The ''Paluma''-class motor launch was a class of four hydrographic survey motor launches operated by 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). Built in

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

between 1988 and 1990, the four

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

s were primarily based at in

Cairns, Queensland Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after Sir William Welling ...

, and operated in pairs to survey the waters of

northern Australia The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26th parallel south, 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Q ...

Design and construction

The ''Paluma''-class vessels are based on the design of the Prince-class

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

.Saunders (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 2008–2009'', p. 33 They have a full load

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 320 tonnes, are long overall and long

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, have a beam of , and a draught of .Wertheim (ed.), ''The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World'', p. 28 Propulsion machinery consists of two General Motors Detroit Diesel 12V-92T engines, which supply to the two

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

shafts. Each vessel has a top speed of , a maximum sustainable speed of for a range of , and an endurance of 14 days. The sensor suite of a ''Paluma''-class launch consists of a JRC JMA-3710-6 navigational radar, an ELAC LAZ 72 side-scan mapping sonar, and a Skipper 113 hull-mounted scanning sonar. The vessels are unarmed. The 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 ...

consists of three officers and eleven sailors, although another four personnel can be accommodated. The catamarans were originally painted white, but were repainted naval grey in 2002. The four ships were built by Eglo Engineering, at their shipyard in

Port Adelaide, South Australia Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide city centre, Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is t ...

. The first, , was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

in March 1988, and commissioned into the RAN in February 1989. All four ships were under construction by November 1988, and the last, , commissioned in March 1990.

Operations

All four vessels were homeported at in

. They were used for

hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore wind farms, offshore oil exploration and drilling and related activities. Surveys may als ...

s of the shallow waters around

, primarily in the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

. The vessels generally operated in pairs.

Ships

Replacement

'' Defending Australia in the Asia Pacific Century: Force 2030'', the 2009 Department of Defence

white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...

, proposed replacing the ''Paluma''s, along with the RAN's patrol and mine warfare vessels, with a single class of multi-role offshore combatant vessels (OCVs). The new vessels, which could displace up to 2,000 tonnes and be equipped for helicopter or

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

operations, will use a

modular mission payload system Module, modular and modularity may refer to the concept of modularity. They may also refer to: Computer science and engineering * Modular design Modular design, or modularity in design, is a design principle that subdivides a system into sm ...

to change between roles as required. Although the 2013 White Paper committed to the OCV as a long-term plan, it announced that life-extending upgrades to the ''Paluma''s would be sought as a short-term solution.

Citations

References

* *

External links

Official RAN webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paluma Class Survey Motor Launch Auxiliary research ship classes