New Royal Australian Navy Patrol Boats Named

The Naming Ceremony for the tenth and eleventh Armidale Class Patrol Boats was held on Saturday, 17 February at the Austal shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia. Fourteen patrol boats in total are to be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy.

The ceremony was attended by senior figures from the Royal Australian Navy, Department of Defence, Government and industry including Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, as representative for the Minister of Defence, Honorable Francis Logan representing the Premier of WA and Chief of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Russ Shalders.

Speaking at the ceremony, Austal’s Executive Chairman, John Rothwell, commented on the progress of the project to date:

“My congratulations go to the Austal Project Team who have achieved tight milestones and high standards in the continued on-time delivery of the Armidale Class Patrol Boat fleet.”

The town of Wollongong has previously been represented by two former Navy vessels, namely a Bathurst Class Australian Minesweeper (Corvette) launched in 1941 and a Fremantle Class Patrol Boat launched in 1981, the direct predecessor of the current Armidale Class Patrol Boat.

The name Childers represents two locations in the Australian states of Queensland and Victoria. The original “HMVS Childers”, a First Class Torpedo Boat, was built in the United Kingdom in 1883. The vessel was named after Lord Childers, a prominent British Statesman, and cost the State of Victoria, Australia 10,000 pounds. Following service in both the Commonwealth and Royal Australian Navies she was decommissioned in 1916.

The new Armidale Class Patrol Boats “Childers” and “Wollongong” will be handed over to the Royal Australian Navy in the coming weeks.

BACKGROUND

Austal teamed with Defence Maritime Services (DMS) to win in 2003 the A$553 million “output specified” contract for twelve patrol boats to replace the ageing Fremantle Class, which have patrolled Australia’s maritime zones for the past quarter century. Austal is responsible for the design and construction of the Armidale Class vessels.

In 2006 an additional two Armidale Class Patrol Boats were ordered for a total of fourteen to be delivered.

To be based primarily in the ports of Darwin and Cairns, the Armidale Class fleet primarily operates within Australia’s Marine Jurisdictional Zones carrying out surveillance, interception, investigation, apprehension and the escort to port of vessels suspected of illegal fisheries, quarantine, customs or immigration offences.