RAN says goodbye to final Adelaide-class frigate
The Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) HMAS Melbourne (III) has returned to Australia from its final overseas mission ahead of its decommissioning in October.
Melbourne is the RAN’s oldest Adelaide-class warship, having been in service for almost three decades.
The vessel’s final deployment was a three-month stint throughout the Asia-Pacific region conducting maritime security operations with partner nations, including participating in China’s International Fleet Review.
The 138m-long guided missile frigate, currently docked in Gladstone Port in Queensland, will now visit several ports around Australia before becoming the final Adelaide-class frigate to be withdrawn from service when it is decommissioned in Sydney on 26 October 2019.
The six Adelaide-class frigates were commissioned between 1980 and 1993, and are being replaced by three Hobart-class Air Warfare Destroyers.
Related Equipment in Defence Insight
More from Naval Warfare
-
![Lessons shaping the next phase of Arleigh Burke production post-Flight IIA]()
Lessons shaping the next phase of Arleigh Burke production post-Flight IIA
The accelerated delivery of the final Flight IIA destroyer, USS Patrick Gallagher, showcases the payoff of years of workforce investment and process reform at Bath Iron Works, with the lessons feeding into Flight III production.
-
![Ukraine war drives ‘minimum deployable capability’ doctrine in uncrewed systems development]()
Ukraine war drives ‘minimum deployable capability’ doctrine in uncrewed systems development
Ukraine’s battlefield has rewritten the rules of uncrewed systems development. For Syos Aerospace, real-time operator feedback, lean serial production and a system-of-systems philosophy are central to its operating model.
-
![Sealift shortfalls set to drive opportunities across NATO navies]()
Sealift shortfalls set to drive opportunities across NATO navies
A new Council on Geostrategy primer warns that NATO cannot defend its own supply lines. As the alliance faces a sealift and logistics escort deficit, a wave of unawarded procurement is beginning to take shape.
-
![AUKUS advance on UUVs contrasts with Virginia-class compromise]()
AUKUS advance on UUVs contrasts with Virginia-class compromise
The AUKUS partnership is accelerating uncrewed undersea capability while its submarine arm inches forward, and Australia’s decision to settle for three in-service Virginia-class boats raises questions about industrial risk, dependency and whether Pillar II may deliver meaningful capability long before Pillar I can.
-
![Peru partnership may serve as a template for South Korean naval exports into South America]()
Peru partnership may serve as a template for South Korean naval exports into South America
With a growing pipeline of naval modernisation programmes in South America, South Korean companies could be set to expand their presence in the region as recent contract wins highlight growing collaboration.
