Adelaide-class frigate
HMAS Darwin, the fourth ship in the Adelaide class
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Adelaide-class Guided Missile Frigate |
| Builders: | |
| Operators: |
 Royal Australian Navy
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| Preceded by: | Daring-class destroyer |
| Succeeded by: | Hobart-class destroyer |
| Built: | 21 June 1978 – 21 February 1992 |
| In service: | 15 November 1980 – present |
| In commission: | 15 November 1980 – present |
| Completed: | 6 |
| Active: | 3 |
| Retired: | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Modified Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate |
| Displacement: | 4,100 tons full load |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 45 ft (14 m) |
| Draught: | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, each providing 20,500 hp (15,287 kW). Total 41,000 hp (30,574 kW) |
| Speed: | Over 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) |
| Range: | 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement: | 176–221 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
AN/SPS-49 radar, Mk 92 fire control system, AN/SPS-55 radar, AN/SQS-56 sonar |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 2 × S-70B Seahawk or 1 × Seahawk and 1 × AS350B Squirrel |
| Notes: | Mk 41 VLS and ESSM capability installed during the FFG Upgrade project |
The Adelaide class is a ship class of six guided missile frigates constructed in Australia and the United States of America for service in the Royal Australian Navy. The class is based on the United States Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates, but modified for Australian requirements. The first four vessels were built in the United States, while the other two were constructed in Australia.
The first ship entered service in November 1980, and three of the six ships are active as of 2015. Canberra and Adelaide were paid off in 2005 and 2008 respectively, and later sunk as dive wrecks: their decommissioning was to offset the cost of a A$1 billion weapons and equipment upgrade to the remaining four ships. Sydney was decommissioned in late 2015, after spending most of the year as a moored training ship. The Hobart-class air-warfare destroyers will replace the remaining frigates from 2016 onwards.
Following the cancellation of the Australian light destroyer project in 1973, the British Type 42 destroyer and the American Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate were identified as alternatives. Although the Type 42 met the RAN's requirements as a replacement for the cancelled light destroyers and the Daring-class destroyers, fitting the ship with the SM-1 missile would have been difficult. On the other hand, the Perry class was still at the design stage; a design that was described by assessment project staff as "a second rate escort that falls short of the DDL [light destroyer] requirements on virtually every respect". Despite this, the Australian government approved the purchase of two US-built Perry-class ships in 1974.
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