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in Queensland, will now visit several ports around Australia before becoming the final Adelaide-class frigate to be withdrawn from service when it is decommissioned in Sydney on 26 October 2019.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.
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