HMAS Adroit (P 82)


HMAS Adroit was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy.

Design and construction

The Attack class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boats, based on lessons learned through using the Ton-class minesweepers on patrols around Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, 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'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 in length overall, had a beam of, and draughts of at standard load, and at full load. Their propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied to the two propellers. The vessels could achieve a top speed of, and had a range of at. The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors. The main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, which was 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.
Adroit was laid down by Evans Deakin and Company at Brisbane, Queensland, in August 1967, launched on 3 February 1968 and commissioned on 17 August 1968.

Operational history

The patrol boat was transferred to the Fremantle Port Division of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve in March 1983.

Fate

Adroit paid off on 28 March 1992. The patrol boat was sunk as a target by A-4 Skyhawk aircraft of No. 2 Squadron RNZAF on 8 August 1994. The wreck is located in the Rottnest ship graveyard, west of Rottnest Island.

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