Queensland shipyards, Evans Deakin in Brisbane and Walkers in Maryborough.[1] Five were marked for the formation of a "New Guinea coastal security force", while the other fifteen were for patrols and general duties in Australian waters.[1]

The first vessel was scheduled to be commissioned in August 1966, but she was not launched until March 1967.[1]

The inclusion of the Attack class in the RAN fleet led to a second version of the ship's badge design to be created, as it was not deemed appropriate for such small vessels to use the full-size badge.[2] The badge used by the patrol boats was scaled down from 755 by 620 millimetres (29.7 by 24.4 in) to 440 by 365 millimetres (17.3 by 14.4 in), with no other alterations.[2]

Operational history and fates
P 88 Arrow beached in 1975
Attack-class boats at Stokes Hill Wharf, Darwin March 1975 (after Cyclone Tracy)From left to right is P83 "Advance" P89 "Assail" P90 "Attack" and P82 "Adriot"

The Attack class was replaced in RAN service by the larger and more capable Fremantle-class patrol boats.

In 1975, Aitape, Ladava, Lae, Madang, and Samarai were transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force.[3] All five were paid off during the late 1980s, with Aitape sunk as a dive wreck off Port Moresby in 1995.

Acute, Archer, Assail, Attack, Barbette, Bandolier, Barricade, and Bombard were transferred to the Indonesian Navy between 1974 and 1985, and are listed in Jane's Fighting Ships as still operational in 2011.[3][4]

Arrow was destroyed in Darwin on 25 December 1974 during Cyclone Tracy.

Advance was donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum in the late 1980s for preservation as a museum ship.[5] Ardent was to be preserved as a memorial in Darwin,[6] but was instead sold into civilian service in 2001 and converted into a pleasure craft. Aware was sold to a private owner during the 1990s, who modified her for use as a diving and salvage mothership, then was resold in to new owners in 2006.[7][8] Bayonet was scuttled in Bass Strait in 1999 and has been successfully dived. Adroit paid off on 28 March 1992 and was sunk as a target by A-4 Skyhawk aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force west of Rottnest Island on 8 August 1994. The remainder of the class were broken up for scrap.

In fiction

Two Attack-class boats represented the fictional HMAS Ambush in the first series of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV series Patrol Boat.

List of ships
Royal Australian Navy
Ship Pennant Builder Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Acute P 81 Evans Deakin and Company 26 August 1967 26 April 1968 6 May 1983 Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Silea 858)
Adroit P 82 Evans Deakin and Company 3 February 1968 17 August 1968 28 March 1992 Sunk as target, 8 August 1994
Advance P 83 Walkers Limited 16 August 1967 24 January 1968 6 February 1988 Museum ship ANMM, Sydney
Archer P 86 Evans Deakin and Company 2 December 1967 15 May 1968 21 May 1974 Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Siliman 848)
Ardent P 87 Evans Deakin and Company 27 April 1968 26 October 1968 6 January 1994 Decommissioned to a navigation training vessel (pennant number A243), paid off December 1998. Sold into civilian service as MV Ardent, purchased by Indonesia in 2002 (KRI Tenggiri 865)
Arrow P 88 Walkers Limited 17 February 1968 3 July 1968 Destroyed at Darwin by Cyclone Tracy on 25 December 1974.
Assail P 89 Evans Deakin and Company 18 November 1967 21 July 1968 18 October 1985 Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Sigurot 864)
Attack P 90 Evans Deakin and Company 17 November 1967 8 April 1967 21 February 1985 Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Sikuda 863
Aware P 91 Evans Deakin and Company 7 October 1967 21 June 1968 17 July 1993 Sold into private ownership, Bundaberg, Queensland. Scrapped 2011.
Bandolier P 95 Walkers Limited 2 October 1968 14 December 1968 16 November 1973 Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Sibarau 847)
Barbette P 97 Walkers Limited 10 April 1968 16 August 1968 15 June 1984 Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Siada 862)
Barricade P 98 Evans Deakin and Company 29 June 1968 26 October 1968 20 May 1982 Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Sigalu 857)
Bayonet P 101 Evans Deakin and Company 6 November 1968 22 February 1969 26 June 1988 Scuttled 21 September 1999, Victoria
Bombard P 99 Evans Deakin and Company 6 July 1968 5 November 1968 12 September 1983 Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Siribua 859)
Buccaneer P 100 Evans Deakin and Company 14 September 1968 11 November 1969 27 July 1984 Sunk as target, 8 October 1988
Royal Australian Navy – Papua New Guinea Division
Ship Pennant Builder Launched Commissioned Decommissioned Fate
Aitape P 84 Walkers Limited 6 July 1967 13 November 1967 14 November 1974 Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Aitape). Scuttled 1995
Ladava P 92 Walkers Limited 11 May 1968 13 November 1967 14 November 1974 Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Ladava)
Lae P 93 Walkers Limited 5 October 1967 3 April 1968 14 November 1974 Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Lae)
Madang P 94 Evans Deakin and Company 10 October 1968 28 November 1968 14 November 1974 Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Madang)
Samarai P 85 Evans Deakin and Company 14 July 1967 1 March 1968 14 November 1974 Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Samarai)

The 1998 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships reports that two vessels of a similar design, pennant numbers 860 and 861 (KRI Waigeo), were being operated by the Indonesian Navy.[9] It speculates that these were locally built copies of the class.[9]


See also

Media related to Attack class patrol boat at Wikimedia Commons

References

Citations
  1. Blackman (ed.), Jane's Fighting Ships, 1968–69, p. 18
  2. Cassells, The Capital Ships, p. 195
  3. Frame, No Pleasure Cruise, p. 261
  4. Saunders, Stephen, ed. (2011). Jane's Fighting Ships 2011–2012. Coulsdon: IHS Jane's. p. . ISBN 9780710629593. OCLC 751789024.
  5. Mitchell, Brett (23 February 2006). "Past meets future". Navy News. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  6. Andrews, Graeme (October 2007). "Yesterday's Navy: On the hardships ashore and hulks – part 2". Afloat. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  7. "Looking for a used "sub"?". Navy News. 10 August 1998. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  8. Cavander, Letea (16 April 2010). "Man told 'pay up or sink boat'". Bundaberg NewsMail. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  9. Sharpe (ed.), Jane's Fighting Ships 1998–99, p. 317

Sources
  • Blackman, Raymond (ed.) (1968). Jane's Fighting Ships, 1968–69 (71st ed.). London: Jane's Publishing Company. OCLC 123786869.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  • Cassells, Vic (2000). The Capital Ships: their battles and their badges. East Roseville, NSW: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7318-0941-6. OCLC 48761594.
  • Frame, Tom (2004). No Pleasure Cruise: the story of the Royal Australian Navy. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-74114-233-4. OCLC 55980812.
  • Godley, Peter J. (2005). "Twenty of the Best". Australian Warship. Sydney: Topmill (25).
  • Sharpe, Richard, ed. (1998). Jane's Fighting Ships 1998–99 (101st ed.). Coulsdon, Surrey: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 071061795X. OCLC 39372676.
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