HMAS Melbourne (FFG 05)
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HMAS ''Melbourne'' (FFG 05) was an ''Adelaide''-class guided-missile frigate 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 ...
, which entered service in 1992. ''Melbourne'' has been deployed to the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
on several occasions, and served as part of the INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce in 2000. On 26 October 2019, ''Melbourne'' was decommissioned from the RAN, subsequently being transferred to
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. The ship was commissioned into the Chilean Navy as ''Almirante Latorre'' on 15 April 2020.


Design and construction

Following the cancellation of the Australian light destroyer project in 1973, the British
Type 42 destroyer The Type 42 or ''Sheffield'' class, was a class of fourteen guided-missile destroyers that served in the Royal Navy.Marriott, Leo: ''Royal Navy Destroyers since 1945'', , Ian Allan Ltd, 1989 A further two ships of this class were built for and s ...
and the American ''Oliver Hazard Perry''-class frigate were identified as alternatives to replace the cancelled light destroyers and the ''Daring''-class destroyers.Jones, in Stevens, ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 220 Although the ''Oliver Hazard Perry'' class was still at the design stage, the difficulty of fitting the Type 42 with the SM-1 missile, and the success of the ''Perth''-class acquisition (a derivative of the American ''Charles F. Adams''-class destroyer) compared to equivalent British designs led the Australian government to approve the purchase of two US-built ''Oliver Hazard Perry''-class frigates in 1976.Frame, ''Pacific Partners'', pp. 102, 162 A third was ordered in 1977, followed by a fourth, with all four ships integrated into the USN's shipbuilding program.Frame, ''Pacific Partners'', p. 162MacDougall, ''Australians at war'', p. 345Hooton, ''Perking-up the Perry class'' A further two ships (including ''Melbourne'') were ordered in 1980, and were constructed in Australia. As designed, the ship had a
full load displacement The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
of 4,100 tons, a
length overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...
of , a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of , and a draught of .Moore (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1977-78 '', p. 25 Propulsion machinery consists of two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, which provide a combined to the single propeller shaft.Sharpe (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1998-99'', p. 26 Top speed is , with a range of at . Two electric auxiliary propulsors are used for close manoeuvring, with a top speed of . Standard ship's company is 184, including 15 officers, but excluding the flight crew for the embarked helicopters. Original armament for the ship consisted of a Mark 13 missile launcher configured to fire
RIM-66 Standard The RIM-66 Standard MR (SM-1MR/SM-2MR) is a medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM), with a secondary role as an anti-ship missile, originally developed for the United States Navy (USN). A member of the Standard Missile family of weapons, the ...
and RGM-84 Harpoon missiles, supplemented by an OTO Melara gun and a Vulcan Phalanx point-defence system. As part of the mid-2000s FFG Upgrade Project, an eight-cell Mark 41 Vertical Launch System was fitted, with a payload of
RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow The RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) is a development of the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft. ESSM is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles. ESSM also has the ab ...
missiles.''Australia's Hazard(ous) Frigate Upgrade'', in ''Defense Industry Daily'' For anti-submarine warfare, two Mark 32 torpedo tube sets are fitted; originally firing the
Mark 44 torpedo The Mark 44 torpedo is a now-obsolete air-launched and ship-launched lightweight torpedo manufactured in the United States, and under licence in Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, with 10,500 being produced for U.S. service. It ...
, the ''Adelaide''s later carried the Mark 46, then the MU90 Impact following the FFG Upgrade.Fish & Grevatt, ''Australia's HMAS Toowoomba test fires MU90 torpedo'' Up to six machine guns can be carried for close-in defence, and since 2005, two
M2HB The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, wh ...
.50 calibre machine guns in
Mini Typhoon The Typhoon is a type of remote weapon station manufactured by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel, and it shares similar design principles and common technologies with Samson Remote Controlled Weapon Station (Samson RCWS), a land-based sys ...
mounts have been installed when needed for Persian Gulf deployments.Scott, ''Enhanced small-calibre systems offer shipborne stopping power'' The sensor suite includes an
AN/SPS-49 The AN/SPS-49 is a United States Navy two-dimensional, long range air search radar built by Raytheon that can provide contact bearing and range. It is a primary air-search radar for numerous ships in the U.S. fleet and in Spain, Poland, Taiwan abo ...
air search radar, AN/SPS-55 surface search and navigation radar, SPG-60 fire control radar connected to a
Mark 92 fire control system The Mark 92 Fire Control System is a US-built medium-range anti-aircraft missile and gun fire control system. It was developed for the FFG-7 Oliver Hazard Perry class guided missile frigates. The system is a licensed USN version of the Thales Ned ...
, and a Mulloka hull-mounted sonar. Two helicopters can be embarked: either two
S-70B Seahawk The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificatio ...
or one Seahawk and one AS350B Squirrel. The ship was laid down by AMECON at
Williamstown, Victoria Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hobsons Bay local government area. Williamstown recorded a population of 14,407 at the 2021 census. H ...
on 12 July 1985.Royal Australian Navy, ''HMAS Melbourne (III)'' She was launched on 5 May 1989. ''Melbourne'' was commissioned into the RAN on 15 February 1992.


Operational history

In 1996, the frigate was deployed to the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
. ''Melbourne'' was deployed to
East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...
as part of the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce from 20 January to 23 February 2000.Stevens, ''Strength Through Diversity'', p. 15 In 2002, ''Melbourne'' participated in the third rotation of RAN ships to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Slipper, where she enforced United Nations sanctions against Iraq. In 2003, the ship returned to Iraqi waters in support of
Operation Catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
, protecting Iraqi territorial waters following
Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
. Following an overhaul of the RAN battle honours system, completed in March 2010, ''Melbourne'' was awarded the honours "East Timor 2000" and "Persian Gulf 2002". On 16 August 2010, ''Melbourne'' was deployed to the Middle East for the third time, again as part of Operation Slipper. During the six-month deployment, the frigate participated in anti-piracy operations in the Arabian Sea and responded to 14 distress calls from merchant vessels, including the British chemical tanker MV ''CPO China'' on 3 January 2011. Although it took six hours for ''Melbourne'' to close with ''CPO China'', the merchant ship's crew secured themselves in the
citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...
, and the pirates retreated when the frigate and her Seahawk helicopter arrived. ''Melbourne'' returned to Sydney on 18 February 2011. Between 5 and 7 February 2014, while deployed off Tanzania, ''Melbourne'' seized and destroyed of
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
from smuggling vessels. On 18 February, while operating off Oman's
Masirah Island Masirah Island ( ar, جَزِيْرَة مَصِيْرَة, Jazīrat Maṣīrah), also referred to as Mazeira Island or ''Wilāyat Maṣīrah'' ( ar, وِلَايَة مَصِيْرَة), is an island off the east coast of mainland Oman in the ...
, ''Melbourne'' and the Pakistani frigate PNS ''Alamgir'' intercepted and boarded a dhow found to be carrying of
cannabis resin Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...
. In September 2018 ''Melbourne'' operated off the Korean Peninsula to enforce sanctions against North Korea as part of
Operation Argos Operation Argos is the Australian Defence Force's contribution to the international effort to enforce United Nations' sanctions against North Korea. The operation began in 2018, and is ongoing as of 2021. The Australian effort is focused on detec ...
. ''Melbourne'' returned to Fleet Base East from her final deployment on 27 September 2019. She was decommissioned on 26 October 2019. On December 27, 2019, it was announced that she and '' Newcastle'' had been sold to
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
. ''Melbourne'' was commissioned into the Chilean navy on 15 April 2020 as Chilean ship ''Almirante Latorre'', pennant number FFG-14.


Citations


References

;Books * * * * * * ;Journal articles * * * ;Websites * *


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melbourne (FFG 05) Adelaide-class frigates Adelaide-class frigates of the Chilean Navy Ships built in Victoria (Australia) 1989 ships