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Balikpapan-class landing craft heavy

HMAS Balikpapan in 2011
HMAS Balikpapan in 2011
Class overview
Builders: Walkers Limited at Maryborough, Queensland
Operators:
Preceded by: LSM-1-class landing ship medium (RAN)
Built: 1971–1974
In service: 1971–present
In commission: 1973–present
Completed: 8
Active: 5
General characteristics
Type: Landing Craft Heavy
Displacement:
  • 364 tons standard
  • 517 tons full load
Length: 44.5 m (146 ft)
Beam: 10.1 m (33 ft)
Draught: 2 m (6 ft 7 in)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × General Motors Detroit 6–71 diesel motors (original)
  • 2 × Caterpillar 3406E diesel engines (RAN since 2005)
Speed: 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Range:
  • 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) unladen
  • 1,300 nautical miles (2,400 km; 1,500 mi) with 175 tons of cargo
Capacity: 180 tons of cargo
Complement: 16
Sensors and
processing systems:		 Racal Decca Bridgemaster I-band navigational radar
Armament: two 7.62 mm (0.300 in) machine guns

The Balikpapan class is a ship class of eight heavy landing craft (officially Landing Craft, Heavy or LCH). All eight were originally laid down by Walkers Limited for the Australian Army in the early 1970s. A reorganisation of watercraft responsibilities in the Australian military meant the landing craft were to be operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), with seven commissioned directly into RAN service during 1973 and 1974, and lead ship Balikpapan transferred from the army to the navy. During the leadup to the independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975, two of the vessels (Salamaua and Buna) were transferred to the new Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF).

During their careers, the Australian vessels have operated in support of Operation Navy Help Darwin in 1974–75, Operation Bel Isi from 1997 to 2003, INTERFET operations in 1999 and 2000, and RAMSI operations from 2003.

The six remaining RAN vessels were paid off in the 2010s: Balikpapan, Betano, and Wewak in 2012; Brunei, Labuan, and Tarakan in 2014. They are yet to be replaced in RAN service. As of 2013, the two PNGDF vessels were active, and in 2014, the former Labuan was transferred to Papua New Guinea as the training ship Lakekamu. Brunei and Tarakan were refitted and donated to the Philippine Navy in 2015, commissioning as Ivatan and Batak. Three additional units of the class - decommissioned units former HMAS Balikpapan, HMAS Wewak and HMAS Betano - were loaded on a transport ship in March 2016 for transport to the Philippine Navy.


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