HMAS Gascoyne (M 85), named for the Gascoyne River

Gascoyne River

At 760 km, the Gascoyne River is the longest river in Western Australia.The river rises below Wilgoona Hill in the Robinson Ranges west of the Gibson Desert and it flows into Shark Bay and the Indian Ocean at Carnarvon....

, is the fourth of six Huon class minehunters

Huon class minehunter

The Huon class Minehunter Coastal ships are a group of minehunters built for the Royal Australian Navy . Following problems with the Bay class minehunters, a request for tender was issued in 1993 for a class of six coastal minehunters under the project designation SEA 1555...

 constructed for and currently in service with 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).

Constructed by Australian Defence Industries

Australian Defence Industries

Thales Australia is a primary defence contractor for the Australian Defence Force. Thales Australia is best known for its naval ship repair operations, and currently leases the Captain Cook graving dock at Garden Island Naval Base in Sydney, New South Wales and also leases and occupies many of the...

, Gascoyne was launched on 11 March 2000, and commissioned on 2 June 2001. Gascoyne operates out of HMAS Waterhen

HMAS Waterhen (naval base)

HMAS Waterhen is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy , located in Waverton, Sydney. Constructed on the site of a quarry used to expand Garden Island in the 1930s, the location was used during World War II as a boom net maintenance and storage area. In 1962, the area was commissioned...

.

Operational history

On the morning of 13 March 2009, Gascoyne was one of seventeen warships involved in a ceremonial fleet entry and fleet review in Sydney Harbour, the largest collection of RAN ships since the Australian Bicentenary

Australian Bicentenary

The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1970 on the 200th anniversary of Captain James Cook landing and claiming the land, and again in 1988 to celebrate 200 years of permanent European settlement.-1970:...

in 1988. The minehunter was one of the thirteen ships involved in the ceremonial entry through Sydney Heads, and anchored in the harbour for the review.

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