HMAS Arrow (P 88)
Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMAS Arrow (P 88) was an Template:Sclass of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Design and construction
Template:Main The Attack class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boats (based on lessons learned through using the Template:Sclass2s on patrols of Borneo during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation), and to replace a variety of old patrol, search-and-rescue, and general-purpose craft.<ref name=Gillett86/> Initially, nine were ordered for the RAN, with another five for Papua New Guinea's Australian-run coastal security force, although another six ships were ordered to bring the class to twenty vessels.<ref name=Gillett86/> The patrol boats had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load, were Template:Convert in length overall, had a beam of Template:Convert, and draughts of Template:Convert at standard load, and Template:Convert at full load.<ref name=Gillett86>Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Ships since 1946, p. 86</ref><ref name=Janes68>Blackman (ed.), Jane's Fighting Ships, 1968–69, p. 18</ref> Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied Template:Convert to the two propellers.<ref name=Gillett86/><ref name=Janes68/> The vessels could achieve a top speed of Template:Convert, and had a range of Template:Convert at Template:Convert.<ref name=Gillett86/><ref name=Janes68/> The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors.<ref name=Janes68/> The main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, supplemented by two .50-calibre M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms.<ref name=Gillett86/><ref name=Janes68/> The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible: the Attacks were to operate in remote regions of Australia and New Guinea, and a town's hardware store would be more accessible than home base in a mechanical emergency.<ref name=ANMM>The patrol boat, Australian National Maritime Museum</ref>
Arrow was built by Walkers Limited at Maryborough, Queensland,<ref name=Gillett87>Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Ships since 1946, p. 87</ref> launched on 17 February 1968,Template:Citation needed and commissioned on 3 July 1968.<ref name=Gillett87/>
Operational history
Arrow was transferred to the Melbourne Division of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve in mid-1968, then was returned to active service in the early 1970s.Template:Citation needed
Fate
During Cyclone Tracy on 25 December 1974, Arrow was driven ashore and sank at Stokes Hill Wharf in Darwin with the loss of two sailors: Petty Officer Leslie Catton and Able Seaman Ian Rennie.<ref name=Gillett87/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Memorial
On 24 April 2019, a memorial, to HMAS Arrow and the sailors that lost their lives, was unveiled at the Royal Flying Doctor Service and The Bombing of Darwin Tourist Facility at Stokes Hill Wharf by two surviving crew members and family of the two sailors that died.Template:Citation needed