HMPNGS Lakekamu

HMAS Labuan during the International Fleet Review 2013
History
Australia
NameHMAS Labuan
NamesakeAmphibious landings at Labuan
BuilderWalkers Limited
Laid down1 November 1971
Launched29 December 1971
Commissioned9 March 1973
Decommissioned20 November 2014
Homeport
Motto"Fail Not"
Honours and
awards
FateTransferred to Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
NameHMPNGS Lakekamu
NamesakeLakekamu River
Commissioned4 December 2014
StatusActive as of 2014
General characteristics
Class and typeBalikpapan-class landing craft heavy
Displacement316 tons
Length44.5 m (146 ft)
Beam10.1 m (33 ft)
PropulsionTwo GE diesels
Speed9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Capacity180 tons of vehicle cargo or 400 soldiers
Complement13
Armament2 × 0.50 inch machine guns

HMPNGS Lakekamu is Balikpapan-class landing craft heavy (LCH) operated by the Maritime Operations Element of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). The vessel was one of eight built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in the 1970s, and was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Labuan (L 128) in March 1973. Labuan was decommissioned in November 2014. She was transferred to the PNGDF for use as a training ship and was commissioned as HMPNGS Lakekamu in December 2014.