The Craft of Opportunity Program (COOP) was a

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) acquisition program intended to supplement the navy's mine warfare capability with civilian vessels that could be quickly converted into minesweepers. Vessels acquired under COOP were not commissioned into the RAN, and instead operated with the

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"MSA" (Minesweeper Auxiliary).

Acquisitions

COOP was initiated in 1985, to cover the gap in

mine warfare Mine warfare refers to the use of different types of explosive devices: *Land mine, a weight-triggered explosive device intended to maim or kill people or to disable or destroy vehicles *Minelaying, deployment of explosive mines at sea **Naval mine ...

capability caused by the decommissioning of the Ton-class minesweepers and delays in building their replacements, the Bay-class minehunting catamarans.Jones, in Stevens (ed.), ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 252 In order to equip the auxiliary vessels, the RAN acquired several Klein Type 590 towed sidescan sonar arrays, along with Mini-Dyad magnetic influence sweep arrays, AMASS influence sweep arrays, and mechanical minesweeping gear.Wertheim (ed.), ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World'', p. 23 When the Bays were found to be poorly suited for minehunting work, the COOP vessels were kept on until the ''Huon'' class entered service, with some retained even later as a supplementary force. Six vessels were purchased under COOP: and (ex tuna fishing boats), (a lighthouse tender), , and the ''Bandicoot''-class minesweepers ''Bandicoot'' and ''Wallaroo'' (former Singaporean harbour tugboats).Gillett, ''Australia's Navy'', p. 44 Another three trawlers, ''Salvatore V'', ''Waverider'', and ''Carole S'', were chartered. Also acquired under the program were three drone ships, which could be operated from the auxiliary minesweepers.Wertheim (ed.), ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World'', p. 24 Although not directly a part of COOP, the

Defence Maritime Services DMS Maritime, formerly Defence Maritime Services, is a company providing port services to the Australian Defence Force and Marine Unit. It is a subsidiary of Serco. History Defence Maritime Services was founded in 1997 as a 50:50 joint venture ...

training ship ''

Seahorse Horizon HMAS ''Protector'' (ASR 241) was a Royal Australian Navy (RAN) trials and submarine rescue ship. Built in 1984, the ship was initially operated by the National Safety Council of Australia as MV ''Blue Nabilla''. She was purchased by the RAN i ...

'' can also be fitted out as an auxiliary minesweeper.

End of the program

By 2012, most of the vessels have been sold or returned to their owners. ''Bandicoot'' and ''Wallaroo'' have not been operated as minesweepers since 2010, but were retained until 2014 to provide berthing support for nuclear-powered warships.Saunders & Philpott (eds.), ''IHS Jane's Fighting Ships'' 2015–2016'', p. 25 The drones have been non-operational since 2007, and are due to be replaced by 2013.Gillett, ''Australia's Navy'', p. 42

Citations

References

* * * ** ** * {{Royal Australian Navy Royal Australian Navy Mine warfare vessels of the Royal Australian Navy