HMAS Darwin (FFG 04)
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HMAS ''Darwin'' (FFG 04), named for the capital city of the
Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...
, was an ''Adelaide''-class guided-missile frigate, formerly in service with the
Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...
(RAN). One of four ships ordered from the United States, ''Darwin'' entered service in 1984. During her career, she has operated in the Persian Gulf, as part of the
INTERFET The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) was a multinational non-United Nations peacemaking task force, organised and led by Australia in accordance with United Nations resolutions to address the humanitarian and security crisis that took ...
peacekeeping taskforce, and off the Solomon Islands. The frigate underwent a major upgrade during 2007 and 2008. She was decommissioned on 9 December 2017 and was supposed to be scuttled as a dive wreck in Tasmania, but the deal was pulled by the Tasmanian Government and her fate remains uncertain.


Design and construction

Following the cancellation of the
Australian light destroyer project The Australian light destroyer project aimed to build a class of small destroyers for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The project began in 1966 with the goal of developing simple light destroyers (DDL) to support patrol boat operations. The pro ...
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 ...
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 (''Darwin''), 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 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 weig ...
of 4,100 tons, a
length overall 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, and is also ...
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 *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...
of , and a draught of .Moore (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1977–78 '', p. 25 Propulsion machinery consists of two
General Electric LM2500 The General Electric LM2500 is an industrial and marine gas turbine produced by GE Aviation. The LM2500 is a derivative of the General Electric CF6 aircraft engine. As of 2004, the U.S. Navy and at least 29 other navies had used a total of mor ...
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 A ship's company or complement comprises all officers, non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel aboard a naval vessel, excluding civilians and guests. United States Aircraft-capable ships An exception to this rule is the definition of shi ...
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 The Mark 13 guided missile launching system (GMLS) is a single-arm missile launcher designed for use on frigates and other military vessels. Because of its distinctive single-armed design, the Mark 13 is often referred to as the "one-armed bandit" ...
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, developed for the United States Navy (USN). A member of the Standard Missile family of weapons, the SM-1 was dev ...
and
RGM-84 Harpoon The Harpoon is an all-weather, Over-the-horizon radar, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security). The Standoff Land Attack Missile , AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) ...
missiles, supplemented by an OTO Melara gun and a
Vulcan Phalanx The Phalanx CIWS () is an automated gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corp ...
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 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 The MU90 Impact is a Franco-Italian advanced lightweight anti-submarine torpedo of the third generation developed for the French Navy, French and Marina Militare, Italian navies, as well as for export. It is designed to outperform the United States ...
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 near the end of World War I by John Browning. While similar to Browning's M1919 Browning machine gun, which was chambered ...
.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 Spanish Navy, Spain, Poli ...
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 Ne ...
, and an AN/SQS-56 hull-mounted sonar. Two helicopters can be embarked: either two S-70B Seahawk or one Seahawk and one AS350B Squirrel. The ship was laid down by
Todd Pacific Shipyards Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United St ...
at Seattle, Washington on 3 July 1981, to the ''Perry'' class Flight III design. The ''Adelaide''s were built as part of the United States Navy's construction program, so were assigned USN
hull number A hull number is a serial identification number given to a boat or ship. For the military, a lower number implies an older vessel. For civilian use, the Hull Identification Number (HIN) is used to trace the boat's history. The precise usage varie ...
s; ''Darwin'' was FFG-44. She was launched on 26 March 1982 and commissioned into the RAN on 21 July 1984.


Operational history

During her career, ''Darwin'' has been deployed to the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
on five occasions: during 1990, 1991, 1992, 2002, and 2004. ''Darwin'' was deployed to
East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...
as part of the Australian-led
INTERFET The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) was a multinational non-United Nations peacemaking task force, organised and led by Australia in accordance with United Nations resolutions to address the humanitarian and security crisis that took ...
peacekeeping taskforce from 19 September to 3 November 1999. From 14 to 18 February 2001 ''Darwin'' was berthed in the Mumbai harbour in column RE for the International Fleet Review. The ship was deployed to the
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
in 2001. ''Darwin'' underwent a major upgrade and refit at
Garden Island A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
during 2007 and 2008, returning to service prior to November 2008. On the morning of 13 March 2009, ''Darwin'' was one of seventeen warships involved in a ceremonial fleet entry and fleet review in Sydney Harbour, the largest collection of RAN ships since the
Australian Bicentenary The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. History The bicentennial year marked Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships ...
in 1988. The frigate did not participate in the fleet entry, but was anchored in the harbour for the review. Following an overhaul of the RAN
battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or Military operation, operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In ...
s system, ''Darwin'' was granted three battle honours in 2010: "East Timor 1999", "Persian Gulf 2003-03", and "Iraq 2003". In October 2013, ''Darwin'' participated in the
International Fleet Review 2013 The International Fleet Review 2013 was a Fleet Review, review that took place on the week 3 to 11 October 2013, as part of the celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the entry of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet in Sydney Harbo ...
in Sydney. April 2014 saw ''Darwin'', as part of
Combined Task Force 150 Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150) is a multinational coalition naval task force working under the 34-nation coalition of Combined Maritime Forces and is based in Bahrain established to monitor, board, inspect, and stop suspect shipping to purs ...
, intercept 1,032 kg of heroin on a dhow off the east coast of Africa, followed in July by a further 6,248 kg of hashish on a dhow in the Indian Ocean. As of 7 January 2016, ''Darwin'' has sailed over 1 million nautical miles. In February 2016, ''Darwin'' was one among the 100 ships participating in the International Fleet Review 2016 in Vishakhapattanam. In March 2016, ''Darwin'' intercepted a small, stateless fishing vessel about 170 nautical miles off the coast of Oman. On board they found more than 2,000 pieces of weaponry, including 1,989 AK-47 assault rifles and 100 rocket propelled grenades. According to a U.S. assessment, the weapons were initially sent from Iran and were likely intended for Houthi rebels in Yemen. In May 2016, ''Darwin'' made three seizures of heroin worth $800 million of the coast of Africa. The Royal New Zealand Navy invited the Royal Australian Navy to send a vessel to participate in their 75th Birthday Celebrations over the weekend of 19–21 November 2016; however, following the Kaikōura earthquake on New Zealand's South Island, ''Darwin'' was sent to aide in humanitarian and disaster relief operations. ''Darwin'' was decommissioned in a ceremony held at Garden Island, Sydney on 9 December 2017. She and the other ''Adelaide''s are to be replaced by the s.


Fate

In August 2018, Australian Defense Minister
Marise Payne Marise Ann Payne (born 29 July 1964) is an Australian politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1997 until 2023, representing the Liberal Party. She held senior ministerial office in Coalition governments between 2013 and 2022, inclu ...
announced that ''Darwin'' would be scuttled as a reef in Skeleton Bay, near
St Helens, Tasmania St Helens is the largest town on the north-east coast of Tasmania, Australia, on Georges Bay. It is known as the game fishing capital of Tasmania and is also renowned for its oysters (as are some other areas of Tasmania). It is located on the Ta ...
. The ship was expected to be scuttled sometime in 2019, but the Tasmanian Government later rejected the proposal citing costs. In response, a new campaign emerged attempting to preserve her as a museum ship. On 21 August 2019, several oil drums under ''Darwin'' caught fire at Henderson.


Citations


References

;Books * * * * * ;Journal articles * * * ;Websites * {{DEFAULTSORT:Darwin (FFG 04) Adelaide-class frigates Ships built in Seattle 1982 ships Australia in the Iraq War