HMAS Swan (DE 50)
| History | |
|---|---|
 Australia
|
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| Namesake: | The Swan River |
| Builder: | Williamstown Dockyard |
| Laid down: | 16 February 1965 |
| Launched: | 16 December 1967 |
| Commissioned: | 20 January 1970 |
| Decommissioned: | 13 September 1996 |
| Motto: | "Forward" |
| Nickname(s): | "Fluffy Duck" or "Duck", "Swarrens" |
| Honours and awards: |
Four inherited battle honours |
| Fate: | Sunk as dive wreck in 1997 |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | River class destroyer escort |
| Displacement: | 2,700 tons |
| Length: | 372 ft (113 m) |
| Beam: | 41 ft (12 m) |
| Draught: | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Armament: |
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HMAS Swan (DE 50), named for the Swan River, was a River-class destroyer escort of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Constructed in Melbourne following the loss of HMAS Voyager, Swan entered service in 1970.
During her career, the ship was deployed to South East Asia on several occasions as part of ANZUK forces. She was modernised in the mid-1980s, then was assigned to the recently opened west coast naval base HMAS Stirling. Following the integration of women into the RAN, Swan was the site of sexual harassment and discrimination claims, leading to an Australian Defence Force-wide inquiry.
Swan paid off in 1996, and was sunk as a dive wreck off the coast of Dunsborough, Western Australia at the end of 1997.
Swan and sister ship HMAS Torrens were ordered in 1964 as replacements for HMAS Voyager, a destroyer lost following a collision with the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne in 1964. Although intended to be the same as the previous River class ships (themselves based on the British Type 12 frigate), the design was changed from 1965 to incorporate many of the improvements of the British Leander class frigates. Work on the two vessels started without specifications or a contract, and the evolving design meant changes were being made as the ships were being constructed, with resulting delays and cost increases attributed to a lack of planning.
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