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| Pennant Number |
Date |
Builder |
Tonnage |
L |
B |
D |
Fate |
| PTF 204 |
1981 |
NQEA |
220 |
137.6 |
24.25 |
5.75 |
Decommissioned 29 November 2005 |
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HMAS. Warrnambool was the second ship in the class(FCPB) and the first of the class to be built in Australia by North Queensland Engineers and Agents (NQEA).
40/60mm Bofors general purpose gun,Two 12.7mm machine guns
Two MTU 538 series 16-cylinder main propulsion engines, One Dorman 12-cylinder auxiliary propulsion engine.
Speed: 30 Knots
Ships Company: 23 |
Warrnambool was home ported in Cairns but also operated out Darwin (December 1985 to June 1988), then Western Port, Victoria (to February 1994) and Sydney before returning to Darwin in November 2001.
She was primarily employed in Bass Strait oil rig surveillance patrols, fisheries patrols (off Tasmania, the South East Coast, Great Barrier Reef and Northern Australia), and later border protection.
While in Western Port and Sydney, Warrnambool also provided a significant contribution to the training of Naval Reservists; four Reserve Officers were endorsed for command of a Fremantle Class Patrol Boat on Warrnambool and in November 1990 the ship sailed for the first time with a full reserve crew.
Warrnambool also provided an important contribution to international relations in the Pacific participating in numerous exercises with foreign Navies, visiting some 15 nations in the region and on occasion hosting foreign dignitaries and military commanders such as the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands.
She had the honour of fulfilling important roles in numerous special and national events.
These included being the centrepiece for the official opening of Darwin Naval Base by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on October 6, 1982 (just metres from where she will be decommissioned), the reviewing ship for Victoria’s Bicentennial Naval Salute on October 12, 1988, escort for the liner Queen Elizabeth 2 into Melbourne in 1992 as well as starring in the second ABC series of Patrol Boat masquerading as the fictitious HMAS Defiance (1982) and in an episode of Channel 7’s Home and Away (1996).
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