HMAS Adroit
 HMAS Adroit (at right) with three other Attack-class patrol boats | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Australia | |
| Builder | Evans Deakin and Company |
| Laid down | August 1967 |
| Launched | 3 February 1968 |
| Commissioned | 17 August 1968 |
| Decommissioned | 28 March 1992 |
| Motto | "Quick and Secure" |
| Fate | Sunk as target |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Attack-class patrol boat |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 107.6 ft (32.8 m) length overall |
| Beam | 20 ft (6.1 m) |
| Draught |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) |
| Range | 1,200 nmi (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement | 3 officers, 16 sailors |
| Armament |
|
HMAS Adroit (P 82) was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Design and construction
[edit]The Attack class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boats, based on lessons learned through using the Ton-class minesweepers on patrols around Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and to replace a variety of old patrol, search-and-rescue, and general-purpose craft.[1] Initially, nine were ordered for the RAN, with another five for Papua New Guinea's Australian-run coastal security force, although another six ships were ordered to bring the class to twenty vessels.[1] The patrol boats had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load, were 107.6 feet (32.8 m) in length overall, had a beam of 20 feet (6.1 m), and draughts of 6.4 feet (2.0 m) at standard load, and 7.3 feet (2.2 m) at full load.[1][2] Their propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied 3,460 shaft horsepower (2,580 kW) to the two propellers.[1][2] The vessels could achieve a top speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), and had a range of 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).[1][2] The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors.[2] The main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, which was supplemented by two .50-calibre M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms.[1][2] The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible: the Attacks were to operate in remote regions of Australia and New Guinea, and a town's hardware store would be more accessible than home base in a mechanical emergency.[3]
Adroit was laid down by Evans Deakin and Company at Brisbane, Queensland,[4] in August 1967.[5] She was launched on 3 March 1968[6] and commissioned on 17 August 1968.[4]
Operational history
[edit]After commissioning, Adroit conducted work-up trials in and around Jervis Bay.[6] While engaged in search and rescue duties on 24 November 1970, Adroit, along with HMAS Aware unsuccessfully attempted to salvage a Westland Wessex helicopter from nearby HMAS Albatross that had ditched offshore. The helicopter sank while under tow.[7]
After the conclusion of sea trials, the patrol boat was based out of HMAS Moreton until 1975, when following a refit in Sydney, she sailed for Darwin and would spend the next 8 years in waters off northern Australia engaged in fishery patrols and exercises.[6]
In 1979, her Commanding Officer, Lieutenant John Napier, faced a court-martial for nine charges of conduct unbecoming an officer, four of receiving stolen property and two of assault.[8] The charges followed an investigation into a report from the master of the Taiwanese fishing vessel Fu Yuan, alleging that cash and several items were stolen during an armed boarding by crew from Adroit on 8 November 1978.[8]. Napier was found guilty and was dismissed from the Navy,[6] having admitted to his superiors that he was aware that pilfering had been occurring during boardings, but failed to act to stop it.[8]
The patrol boat was transferred to the Fremantle Port Division of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve in March 1983.[4]
Fate
[edit]Adroit paid off on 28 March 1992.[6] The patrol boat was sunk as a target by A-4 Skyhawk aircraft of No. 2 Squadron RNZAF[9] on 8 August 1994.[10] The wreck is located in the Rottnest ship graveyard, west of Rottnest Island.[10]
Citations
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Ships Since 1946, p. 86
- 1 2 3 4 5 Blackman (ed.), Jane's Fighting Ships, 1968–69, p. 18
- ↑ The Patrol Boat, Australian National Maritime Museum
- 1 2 3 Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Ships Since 1946, p. 87
- ↑ "Australian Naval History on 17 August 1968". Naval Historical Society of Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "HMAS Adroit". Sea Power Centre Australia. Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- ↑ David Stratton. "Australian Naval History on 24 November 1970". Naval Historical Society of Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 "Navy court martial - Beer for sextant, court told". The Canberra Times. Canberra. 20 September 1979. p. 10. Retrieved 25 July 2026 – via National Library of Australia.
- ↑ "Defence Forces Contingent - Air Force and Other Units". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 April 2000. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010.
- 1 2 Garratt, Dena; Green, Jeremy (2006) [1999]. Précis of the wrecks in the ship's graveyard, Rottnest (PDF). Report—Department of Maritime Archaeology (Report). Western Australian Museum. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
References
[edit]- Blackman, Raymond, ed. (1968). Jane's Fighting Ships, 1968–69 (71st ed.). London: Jane's Publishing Company. OCLC 123786869.
- Gillett, Ross (1988). Australian and New Zealand Warships Since 1946. Brookvale, New South Wales: Child & Associates. ISBN 0-86777-219-0. OCLC 23470364.
- "The Patrol Boat". Australian National Maritime Museum. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
 Royal Australian Navy | |
|---|---|
 Papua New Guinea Maritime Element(previously RAN New Guinea Division) | |
 Indonesian Navy | |