HMAS Arunta (FFH 151) is an Anzac class

Anzac class frigate

The Anzac class is a ship class of ten frigates; eight operated by the Royal Australian Navy and two operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy...

 frigate of the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN). The ship, named for the Arrernte people

Arrernte people

The Arrernte people , known in English as the Aranda or Arunta, are those Indigenous Australians who are the original custodians of Arrernte lands in the central area of Australia around Mparntwe or Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The Arrernte tribe has lived there for more than 20,000 years...

, was laid down in 1995 and commissioned in 1998. Since entering service, Arunta has performed a wide range of duties, including border protection patrols in northern Australian waters, and several deployments to the Persian Gulf.

Design and construction

The Anzac class originated from RAN plans to replace the six River class destroyer escort

River class destroyer escort

The River class was a class of six destroyer escorts operated by the Royal Australian Navy . Plans to acquire four vessels, based on the British Type 12M frigate, began in the 1950s. The first two vessels had some slight modifications to the design, while the next two underwent further changes...

s with a mid-capability patrol frigate. Australian shipbuilding was thought to be incapable of warship design, so the RAN decided to take a proven foreign design and modify it. Around the same time, the Royal New Zealand Navy

Royal New Zealand Navy

The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...

 (RNZN) was looking to replace four Leander class

Leander class frigate

The Leander class, or Type 12I frigates, comprising twenty-six vessels, was among the most numerous and long-lived classes of frigate in the Royal Navy's modern history. The class was built in three batches between 1959 and 1973...

 frigates; a deterioration in New Zealand-United States relations, the need to improve alliances with nearby nations, and the commonalities between the RAN and RNZN ships' requirements led the two nations to begin collaborating on the acquisition in 1987. Tenders were requested by the Anzac Ship Project at the end of 1986, with 12 ship designs (including an airship

Airship

An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...

) submitted. By August 1987, the tenders were narrowed down in October to Blohm + Voss

Blohm + Voss

Blohm + Voss , is a German shipbuilding and engineering works. It is a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems; there were plans to sell 80% of Blohm + Voss to Abu Dhabi Mar Group, but talks collapsed in July 2011.-History:It was founded on April 5, 1877, by Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss as a...

's MEKO 200

MEKO 200

The MEKO 200 is a frigate design by the Blohm + Voss shipyard of Germany, as part of the MEKO family of warships.-Anzac class :...

 design, the M class (later Karel Doorman class

Karel Doorman class frigate

The Karel Doorman class is a class of eight multi-purpose frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class is also known as the "Multi-purpose" or M class....

) offered by Royal Schelde, and a scaled-down Type 23 frigate

Type 23 frigate

The Type 23 frigate is a class of frigate built for the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. All the ships were first named after British Dukes, thus the class is also known as the Duke class. The first Type 23 was commissioned in 1989, and the sixteenth, was launched in May 2000 and commissioned in...

 proposed by Yarrow Shipbuilders

Yarrow Shipbuilders

Yarrow Limited , often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde...

. In 1989, the Australian government announced that Melbourne-based shipbuilder AMECON

AmeCon

AmeCon is an anime convention based in Leicester, United Kingdom, typically of three days in length, and is one of the largest anime conventions in the United Kingdom. The convention was formed after several committee members of the Leicester Anime and Manga Club decided to run a small,...

 (which became Tenix Defense) would build the modified MEKO 200 design. The Australians ordered eight ships, while New Zealand ordered two, with an unexercised option for two more.

The Anzacs are based on Blohm + Voss' MEKO 200 PN (or Vasco da Gama class

Vasco da Gama class frigate

The Vasco da Gama class is a class of frigates of the Portuguese Navy. Named in honor of the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, the ships are based on the German MEKO 200 design, and are Portugal's major surface ships...

) frigates, modified to meet Australian and New Zealand specifications and maximise the use of locally built equipment. Each frigate has a 3600 tonnes (3,543.1 LT) full load displacement. The ships are 109 metres (357.6 ft) long at the waterline

Waterline length

The Waterline length is a measurement of ships and boats. The term denotes the length of the vessel at the point where it sits in the water. It excludes the total length of the boat, such as features that are out of the water...

, and 118 metres (387.1 ft) long overall, with a beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 of 14.8 metres (48.6 ft), and a full load draught of 4.35 metres (14.3 ft). A Combined Diesel or Gas

Combined diesel or gas

Combined diesel or gas ' is a type of propulsion system for ships that need a maximum speed that is considerably faster than their cruise speed, particularly warships like modern frigates or corvettes....

 (CODOG) propulsion machinery layout is used, with a single, 30172 hp General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbine and two 8840 hp MTU 12V1163 TB83 diesel engines driving the ship's two controllable-pitch propellers. Maximum speed is 27 knots (14.7 m/s), and maximum range is over 6000 nautical miles (11,112 km) at 18 knots (9.8 m/s); about 50% greater than other MEKO 200 designs. The standard ship's company of an Anzac consists of 22 officers and 141 sailors.

As designed, the main armament for the frigate is a 5-inch 54 calibre Mark 45 gun, supplemented by an eight-cell Mark 41 vertical launch system

Mark 41 Vertical Launch System

The Mark 41 Vertical Launch System is a shipborne missle canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The Vertical Launch System concept was derived from work on the Aegis Combat System. Refinement of the concept continued through the 1960s and...

 (for RIM-7 Sea Sparrow

RIM-7 Sea Sparrow

RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a US ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles...

 or RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles), two 12.7 millimetre (0.5 in) machine guns, and two Mark 32 triple torpedo tube

Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes

The Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes system is a torpedo launching system designed for the United States Navy. The Mark 32 has been the standard anti-submarine torpedo launching system aboard United States Navy surface vessels since its introduction in 1960, and in use aboard the warships of...

 sets (initially firing Mark 46 torpedo

Mark 46 torpedo

Designed to attack high-performance submarines, the Mark 46 torpedo is the backbone of the U.S. Navy's lightweight ASW torpedo inventory, and is the current NATO standard. These aerial torpedoes, such as the Mark 46 Mod 5, are expected to remain in service until the year 2015...

es, but later upgraded to use the MU90 Impact

MU90 Impact

The MU90/IMPACT is an advanced lightweight anti-submarine torpedo used by navies of Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Australia and Poland. It is designed to compete with and outperform the US-built Mark 46 in the anti-submarine role, and is also available in a special MU90 Hard Kill version for...

 torpedo). They were also designed for but not with

For but not with

Fitting "for but not with" is a design concept used by militaries in which a weapon or system called for in a design is not installed or is only partially installed during construction to save on construction costs. The term is usually used in regard to vehicles and ships but sometimes extends to...

 a close-in weapons system (two Mini Typhoons fitted when required from 2005 onwards), two quad-canister Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers (which were installed across the RAN vessels from 2005 onwards), and a second Mark 41 launcher (which has not been added). The Australian Anzacs use a Sikorsky S-70B-2 Seahawk helicopter; plans to replace them with Kaman SH-2G Super Seasprites were cancleed in 2008 due to ongoing problems.

Arunta was laid down at Williamstown, Victoria

Williamstown, Victoria

Williamstown is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 8 km south-west from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Hobsons Bay. At the 2006 Census, Williamstown had a population of 12,733....

 on 22 July 1995. The ship was assembled from six hull modules and six superstructure modules; the superstructure modules were fabricated in Whangarei, New Zealand, and hull modules were built at both Williamstown and Newcastle, New South Wales

Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...

, with final integration at Williamstown. She was launched on 28 June 1996 by Dulce Morrow, wife of the first commanding officer of the first Arunta

HMAS Arunta (I30)

HMAS Arunta was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy . Named for the Arrernte Aborigines, the destroyer was laid down in 1939 and commissioned into the RAN in 1942....

. The ship was commissioned on 12 December 1998. The spelling of the ship's name is not consistent with that used by the Arrernte people

Arrernte people

The Arrernte people , known in English as the Aranda or Arunta, are those Indigenous Australians who are the original custodians of Arrernte lands in the central area of Australia around Mparntwe or Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The Arrernte tribe has lived there for more than 20,000 years...

, who the previous ship was named after; correcting it was considered, but the RAN decided to use the same spelling as the previous ship. Had the New Zealand government exercised their option for two more frigates, Arunta was one of the ships that would have been designated for the RNZN.

Operational history

In September 2001, Arunta deployed to northern Australian waters in the wake of the Tampa affair

Tampa affair

In August 2001, the Howard Government of Australia refused permission for the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa, carrying 438 rescued Afghans from a distressed fishing vessel in international waters, to enter Australian waters...

. The ship participated in Operation Gaberdine and Operation Relex

Operation Relex

Operation Relex is the name given to the Australian Defence Force border protection operation in the country's northern approaches conducted between 2001 and 2006. The operation was instigated following the Tampa affair in September 2001 and its focus was on illegal immigration...

 in two separate deployments. During the second deployment Arunta was involved in the interception and/or return of Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel

Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel

Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel is the operational term used by the Australian Defence Force and Australian Coastwatch for maritime vessels which appear to be attempting to reach Australia clandestinely without authorisation...

s (SIEV) 6, 7, and 9.

In 2002, Arunta saw active service for the first time when she participated as part of the third rotation of RAN ships to the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 as part of Operation Slipper

Operation Slipper

Operation Slipper is the Australian Defence Force contribution to the war in Afghanistan. The operation commenced in late 2001 and is ongoing...

. The ship was involved in the enforcement of United Nations sanctions against Iraq, and at the time operated closer to the Iraqi coast than any other ship of the International Coalition Against Terrorism force. The ship's boarding parties effected 377 boardings during her four months on station.

On 12 November 2007, Arunta deployed for her second tour of active service in the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

, as part of Operation Catalyst. The ship's role was to contribute to the protection of Iraqi oil platforms, security boardings of all vessels proceeding to the platforms and training of the Iraqi Navy. The ship returned from this deployment on 11 May 2008.

On 19 December 2008, Arunta was dispatched from Fremantle to rescue injured yachtsman Yann Elies, who was participating in the Vendée Globe

Vendée Globe

The Vendée Globe is a round-the-world single-handed yacht race, sailed non-stop and without assistance. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years....

, a solo round-the-world yacht race. Elies was stranded 1480 km (799.1 nmi; 919.6 mi) southwest of Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, when his leg was broken in heavy seas.

Following an overhaul of the RAN battle honour

Battle honour

A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....

s system, completed in March 2010, Arunta was retroactively awarded the honour "Persian Gulf 2001–02".