HMAS Gladstone (FCPB 216)
The former HMAS Gladstone in 2010
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| History | |
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 Australia
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| Namesake: | Port city of Gladstone, Queensland |
| Builder: | North Queensland Engineers and Agents |
| Laid down: | 7 March 1983 |
| Launched: | 28 July 1984 |
| Commissioned: | 8 September 1984 |
| Decommissioned: | 13 March 2007 |
| Motto: | "Defend the right" |
| Nickname(s): | "Sadrock" |
| Honours and awards: |
Two inherited battle honours |
| Status: | Marked for preservation as museum ship |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Fremantle-class patrol boat |
| Displacement: | 220 tons |
| Length: | 137.6 ft (41.9 m) |
| Beam: | 25.25 ft (7.70 m) |
| Draught: | 5.75 ft (1.75 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 MTU series 538 diesel engines, 3,200 shp (2,400 kW), 2 propellers |
| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Range: | 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) |
| Complement: | 22 |
| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
Type 133 Prism ESM |
| Armament: |
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HMAS Gladstone (FCPB 216), named for the city of Gladstone, Queensland, is a Fremantle-class patrol boat, formerly of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by North Queensland Engineers and Agents during the early 1980s, Gladstone was commissioned into RAN service in 1984.
The patrol boat spent most of her career operating out of the naval base HMAS Cairns on fisheries and border protection operations. The ship's company were granted Freedom of the City of their ship's namesake city on three occasions.
Gladstone was decommissioned in 2007, and was donated to the Gladstone Maritime History Society for preservation and display as a museum ship at the Gladstone Maritime Museum. Work was postponed due to the Financial crisis of 2007–2010, with preservation work and development of a wet dock to display the ship completed in 2016. The vessel is now available for tours on weekends. The vessel is located in the Gladstone East Shores precinct, adjacent to the Gladstone Marina.
Starting in the late 1960s, planning began for a new class of patrol boat to replace the Attack class, with designs calling for improved seakeeping capability, and updated weapons and equipment. The Fremantles had a full load displacement of 220 tonnes (220 long tons; 240 short tons), were 137.6 feet (41.9 m) long overall, had a beam of 24.25 feet (7.39 m), and a maximum draught of 5.75 feet (1.75 m). Main propulsion machinery consisted of two MTU series 538 diesel engines, which supplied 3,200 shaft horsepower (2,400 kW) to the two propeller shafts. Exhaust was not expelled through a funnel, like most ships, but through vents below the waterline. The patrol boat could reach a maximum speed of 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), and had a maximum range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph). The ship's company consisted of 22 personnel. Each patrol boat was armed with a single 40 mm Bofors gun as main armament, supplemented by two .50 cal Browning machineguns and an 81-mm mortar, although the mortar was removed from all ships sometime after 1988. The main weapon was originally to be two 30-mm guns on a twin-mount, but the reconditioned Bofors were selected to keep costs down; provision was made to install an updated weapon later in the class' service life, but this did not eventuate.
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