HMAS Anzac

Three ships of the Royal Australian Navy have been named HMAS Anzac, after the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).

Battle honours

Five battle honours have been awarded to ships named HMAS Anzac:

See also

References

HMAS Anzac (G90)

HMAS Anzac was a Parker-class destroyer leader that served in the Royal Navy (as HMS Anzac) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Launched in early 1917 and commissioned into the Royal Navy, Anzac led the 14th Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. In 1919, she and five other destroyers were transferred to the RAN, with Anzac commissioning as an Australian warship in 1920. Except for three visits to New Guinea and one to the Solomon Islands, Anzac remained in southern and eastern Australian waters for her entire career. The destroyer was decommissioned in 1931, sold for scrapping four years later, stripped for parts, then towed outside Sydney Heads and sunk as a target ship in 1936.

Design and construction

Anzac was a Parker-class destroyer leader, based on the Marksman or Lightfoot class. The ship had a displacement of 1,660 tons, was 327 feet 7 inches (99.85 m) long overall and 314 feet 11 ¹⁄₄ inches (95.99 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 31 feet 10 inches (9.70 m), and a draught of 13 feet 9 ³⁄₄ inches (4.21 m) at maximum load. Propulsion was provided by four Yarrow boilers providing steam to Brown-Curtis geared turbines, which delivered 37,060 shaft horsepower to the destroyer's three propellers. The ship was designed to reach 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph), but could only achieve an average of 32.9 knots (60.9 km/h; 37.9 mph) during full-power trials. Maximum range was 3,360 nautical miles (6,220 km; 3,870 mi) at 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph). The ship's company consisted of 8 officers and 114 sailors.

HMAS Anzac (FFH 150)

HMAS Anzac (FFH 150) is the lead ship of the Anzac-class frigates in use with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). Entering Australian service in 1996, the frigate operated as part of the INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce in 1999. In 2003, she was involved in the Battle of Al Faw, and became the first RAN ship to fire in anger since the Vietnam War. The ship is operational as of 2016.

Design and construction

The Anzac class originated from RAN plans to replace the six River-class destroyer escorts with a mid-capability patrol frigate. The Australian shipbuilding industry was thought to be incapable of warship design, so the RAN decided to take a proven foreign design and modify it. Around the same time, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) was looking to replace four Leander-class frigates; a deterioration in New Zealand-United States relations, the need to improve alliances with nearby nations, and the commonalities between the RAN and RNZN ships' requirements led the two nations to begin collaborating on the acquisition in 1987. Tenders were requested by the Anzac Ship Project at the end of 1986, with 12 ship designs (including an airship) submitted. By August 1987, the tenders were narrowed down in October to Blohm + Voss's MEKO 200 design, the M class (later Karel Doorman class) offered by Royal Schelde, and a scaled-down Type 23 frigate proposed by Yarrow Shipbuilders. In 1989, the Australian government announced that Melbourne-based shipbuilder AMECON (which became Tenix Defense) would build the modified MEKO 200 design. The Australians ordered eight ships, while New Zealand ordered two, with an unexercised option for two more.