ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class guided missile frigate australian navy

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Royal Australian Navy - Guided Missile Frigate

FFG 02 HMAS Canberra

 
sorry, no insignia hmas canberra ffg-02 adelaide class guided missile frigate royal australian navy
 
Type, class: Guided Missile Frigate / FFG; Adelaide class
Builder: Todd Pacific Shipyards Co., Seattle, Washington, USA
 
STATUS:
Laid down: March 1, 1978
Launched: December 1, 1978
Commissioned: March 21, 1981
Decommissioned: November 12, 2005
  Fate: sunk (scuttled) as a dive wreck off Barwon Heads, Victoria - October 4, 2009
 

Namesake: City of Canberra - Capital city of Australia
Ships Motto: FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY
Technical Data: see INFO > Adelaide class Guided Missile Frigate / FFG
 

ship images


ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 2005 02
Pacific Ocean - May 2005

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1992 05 san diego
San Diego, California - June 1992

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1992 07 san diego
June 1992

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1992 06
June 1992

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1992 08
June 1992

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1988 03 exercise rimpac
during exercise RIMPAC '88 - July 1988

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1988 09 exercise rimpac
during exercise RIMPAC '88 - July 1988

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1988 11 exercise rimpac
during exercise RIMPAC '88 - July 1988

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1988 10
during exercise RIMPAC '88 - July 1988

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1981 04
July 1981

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1981 rgm-84 harpoon mk-13 missile launcher point mugu
HMAS Canberra fires her first RGM-84 Harpoon SSM from her Mk-13 launcher at Pacific Missile Test Center Point Mugu, California - July 1981

ffg-02 hmas canberra adelaide class frigate royal australian navy 1981 13
Pacific Missile Test Center Point Mugu, California - July 1981
  
 
After commissioning, Canberra and Adelaide remained in the United States to work up; during this time both ships were attached to the United States Navy's Destroyer Squadron 9.

Canberra was assigned as escort to the Royal Yacht Britannia during Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Australia during April and May 1988, as part of the Australian Bicentennary celebrations.

On 16 May 1990, Canberra was one of six Australian warships, and one of 64 naval vessels from 21 nations present at the Royal Fleet Review marking the 55th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Navy.

Canberra was deployed to the Red Sea from 13 November 1992 to 12 March 1993 following the Gulf War, as part of the enforcement of the United Nations' sanctions against Iraq.

In December 1993, Canberra and the destroyer HMAS Perth visited Langkawi, Malaysia, for the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition. During this assignment, ship's divers from Canberra assisted the Royal Malaysian Police in searching for and recovering the body of a merchant sailor who had fallen overboard from MV Leisureworld. Following this, the two ships sailed for New Zealand, and were present in the Bay of Islands for Waitangi Day, which commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi there on 6 February 1840, which brought New Zealand into the British Empire.

The frigate's home base was changed from Fleet Base East in New South Wales to Fleet Base West in Western Australia in February 1996.

On 17 May 1998, the frigate was one of four RAN ships placed on standby to help evacuate Australian citizens from Indonesia following riots. Canberra made at least one evacuation before the force was instructed to stand down a week later.

Following the conclusion of the Solomon Islands Civil War in 2000, Canberra was the last Australian warship sent to the Solomons to support the International Peace Monitoring Team; arriving on 13 September 2001, and remaining on station until 24 October.

After returning to Australia for Christmas and the New Year, the frigate accompanied the replenishment oiler HMAS Westralia to Heard Island and McDonald Islands in January 2002, where the two ships spent a month enforcing Australian sovereign rights and fisheries laws in the islands' Exclusive Economic Zone. During this deployment, on 7 February, the ship captured the Russian fishing vessel Volga, which was illegally operating around Heard Island. Later in the year, Canberra joined sister ship Newcastle and the amphibious warfare ship Manoora on a three-month deployment to the Persian Gulf in support of the International Coalition Against Terrorism.

In July 2003, while operating in northern Australian waters, Canberra intercepted Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel (SIEV) 13, the first SIEV to be intercepted since December 2001.

Canberra was decommissioned at Fleet Base West in Western Australia on 12 November 2005.

- - -

In October 2006, it was announced that the decommissioned frigate would be scuttled off the coast of Barwon Heads, Victoria as a wreck diving site. In October 2006, the Federal Government allocated A$2.8 million to the project, while the Victorian Government allocated A$500,000. On 23 July 2007, the Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson, announced that in order to ensure the quickest possible schedule for the sinking of the ship, A$7 million of federal money would be allocated to the project.

The frigate was scheduled to be scuttled in 30 metres (98 ft) of water, 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) off Ocean Grove, Victoria on 13 September 2009, but this was postponed until 4 October because of foul weather. Sixteen scuttling charges were detonated at 1400 hours, following a six-hour delay in towing the ship into position. Canberra was inspected the next day by civilian clearance divers to ensure she had settled safely. The wreck was opened to the public as a dive site on 5 December, after four mooring pylons for dive boats were installed and safety checks and remedial work were carried out. In early 2011, Parks Victoria posted a warning that the port side of the hangar had separated from the rest of the superstructure, with frames and plating shifting up to 150 millimetres (5.9 in). In mid-2011, Parks Victoria closed the dive site due to safety concerns following further degradation of the frigate. After assessment, the site was reopened on 24 October 2011.

source: wikipedia
 
 
 

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