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HMAS ''Sydney'' (FFG 03) was an guided-missile frigate 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). The frigate was one of six modified s ordered from 1977 onwards, and the third of four to be constructed in the United States of America. Laid down and launched in 1980, ''Sydney'' was named for the
capital city A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...
of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, and commissioned into the RAN in 1983. During her operational history, ''Sydney'' has been involved in Australian responses to the
1987 Fijian coups d'état The Fijian coups d'état of 1987 resulted in the overthrow of the elected government of Fijian Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, the deposition of Elizabeth II as Queen of Fiji, and in the declaration of a republic. The first coup d'état, in ...
and the Bougainville uprising. The frigate was deployed to the Persian Gulf on five occasions in support of United States operations during the
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
,
War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...
, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and has completed two round-the-world voyages. ''Sydney'' was originally expected to remain in service until 2013, but was retained in service until 2015; ceasing active deployments on 27 February and serving as a moored training ship until her decommissioning on 7 November. The frigate has been replaced in service by a .


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 ...
and the American were identified as alternatives to replace the cancelled light destroyers and the s.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 acquisition (a derivative of the American ) 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 (''Sydney'') 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 were ordered in 1980, and were constructed in Australia. As designed, the ship had a full load displacement of 3,605 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 of , and a draught of .Moore (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1977–78 '', p. 25 Starting in February 1989, ''Sydney'' was modified from the ''Oliver Hazard Perry'' FLIGHT II design to FLIGHT III, requiring a lengthening of the helicopter deck for the RAST helicopter recovery system, which increased displacement to 4,100 tons and pushing the overall length to . Propulsion machinery consisted of two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, which provided a combined to the single propeller shaft.Sharpe (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1998–99'', p. 26 Top speed was , with a range of at . Two electric auxiliary propulsors were 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 ...
was 184, including 15 officers, but excluding the flight crew for the embarked helicopters. ''Sydney'' was the first ship of her class to carry female sailors and officers, requiring the installation of partitioning to some mess decks. 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, 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 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 were 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 could be carried for close-in defence, and since 2005, two M2HB .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 were installed when needed for Persian Gulf deployments.Scott, ''Enhanced small-calibre systems offer shipborne stopping power'' The sensor suite included an AN/SPS-49 air search radar, AN/SPS-55 surface search and navigation radar, SPG-60 fire control radar connected to a Mark 92 fire control system, and an AN/SQS-56 hull-mounted sonar. Two helicopters could be embarked: either two S-70B Seahawk or one Seahawk and one AS350B Squirrel. The last ship of the ''Oliver Hazard Perry'' Flight II design, ''Sydney'' was laid down at
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 ...
on 16 January 1980.Jones, in ''The Royal Australian Navy'', opp. p. 224 She was launched on 26 September 1980, and commissioned into the RAN on 29 January 1983.Sea Power Centre, ''HMAS Sydney'' During construction, the ship was identified by the United States Navy
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 ...
FFG-35.


Operational history

From commissioning until mid-1984, ''Sydney'' was attached to the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet as a unit of Destroyer Squadron 9. During this time, the frigate conducted working-up and training exercises. In May 1987, ''Sydney'' visited Fiji, and was alongside in Suva when the first of the
1987 Fijian coups d'état The Fijian coups d'état of 1987 resulted in the overthrow of the elected government of Fijian Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, the deposition of Elizabeth II as Queen of Fiji, and in the declaration of a republic. The first coup d'état, in ...
occurred on 14 May.Jones, in ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 260 ''Sydney'' and sister ship , alongside in Lautoka, were instructed to remain off Fiji to aid in any necessary evacuation of Australian citizens; the first component of what became
Operation Morris Dance Operation Morris Dance was an Australian military operation conducted in May 1987 in response to the first of the 1987 Fijian coups d'état. On the morning of 14 May 1987 the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, Military of Fiji took control of the ...
. ''Sydney'' remained on station until at least 29 May, when a phased withdrawal began. Following the acquisition of the Vulcan Phalanx close-in weapon system and the Seahawk helicopter, ''Sydney'' underwent a modification refit to be capable of using these weapons. This refit occurred over 1987 and 1988, and also saw the installation of fin stabilisation systems. In January 1990, ''Sydney'', , and were placed on standby to evacuate civilians from
Bougainville Island Bougainville Island (; Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. Its land area is . The highest point is Mount Balbi, on the main island, at . The much smaller Buk ...
following the Bougainville uprising.Bendle et al., ''Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations, 1990–2005'', p. 3 ''Sydney'' and ''Tobruk'' stood down in February, and the two ships departed with the submarine on a deployment to Turkey to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove. Following Anzac Day, ''Sydney'' continued on a round-the-world voyage, which included numerous diplomatic visits to European and American ports, the first visit of a RAN vessel to Sweden, and participation in a United States counter-narcotics operation in the Caribbean. The frigate arrived home in September. On 3 December 1990, ''Sydney'' and the arrived in the Persian Gulf to relieve HMA Ships and as part of Operation Damask; the Australian military contribution to the
Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...
.Jones, in ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 263 ''Sydney'' was assigned to the escort screen around Battle Force Zulu ( Task Force 154), a naval force built around four United States Navy aircraft carriers, and also participated in surveillance and boarding operations.Bendle et al., ''Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations, 1990–2005'', p. 7 The two Australian warships remained in the area until 26 March 1991. ''Sydney'' was awarded the Meritorious Unit Citation on 4 November 1991 for this deployment, and later received the battle honour "Kuwait 1991". ''Sydney'' was deployed back to the Persian Gulf for Operation Damask from September 1991 to February 1992, and again from June 1993 to December 1993. On 14 March 1994, ''Sydney'' rescued the crew of a yacht which had been participating in the Trans-Tasman Yacht Race before encountering difficulties. In early October, the frigate was called on to search for survivors of a light aircraft that ditched into the Tasman Sea. In May 1995, ''Sydney'' became the first RAN warship to visit the Russian port of
Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...
, as support for a diplomatic and trade mission. In 1997, ''Sydney'' was one of several RAN vessels placed on standby following the outbreak of political disturbances in Papua New Guinea as part of the
Sandline affair The Sandline affair was a political scandal that became one of the defining moments in the history of Papua New Guinea, and particularly Bougainville conflict. It brought down the government of Sir Julius Chan, and brought Papua New Guinea to th ...
.Bendle et al., ''Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations, 1990–2005'', p. 27 No action was required by the Australian warships. ''Sydney'' 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 3 November to 19 December 1999.Stevens, ''Strength Through Diversity'', p. 15 She received the battle honour "East Timor 1999" for this deployment. On 1 October 2000, ''Sydney'' took over from sister ship as the RAN vessel assigned to support the peace negotiation process in the Solomon Islands that resulted in the signing of the Townsville Peace Agreement. In October 2001, ''Sydney'' returned to the Persian Gulf to operate in support of
Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...
as part of the
War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...
.Bendle et al., ''Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations, 1990–2005'', p. 44 The frigate was joined by sister ship and the amphibious warfare vessel in early December, and returned to Australia in March 2002. ''Sydney'' was sent back to the Gulf in support of 2003 invasion of Iraq, operating from May to August 1993 as part of Operations Falconer and Catalyst. The battle honours "Persian Gulf 2001–03" and "Iraq 2003" recognise these deployments. ''Sydney'' was the first of four frigates selected to go under the A$1 billion FFG Upgrade, with HMA Ships ''Darwin'', ''Melbourne'' and ''Newcastle'' following. The upgrade features an 8-cell Mark 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) for 32 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM), upgrades to fire control and air warning radars, and replacement of the hull-mounted sonar and diesel generators. This refit commenced in 2002, but problems with integrating the frigates' anti-missile and anti-torpedo detection and defence systems meant that when ''Sydney'' was finished in 2007, she was initially not accepted back into service.Kirk, ''Dud frigates an inherited nightmare''McPhedran, ''Frigates 'can't go to war' despite $1.4bn upgrade'' By November 2008, the problems with the upgrade had been solved.McPhedran, ''Australia's naval frigates 'worth the wait'' On the morning of 13 March 2009, ''Sydney'' 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.Brooke, ''Marching into History'' The frigate led the line of thirteen ships involved in the ceremonial entry through Sydney Heads, and anchored in the harbour for the review. On 20 April 2009, ''Sydney'' and the ''Anzac''-class frigate departed from Sydney as part of Operation Northern Trident, a six-month round-the-world voyage by the two vessels, with numerous diplomatic visits and joint exercises with foreign navies.''Northern Trident 2009'', Royal Australian Navy On 17 May, ''Sydney'' and ''Ballarat'' provided aid to two merchant vessels in the
Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...
, driving off two separate groups of Somali pirates attacking the ships.Dodd, ''RAN warships to the rescue as Somali pirates flee'' ''Sydney'' remained in the area to report the incidents to
Combined Task Force 151 Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) is a multinational naval task force, set up in 2009 as a response to piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia. Its mission is to disrupt piracy and armed robbery at sea and to engag ...
, while ''Ballarat'' escorted an impromptu convoy of eight ships, including the two that were attacked, to safety. The two warships visited ports in Western Europe, North America, the Pacific and northern Asia, with ''Sydney'' arriving back in her namesake city on 19 September. In May 2013, ''Sydney'' began a three-month deployment with the
United States Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the ...
, attached to Carrier Strike Group Five as an escort for the carrier . In October 2013, ''Sydney'' participated in the International Fleet Review 2013 in Sydney. ''Sydney'' visited Hobart in February 2015 for the Royal Hobart Regatta. During the weekend of 7–8 February, the frigate was anchored in the River Derwent to free up wharf space for a civilian vessel. On attempting to return to Macquarie Wharf, the anchor chain broke, leaving the anchor below. The anchor was later recovered by divers. The loss of the anchor prevented ''Sydney'' from fulfilling duties as the regatta flagship, as the ship would be unable to maintain a stationary position during the event.


Decommissioning and fate

''Sydney'' sailed into her namesake city for the final time on 27 February 2015. Despite flying a decommissioning pennant, the ship was not
paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...
until 7 November 2015; two years later than originally expected. In the interim, she was moored at Fleet Base East as an alongside training ship. On 6 November, the day prior to paying off, a parade of 350 current and former personnel from the ship marched in Sydney. At the time of decommissioning, ''Sydney'' had travelled . She will be replaced by one of the three s. In April 2016, the Navy offered ''Sydney'' for use as a dive wreck to Australia's states and territories, in the same manner as her sisters and . However, the decision to utilise the ship in this way has been condemned by different organisations, with calls for it to be restored as a memorial to the modern RAN. No organisations expressed interest in using the ship as a dive wreck, and in May 2017 ''Sydney'' departed under tow for Western Australia where she was to be scrapped. In May 2017, the ''Sydney'' was towed to Henderson, Western Australia to be scrapped. A former Todd Shipyards employee informed the company doing the scrapping, Birdon, that a miniature of MacNoughton Canadian Whisky "wrapped in insulation tape, was apparently hidden inside the forward starboard leg of the main mast of HMAS Sydney by the team that built her at the Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle in 1982. The date, 10 April 1982 was also scribbled on the label." The bottle was retrieved from its hiding place of 35 years.


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MaritimeQuest HMAS Sydney FFG-03 Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sydney (FFG 03) Adelaide-class frigates Ships built in Seattle 1980 ships Gulf War ships of Australia Recipients of the Meritorious Unit Citation Fleet Base East