HMAS Westralia (O 195)
HMAS Westralia replenishing the Canadian frigate HMCS Regina in 2001
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Appleleaf |
| Builder: | Cammell Laird |
| Laid down: | 5 November 1973 |
| Launched: | 24 July 1975 |
| In service: | 8 June 1979 |
| Out of service: | 24 September 1989 |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Leased, then sold to the RAN |
| History | |
 Australia
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| Name: | Westralia |
| Commissioned: | 9 October 1989 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 September 2006 |
| Motto: | "Faithful and Bold" |
| Honours and awards: |
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| Fate: | Scrapped |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Modified Leaf class replenishment oiler |
| Displacement: | 40,870 tonnes (full load) |
| Length: | 171 m (561 ft) |
| Beam: | 26 m (85 ft) |
| Draught: | 12.03 m (39.5 ft) maximum |
| Propulsion: | 2 × SEMT–Pielstick 14 PC2-2 V400 diesel engines; one shaft |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Capacity: | 25,000 tons of fuel |
| Complement: | 96 |
| Armament: | Two .50 cal Browning machine guns |
| Aviation facilities: | Helicopter landing platform, no permanent carrying capacity |
HMAS Westralia (O 195) was a modified Leaf class replenishment oiler which served with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1989 to 2006. Formerly RFA Appleleaf (A79), she served in with the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) from 1975 to 1989. The ship was initially leased to the RAN, then purchased outright in 1994. In 1998, a fire onboard resulted in the deaths of four sailors. Westralia was decommissioned in 2006, and the ship was sold into civilian service for use as a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel, under the name Shiraz. However, the ship was laid up in Indonesia until late 2009, when she was sold to a Turkish ship breaking company. Arriving in January 2010, the vessel was scrapped.
The vessel had a full load displacement of 40,870 tons, a length of 171 metres (561 ft), a beam of 26 metres (85 ft), and a maximum draught of 12.03 metres (39.5 ft). Propulsion machinery consists of two SEMT Pielstick 14 PC2-2 V400 diesel engines, supplying the single, controllable-pitch propeller with 14,000 brake horsepower (10,000 kW). Maximum speed was 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph). The ship's company consisted of up to 96 personnel. The ship was configured to replenish two ships abeam (one on either side), or one following astern. Up to 25,000 tonnes of fuel were carried, including aviation fuel.
The vessel was originally built by Cammell Laird as Hudson Cavalier, one of four STaT 32 class oil tankers ordered by John Hudson Fuel and Shipping. She was laid down at the Birkenhead shipyard on 5 November 1973. After construction had started on three of the four ships, John Hudson found it could not afford to pay for them. Cammell Laird completed the three vessels, with Hudson Cavalier launching on 24 July 1975, and after sea trials were completed, all three were laid up in port while the shipbuilder sought to charter or sell them. On 27 October 1978, the Ministry of Defence expressed interest in chartering two of the tankers, and after conversion for use as an underway replenishment vessel, Hudson Cavalier entered service with the RFA on 8 June 1979 as RFA Appleleaf. The ship was acquired under a ten-year bareboat charter.
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