_cropped.jpg) HMAS Townsville in 1990
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Fremantle class |
| Builders |
|
| Operators |  Royal Australian Navy |
| Preceded by | Attack class |
| Succeeded by | Armidale class |
| Built | 1977–1984 |
| In commission | 1979–2007 |
| Completed | 15 |
| Cancelled | 5 |
| Retired | 15 |
| Scrapped | 13 |
| Preserved | 2 (as museum ships) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Patrol boat |
| Displacement | 220 tons |
| Length | 41.9 m (137 ft 6 in) |
| Beam | 7.70 m (25 ft 3 in) |
| Draught | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 MTU series 538 TB91 V16 diesel engines, 3,200 shp (2,400 kW), 2 propellers |
| Speed | 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) |
| Range | 5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) |
| Complement | 22 |
| Armament |
|
The Fremantle-class patrol boats were coastal patrol vessels operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1979 to 2007. Designed by British shipbuilder Brooke Marine and constructed in Australia by NQEA, the Fremantle class were larger, more powerful, and more capable than the preceding Attack class, and the two primary patrol boat bases required infrastructure upgrades to support them. Although up to 30 vessels were planned, fifteen were ordered and constructed, with an unexercised option for five more.
Their retirement was announced in 2001 and a decommissioning schedule published in 2004. From May 2005 they were replaced by the Armidale-class patrol boats with the last two Fremantles decommissioning in May 2007. Most of the class were scrapped, with two marked for preservation as museum ships. The Fremantle class has also appeared in two drama television series based on the Royal Australian Navy.