- Source: HMAS Dubbo (FCPB 214)
HMAS Dubbo (FCPB 214), named for the city of Dubbo, New South Wales, was a Fremantle-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Design and construction
Starting in the late 1960s, planning began for a new class of patrol boat to replace the Attack class, with designs calling for improved seakeeping capability, and updated weapons and equipment. The Fremantles had a full load displacement of 220 tonnes (220 long tons; 240 short tons), were 137.6 feet (41.9 m) long overall, had a beam of 24.25 feet (7.39 m), and a maximum draught of 5.75 feet (1.75 m). Main propulsion machinery consisted of two MTU series 538 diesel engines, which supplied 3,200 shaft horsepower (2,400 kW) to the two propeller shafts. Exhaust was not expelled through a funnel, like most ships, but through vents below the waterline. The patrol boat could reach a maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), and had a maximum range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph). The ship's company consisted of 22 personnel. Each patrol boat was armed with a single Bofors 40mm gun as main armament, supplemented by two .50 cal Browning machineguns and an 81-mm mortar, although the mortar was removed from all ships sometime after 1988. The main weapon was originally to be two 30-mm guns on a twin-mount, but the reconditioned Bofors were selected to keep costs down; provision was made to install an updated weapon later in the class' service life, but this did not eventuate.
Dubbo was laid down by NQEA in Cairns, Queensland on 9 August 1982, launched on 21 January 1984 in the presence of Thomas Arthur Slattery and Joan Slattery, then Mayor and Mayoress of Dubbo, and commissioned into the RAN on 10 March 1984.
Fate
Dubbo was decommissioned at HMAS Coonawarra on 2 February 2007, and was the last ship of her class to be stationed at Coonawarra. The patrol boat was broken up for scrap in Darwin during 2006 and 2007, at a cost of $450,000 to the Australian government.
Citations
References
Gillett, Ross (1988). Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946. Brookvale: Child & Associates. ISBN 0-86777-219-0. OCLC 23470364.
Jones, Peter (2001). "Towards Self Reliance". In Stevens, David (ed.). The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III). South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-555542-2. OCLC 50418095.
Mitchell, Brett (2007). "Farewell to the Fremantle Class". In Forbes, Andrew; Lovi, Michelle (eds.). Australian Maritime Issues 2006 (PDF). Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs. Sea Power Centre. ISBN 978-0-642-29644-3. ISSN 1327-5658. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
The chapter is available separately as Semaphore, Issue 17, 2005 in PDF and HTML formats.
"HMAS Dubbo (II)". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 11 September 2008.
Moore, John, ed. (1985). Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86. London: Janes Information Services. ISBN 0-7106-0814-4.
