HMAS Stuart (DE 48)

HMAS Stuart in Hong Kong Harbour in 1989
History
Australia
Builder:	Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company
Laid down:	20 March 1959
Launched:	8 April 1961
Commissioned:	28 June 1963
Decommissioned:	26 July 1991
Motto:	"Semper Paratus"
Honours and awards:	Eight inherited battle honours
Fate:	Broken up for scrap
General characteristics
Class and type:	River class destroyer escort
Displacement:	2,750 tons full load
Length:	112.8 m (370 ft)
Beam:	12.49 m (41.0 ft)
Draught:	5.18 m (17.0 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × English Electric steam turbines 2 shafts; 30,000 shp total
Speed:	31.9 knots (59.1 km/h; 36.7 mph)
Sensors and processing systems:	LW02 long range air warning radar 1979: Mulloka sonar system SPS-55 surface-search/navigation radar Mark 22 fire control radar
Armament:	2 × 4.5in Mark 6 guns 2 × Limbo Mark 10 anti-submarine mortar 1 × quad Seacat SAM launcher 1 × Ikara ASW system 2 × Mark 32 torpedo tubes

HMAS Stuart (F21/DE 48) was one of six River-class destroyer escorts built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship was laid down by Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company in 1959, and commissioned into the RAN in 1963.

During the ship's career, Stuart achieved a number of historical firsts: she was the first RAN ship to fly the Australian White Ensign, and the first major vessel to be homeported at Fleet Base West.

Stuart was paid off in 1991, a year later than originally planned; RAN commitments to the Gulf War saw several warships deployed to the Middle East, and Stuart was retained in service to boost local defence. The destroyer escort was sold for scrapping.

The first four ships of the River class were based on the Royal Navy's Type 12 frigate, and were intended to close the gap between ships and submarines in regards to anti-submarine warfare, following the rapid improvement of submarines during and after World War II.

Stuart was laid down by Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company in Sydney on 20 March 1959. She was launched on 8 April 1961 by the wife of John Gorton, then Minister for the Navy, and was commissioned into the RAN in Sydney on 28 June 1963.

Stuart and the other River class ships were fitted with the Ikara anti-submarine missile system: the first Australian-designed naval weapons system.Stuart was the first ship to fire an Ikara missile, during trials in August 1963.

On 25 December 1966, while operating as part of the Far East Strategic Reserve, Stuart was the first ship to fly the Australian White Ensign. The Australian White Ensign did not officially replace the British White Ensign as the ensign flown by RAN ships until 1 March 1967.