HMAS Norman (M 84), named for the Norman River

Norman River

The Norman River is a river in Queensland, Australia. The river originates in the Gregory Range 200 km southeast of Croydon, Queensland and flows 420 km northwest to the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is joined by three major tributaries, the Carron, Clara and Yappar Rivers...

 in Queensland, is the third Huon class minehunter

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...

 to serve in 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).

Norman was built 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...

 in 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...

. She was launched 3 May 1999, and commissioned into the RAN on 26 August 2000.

Norman is based at in Sydney with the majority of the RAN's mine warfare assets.

Operational history

On the morning of 13 March 2009, Norman 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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