HMAS ''Parramatta'' (F05/DE 46), named for the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, Ria, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average Altitude, height, and depth, depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour ...

, was a (a licence-built

Type 12 frigate Type 12 frigate refers to several ship classes, most commonly the three ship classes of the Royal Navy designed during the 1950s and constructed during the 1960s. * The first Type 12 frigates, designed as convoy escorts, were later named the . Six ...

) of 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).

Construction

''Parramatta'' was laid down by

Cockatoo Island Dockyard The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...

at Sydney, New South Wales on 31 January 1957. She was launched on 31 January 1959 by Lady Dowling, wife of the First Naval Member and Chief of Naval Staff, and commissioned into the RAN on 14 July 1961.

Operational history

''Parramatta'' escorted Royal Yacht ''Britannia'' during the visit of Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 1963. The ship served on patrol duties during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation during the mid-1960s. On 3 June 1964, ''Parramatta'' and sister ship met the troop transport off the Philippines and escorted her to

Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...

, Singapore, and

Penang Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia along the Strait of Malacca. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay Peninsula. Th ...

to deliver Australian military units and supplies. ''Parramatta'' escorted the former aircraft carrier back to Fremantle: the return voyage to Australia was interrupted on the morning of 23 June by the detection of a suspected Indonesian submarine: the two Australian ships performed evasion tactics for eighteen hours before resuming the voyage.Pfennigwerth, ''Tiger Territory'', p. 161 Other deployments were made during 1965 and 1966, with this service later recognised by the

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 ...

"Malaysia 1964–66". During late May and early June 1965, ''Parramatta'' was one of several ships escorting ''Sydney'' on her first troop transport voyage to

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

.Nott & Payne, ''The Vung Tau Ferry'', p. 169 ''Parramatta'' and ''Sydney'' worked together on the latter's tenth Vietnam voyage during March and April 1968.Nott & Payne, ''The Vung Tau Ferry'', p. 173 ''Parramatta''s third escort run with ''Sydney'' occurred in May 1971; the former carrier's twentieth Vietnam voyage. On 17 July 1976, ''Parramatta'' was en route to Singapore when she was diverted to Bali in response to the 1976 Bali earthquake. ''Parramatta'' underwent a modernisation refit at Williamstown Naval Dockyard between 3 June 1977 and 26 August 1981, and visited the People's Republic of China in 1986.

Decommissioning and fate

''Parramatta paid off on 11 January 1991. She was sold in August 1991, and broken up for scrap in Pakistan. The ship's twin 4.5 inch Mark 6 gun turret, along with the captain's cabin from time of the ship's decommissioning, are preserved at the RAN Naval Heritage Collection Repository on Spectacle Island, Sydney.

Citations

References

* * River-class destroyer escorts 1959 ships {{Australia-mil-ship-stub