HMAS Melville (A 246)

HMAS Melville in 2017
History
Australia
Namesake	Melville Island
Ordered	02 April 1996
Builder	NQEA, Cairns
Laid down	09 May 1997
Launched	23 June 1998
Commissioned	27 May 2000
Decommissioned	08 August 2024
Homeport	HMAS Cairns, Cairns
Identification	IMO number: 9151785 MMSI number: 503178000
Motto	"With Determination"
Honours and awards	Meritorious Unit Commendation (United States)
Status	Decommissioned 08 August 2024
General characteristics
Type	Leeuwin-class survey vessel
Displacement	2,170 tons
Length	71.2 m (234 ft)
Beam	15.2 m (50 ft)
Draught	4.3 m (14 ft)
Propulsion	4 × GEC Alsthom 6RK 215 generators, 2 × Alsthom electric motors, 2 shafts 1 × Schottel bow thruster
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Range	18,000 nautical miles (33,000 km; 21,000 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement	10 officers, 46 sailors, up to 5 trainees
Sensors and processing systems	Navigation: STN Atlas 9600 ARPA; I-band. Sonar: C-Tech CMAS 36/39; hull mounted high frequency active sonar Atlas Fansweep-20 multibeam echo sounder Atlas Hydrographic Deso single-beam echo sounder Klein 2000 towed sidescan sonar array
Armament	2 × 12.7 mm machine guns
Aircraft carried	Not permanently embarked

HMAS Melville (HS 02/A 246) is the second ship of the Leeuwin class of hydrographic survey vessels operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship was decommissioned on 8 August 2024. ^[1]