Huon class minehunter

HMAS Yarra in 2013
Class overview
Builders:	Australian Defence Industries
Operators:	Royal Australian Navy
Preceded by:	Ton-class minesweeper Bay class
Succeeded by:	Planned Australian offshore combatant vessel
Built:	1994–2003
In commission:	1999–present
Completed:	6
Active:	4
Laid up:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Minehunter Coastal
Displacement:	732 tons at full load
Length:	52.5 m (172 ft)
Beam:	9.9 m (32 ft)
Draught:	3 m (9.8 ft)
Propulsion:	1 × Fincantieri GMT BL230-BN diesel motor, 1,985 bhp (1,480 kW), 1 x controllable-pitch propeller 3 × 120 hp (89 kW) Riva Calzoni azimuth thrusters with Combimac low magnetic electric motors
Speed:	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) on diesel 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) on thrusters
Range:	1,600 nautical miles (3,000 km; 1,800 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Endurance:	19 days
Complement:	6 officers and 34 sailors, plus up to 9 additional
Sensors and processing systems:	Kelvin-Hughes Type 1007 navigational radar GEC-Marconi Type 2093M variable-depth minehunting sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AWADI PRISM radar warning and direction-finding system Radamec 1400N surveillance system 2 × Wallop Super Barricade decoy launchers
Armament:	1 × 30 mm DS30B rapid fire cannon 2 × 0.50 calibre machine guns 2 × SUTEC Double Eagle mine disposal vehicles

The Huon-class minehunter coastal (MHC) ships are a group of minehunters built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Following problems with the Bay-class minehunters, a request for tender was issued in 1993 for a class of six coastal minehunters under the project designation SEA 1555. The tender was awarded in 1994 to the partnership of Australian Defence Industries (ADI) and Intermarine SpA, which was offering a variant of the Italian Gaeta-class minehunter.

Five of the six ships were constructed completely in Newcastle, New South Wales, while the hull of the first ship was built in Italy, then transported to Australia for fitting out. Construction ran from 1994 to 2003, with lead ship HMAS Huon entering service in 1999. All six vessels are based at HMAS Waterhen, in Sydney. In 2006, following a capability review three years prior, one minehunter was placed in reserve, while another was marked for transfer to reserve status; this instruction was reversed prior to 2008, and the two vessels were tasked with supporting border protection operations. As of January 2014, only four vessels were active, with the other two placed in reserve.

In 1993, the Department of Defence issued a request for tender for six coastal minehunters to replace the problematic Bay-class minehunters, of which four had been cancelled after the first two demonstrated problems with their sonar array and seakeeping capability. According to an article in Jane's International Defence Review published just before the tender was opened, three joint ventures between an Australian and a European company were expected to submit designs: Australian Defence Industries (ADI) and Intermarine SpA with the Gaeta class, Australian Submarine Corporation and Karlskronavarvet (later Kockums) with a lengthened version of the Landsort class, and AMECON and Vosper Thornycroft with the Sandown class. According to the request for tender, the designs had to be modified to operate in Australian conditions, and at least 60% of each ship and her equipment had to be of Australian manufacture. On 12 August 1994, Project SEA 1555 was awarded to ADI.

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