HMAS Advance (P 83) was an Attack class patrol boat

Attack class patrol boat

The Attack class patrol boats were small coastal defence vessels built for the Royal Australian Navy and operated between 1967 and 1985...

 of the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN). Constructed during 1967 and commissioned into the RAN in 1968, Advance operated from Darwin and patrolled northern Australian waters.

During her career, the patrol boat shadowed a Soviet trawler, survived Cyclone Tracy

Cyclone Tracy

Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, 1974...

, was used for filming of the television series Patrol Boat

Patrol Boat (TV series)

Patrol Boat is an Australian television drama series that screened on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Patrol Boat was created by James Davern and two series were produced, in 1979 and 1983, with a total of 26 episodes....

, and participated in the RAN's first anti-terrorism patrol of the North West Shelf

North West Shelf

The North West Shelf of Western Australia is an extensive oil and gas region off the North West Australia coast in the Pilbara region.It has a considerable number of oil and gas wells, pipelines, production areas and support facilities.- Location :...

. Advance was replaced in 1980, but continued to operate as a training ship until she was decommissioned in 1988.

Advance was donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum

Australian National Maritime Museum

The Australian National Maritime Museum is a federally-operated maritime museum located in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After consideration of the idea to establish a maritime museum, the Federal government announced that a national maritime museum would be constructed at Darling Harbour, tied into...

, which have maintained her in an operational condition. The vessel remains part of the museum's collection as of 2011.

Design and construction

The Attack class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boat

Patrol boat

A patrol boat is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defense duties.There have been many designs for patrol boats. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, or police force, and may be intended for marine and/or estuarine or river environments...

s (based on lessons learned through using the Ton class minesweeper

Ton class minesweeper

The Ton class were coastal minesweepers built in the 1950s for the Royal Navy, but also used by other navies such as the South African Navy and the Royal Australian Navy...

s on patrols of Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation

Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation

Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation during 1962–1966 was Indonesia’s political and armed opposition to the creation of Malaysia. It is also known by its Indonesian/Malay name Konfrontasi...

, and to replace a variety of old patrol, search-and-rescue, and general-purpose craft. Initially, nine were ordered for the RAN, with another five for Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

's Australian-run coastal security force, although another six ships were ordered to bring the class to twenty vessels. The patrol boats had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load, were 107.6 feet (32.8 m) in length overall, had a beam of 20 feet (6.1 m), and draughts of 6.4 feet (2 m) at standard load, and 7.3 feet (2.2 m) at full load. Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied 3460 shp to the two propellers. The vessels could achieve a top speed of 24 knots (13.1 m/s), and had a range of 1200 nautical miles (2,222.4 km) at 13 knots (7.1 m/s). The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors. Main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, supplemented by two .50 calibre M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms. The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible: the Attacks were to operate in remote regions of Australia and New Guinea, and a town's hardware store would be more accessible than home base in a mechanical emergency.

Advance was laid down by Walkers Limited

Walkers Limited

Walkers Limited is an Australian engineering company, based in Maryborough, Queensland, which built ships and locomotives. It is still in the locomotive-building business as part of Downer Rail.-History:...

 at Maryborough, Queensland

Maryborough, Queensland

Maryborough is a city located on the Mary River in South East Queensland, Australia, approximately north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city is serviced by the Bruce Highway, and has a population of approximately 22,000 . It is closely tied to its neighbour city Hervey Bay which is...

 in March 1967, launched on 16 August 1967, and commissioned on 24 January 1968.

Operational history

Advance operated out of HMAS Coonawarra

HMAS Coonawarra

HMAS Coonawarra is a Royal Australian Navy base located in the city of Darwin and is home to twelve fleet units of the Royal Australian Navy.-History:...

 in Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin, Northern Territory

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...

 between 1968 and 1980. As well as the standard duties for her class, Advance was also used for surveillance, search-and-rescue, and hydrographic survey (in company with the survey ship ).

During 1968, Advance and sister ship shadowed the Soviet trawler Van Gogh, which operated in the Gulf of Carpenteria for two months.

Advance and three other patrol boats were in Darwin Harbour on 25 December 1974, when Cyclone Tracy

Cyclone Tracy

Cyclone Tracy was a tropical cyclone that devastated the city of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, 1974...

 hit. Advance and managed to escape serious damage, but Attack was forced aground and suffered hull damage, and collided with Stoke's Hill Wharf and sank.

During 1975 and 1976, Advance regularly operated as part of Operation Trochus: a concentrated effort to respond to illegal fishing vessels in northern Australian waters.

From late 1977, the patrol boat was assigned to HMAS Waterhen

HMAS Waterhen (naval base)

HMAS Waterhen is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy , located in Waverton, Sydney. Constructed on the site of a quarry used to expand Garden Island in the 1930s, the location was used during World War II as a boom net maintenance and storage area. In 1962, the area was commissioned...

 in Sydney for patrols along Australia's eastern coast, but was redeployed elsewhere when necessary.

In 1979, Advance was one of two Attack class vessels used to portray the fictional HMAS Ambush; setting of the ABC

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 television series Patrol Boat

Patrol Boat (TV series)

Patrol Boat is an Australian television drama series that screened on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Patrol Boat was created by James Davern and two series were produced, in 1979 and 1983, with a total of 26 episodes....

.

On 30 May 1980, Advance, along with sister ships and , commenced the RAN's first anti-terrorism patrols of the oil rigs in the North West Shelf

North West Shelf

The North West Shelf of Western Australia is an extensive oil and gas region off the North West Australia coast in the Pilbara region.It has a considerable number of oil and gas wells, pipelines, production areas and support facilities.- Location :...

 area.

Following her replacement by a Fremantle class patrol boat

Fremantle class patrol boat

The Fremantle-class patrol boats were coastal patrol vessels operated by the Royal Australian Navy from 1979 to 2007. Designed by British shipbuilder Brooke Marine and constructed in Australia by North Queensland Engineers and Agents, the Fremantle class were larger, more powerful, and more...

 in 1980, Advance was reassigned as a training ship. She was assigned to the Sydney Port Division of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve in February 1982.

The patrol boat participated in the 1986 Naval Review.

Decommissioning and preservation

Advance was decommissioned on 6 February 1988, and was transferred to the Australian National Maritime Museum

Australian National Maritime Museum

The Australian National Maritime Museum is a federally-operated maritime museum located in Darling Harbour, Sydney. After consideration of the idea to establish a maritime museum, the Federal government announced that a national maritime museum would be constructed at Darling Harbour, tied into...

(ANMM), where she remains as of 2011. The patrol boat has been maintained in operational condition by the ANMM; consequently, she is not open for public inspection.

External links

• The patrol boat, the Australian National Maritime Museum webpage for HMAS Advance