Portal:Military history of Australia/Units/March 7
![HMAS Newcastle in 2004](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/HMAS_Newcastle_%28USN%29.jpg/150px-HMAS_Newcastle_%28USN%29.jpg)
HMAS Newcastle (FFG 06), named for the city of Newcastle, New South Wales, is an Adelaide class guided missile armed frigate. Newcastle was laid down by AMECON at Williamstown in Victoria, launched on 21 February 1992 and commissioned on 11 December 1993. Since commissioning Newcastle has completed operational deployments to the Persian Gulf and was part of a three ship task force which was sent to international waters off Fiji during the leadup to the 2006 Fijian coup d'état.