HMAS Hawkesbury
| |
| |
| Pennant | M 83 |
|---|---|
| Class | Huon Class |
| Based | Sydney |
| Launched | 24 April 1998 |
| Commissioned | 12 February 2000 |
| Displacement | 720 tonnes720,000 kg 720,000,000 g 1,587,327.84 lb 25,397,252.64 oz |
| Length | 52.5 metres5,250 cm 0.0525 km 0.0326 mi 172.244 ft 2,066.929 in |
| Beam | 9.9 metres990 cm 0.0099 km 0.00615 mi 32.48 ft 389.764 in |
| Armament |
|
| Main Machinery |
|
| Speed | 14 knots7.202 m/s 25.928 km/h 0.0072 km/s 1,417.761 ft/min 23.629 ft/s (main engine) 6 knots (auxiliary propulsion units) |
| Company | 36 |
HMAS Hawkesbury is the second of six Huon class minehunters built for the Royal Australian Navy by Australian Defence Industries, Newcastle, NSW.
The ship is the most advanced of its type in the world. Like her sister ships, Hawkesbury is made of fibre reinforced plastic and has a unique single skin solid hull that has no ribs or frames and provides high underwater shock resistance and very low magnetic and noise levels. This hull is designed to flex inwards if an undersea explosion occurs nearby. All machinery/equipment is mounted on cradles or suspended from bulkheads to further enhance resistance to shock damage and protect ship systems.
The Huon class minehunters are all named after Australian rivers. Hawkesbury is the second RAN ship to carry the name. The first, during World War II, formed part of the supporting forces for the invasion of Tarakan and Brunei and as an escort for ships taking troops and supplies to the Philippines. It was the sole Australian warship present in Singapore when Lord Louis Mountbatten received the official surrender of the Japanese.
