HMAS Aware (P 91)

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HMAS Aware (P 91) was an Template:Sclass of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Design and construction

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HMAS Aware (left) alongside HMAS Archer in Port Kembla Harbour, August 1968

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/> 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>

Aware was laid down by Evans Deakin and Company at Brisbane in Queensland<ref name=Gillett87>Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Ships since 1946, p. 87</ref> in July 1967, launched on 7 October 1967Template:Citation needed and commissioned on 21 June 1968.<ref name=Gillett87/>

Operational history

Template:Expand section Aware was transferred to the Adelaide Port Division of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve in November 1982.<ref name=Gillett87/>

On November the 24th 1970 while with HMAS Adroit on SAR duties HMAS Aware assisted in an attempt to salvage a ditched helicopter from HMAS Albatross after a Westland Wessex crashed.<ref name=Gillett87/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Decommissioning and civilian service

HMAS Aware was the last of her class to be withdrawn from service, decommissioned on 17 July 1993.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> She was sold to a private owner sometime before 1998, and after modification in Melbourne (including an extension of the superstructure to cover the quarterdeck), was used as a diving and salvage ship.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Cavander>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2006, Aware was acquired by a group of investors, and sailed to Bundaberg, Queensland by a former crewmember.<ref name=Cavander/> The investors withdrew support shortly after, and the former crew member took over ownership of the vessel.<ref name=Cavander/> Aware fell into disrepair, and in 2010, the Bundaberg Magistrates Court fined the owner for failing to have the ship insured.<ref name=Cavander/> According to the owner, the lack of facilities capable of handling the former patrol boat has made insurance inspections almost impossible.<ref name=Cavander/> A buyer for the vessel could not be found and in December 2011 the vessel was scrapped.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

References

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