HMAS ''Albany'' (ACPB 86), named for the city of

Albany, Western Australia Albany ( ; nys, Kinjarling) is a port city in the Great Southern region in the Australian state of Western Australia, southeast of Perth, the state capital. The city centre is at the northern edge of Princess Royal Harbour, which is a ...

, is an ''Armidale''-class patrol boat of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

(RAN).

Design and construction

The ''Armidale'' class patrol boats are long, with a beam of , a draught of , and a standard

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 270 tons.Saunders (ed.), ''IHS Jane's Fighting Ships 2012–2013'', p. 33 The semi-displacement vee hull is fabricated from aluminium alloy, and each vessel is built to a combination of

Det Norske Veritas DNV (formerly DNV GL) is an international accredited registrar and classification society headquartered in Høvik, Norway. The company currently has about 12,000 employees and 350 offices operating in more than 100 countries, and provides ser ...

standards for high-speed light craft and RAN requirements.Kerr, ''Plain sailing'' The ''Armidale''s can travel at a maximum speed of , and are driven by two propeller shafts, each connected to an MTU 16V M70 diesel. The ships have a range of at , allowing them to patrol the waters around the distant

territories of Australia The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing po ...

, and are designed for standard patrols of 21 days, with a maximum endurance of 42 days. Bow view of HMAS Albany

The main armament of the ''Armidale'' class is a Rafael Typhoon stabilised gun mount fitted with an M242 Bushmaster autocannon. Two machine guns are also carried.Heron & Powell, in ''Australian Maritime Issues 2006'', p. 132 Boarding operations are performed by two , waterjet propelled

rigid-hulled inflatable boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull bottom joined to side-forming air tubes that are i ...

s (RHIBs). Each RHIB is stored in a dedicated cradle and davit, and is capable of operating independently from the patrol boat as it carries its own communications, navigation, and safety equipment.Heron & Powell, in ''Australian Maritime Issues 2006'', p. 131 Each patrol boat has a standard ship's company of 21 personnel, with a maximum of 29.Wertheim (ed.), ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World'', p. 22 The ''Armidale''s do not have a permanently assigned ship's company; instead, they are assigned to divisions at a ratio of two vessels to three companies, which rotate through the vessels and allow the ''Armidale''s to spend more time at sea, without compromising sailors' rest time or training requirements.Kerr, ''Patrol boats shake down fuel faults'' A 20-berth auxiliary accommodation compartment was included in the design for the transportation of soldiers, illegal fishermen, or unauthorised arrivals; in the latter two cases, the compartment could be secured from the outside.McKenna, ''Gas risk remains for navy boats'' However, a malfunction in the sewerage treatment facilities aboard in August 2006 pumped hydrogen sulphide and

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...

into the compartment, non-fatally poisoning four sailors working inside, after which use of the compartment for accommodation was banned across the class. ''Albany'' was constructed by

Austal Austal is an Australian-based global ship building company and defence prime contractor that specialises in the design, construction and support of defence and commercial vessels. Austal's product range includes naval vessels, high-speed passeng ...

at their shipyard in

Henderson, Western Australia Henderson is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. History The suburb of Henderson comprises land resumed by the Commonwealth Government in 1915 for defence purposes. A large naval base was planned by Admira ...

. She was commissioned into the RAN in her namesake city on 15 July 2006.

Operational history

''Albany'' is assigned to ''Attack'' Division, is based in Darwin and performs border protection and fisheries protection patrols.

Citations

References

;Books * ** The chapter is available separately as ''Semaphore'', Issue 4, 2006 i
PDF
an
HTML
formats. * * ;Journal and news articles * * *

External links

Royal Australian Navy webpage for HMAS ''Albany''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albany Ships built by Austal Naval ships of Australia Armidale-class patrol boats 2006 ships