HMAS Adelaide (FFG 01) was the lead ship of the of guided missile frigates built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), based on the United States Navy's s. She was built in the United States and commissioned into the RAN in 1980.

During her career, Adelaide was part of Australian responses or contributions to the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, the Iraq invasion of Kuwait, the Indonesian riots of May 1998, the INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce, the War in Afghanistan, and the United States-led invasion of Iraq. In 1997, the frigate rescued two competitors in the 1996–97 Vendée Globe solo, round-the-world yacht race. In 2001, a boat carrying suspected illegal immigrants was intercepted by Adelaide; the events of this interception became the centre of the Children overboard affair.

In 2008, Adelaide was the second ship of the class to be decommissioned, in order to offset the cost of an upgrade to the other four vessels. This ship was to be sunk off Avoca Beach, New South Wales as a dive wreck on 27 March 2010, until an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal by protest groups led to a postponement of the scuttling until additional cleanup work was completed. Despite further attempts to delay or cancel the scuttling, Adelaide was sunk off Avoca on 13 April 2011.

Design and construction

Following the cancellation of the Australian light destroyer project in 1973, the British Type 42 destroyer and the American were identified as alternatives to replace the cancelled light destroyers and the s. Although the Oliver Hazard Perry class was still at the design stage, the difficulty of fitting the Type 42 with the SM-1 missile, and the success of the acquisition (a derivative of the American ) compared to equivalent British designs led the Australian government to approve the purchase of two US-built Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates (including Adelaide) in 1976. A third was ordered in 1977, followed by a fourth, with all four ships integrated into the USN's shipbuilding program. A further two ships were ordered in 1980, and were constructed in Australia. Top speed was , with a range of at . The sensor suite included an AN/SPS-49 air search radar, AN/SPS-55 surface search and navigation radar, SPG-60 fire control radar connected to a Mark 92 fire control system, and an AN/SQS-56 hull-mounted sonar. During construction, she was identified with the United States Navy hull number FFG-17. The frigate ran aground off Seattle in early 1981, during post-commissioning trials, but was freed with only minor damage. To remedy this, a Bell Kiowa was embarked aboard Adelaide during 1984.

In May 1987, Adelaide visited Fiji, and was alongside in Lautoka when the first of the 1987 Fijian coups d'état occurred on 14 May. Adelaide and sister ship , alongside in Suva, were instructed to remain off Fiji to aid in any necessary evacuation of Australian citizens; the first component of what became Operation Morris Dance. On 10 August, Adelaide, sister ship , and the replenishment ship were deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Damask, Australia's participation in the international coalition enforcing sanctions against Iraq following that nation's invasion of Kuwait. Adelaide and Darwin remained in the area until 3 December, and was used for surveillance and boarding operations. In October 1992, Adelaide home port was changed to , making her the first ship of the class homeported in Western Australia under the Two-Ocean Policy.

thumb|alt=Adelaide travelling on the open sea|Adelaide underway in 1982

In January 1997, the yachts of Thierry Dubois and Tony Bullimore (competitors in the 1996–97 Vendée Globe solo, round-the-world yacht race), capsized while attempting to cross the Southern Ocean. Adelaide successfully found and rescued the sailors after seven days of searching by ships and aircraft.

Between 17 and 27 May 1998, Adelaide was one of four RAN ships placed on standby, in case Australian citizens required evacuation if the Indonesian riots of May 1998 escalated. The ships were not used. Starting in September, the frigate accompanied the destroyers and on a cruise through South East Asia. During this deployment, the ships were present at a naval review by Indonesian president B. J. Habibie. The frigate was deployed to East Timor as part of the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce from 19 September to 19 October.

On 6 October 2001, Adelaide was the ship which intercepted SIEV 4, the event which sparked the Children overboard affair. Under orders to prevent SIEVs from entering Australian waters, Adelaide attempted to warn the craft, carrying over 200 passengers (including children), against crossing from international waters during the night and into 7 October. When the SIEV failed to heed these warnings, Adelaide fired warning shots and initiated a RHIB boarding action, with the boarding party took control of the craft that afternoon.

From November 2001 to March 2002, Adelaide and the amphibious warfare ship were deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Slipper, the Australian contribution to the War in Afghanistan. The ships also contributed to the continuing enforcement of the Iraq sanctions. During this deployment, in December 2004, several gunboats of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard attempted to capture a boarding party after it had inspected the freighter MV Sham, which had grounded near the Iraq-Iran maritime boundary. After completing their inspection, the boarding party returned to their two RHIBs, but were approached by an Iranian gunboat.

Decommissioning and fate

Adelaide was originally scheduled to be paid off in November 2006, but delays with the project to upgrade four of Adelaides sister ships required that she be kept in service for another fourteen months to minimise the impact on the fleet. Adelaide was decommissioned on 19 January 2008 at , before she was towed to Sydney and given to the Government of New South Wales, which planned to sink her as a dive wreck off the coast near Terrigal: the first military ship dive wreck in New South Wales. After spending time alongside at , Adelaide was towed to White Bay at a point prior to November 2009.

thumb|left|alt=Adelaide tied up alongside at a wharf. The majority of her communications and radar masts have been removed, she carries no weapons, and several large squares have been cut into the ship's hull.|Adelaide tied up at White Bay in April 2010. The vessel has been prepared for scuttling: weapons and systems have been removed, masts have been cut short, and diver access holes have been prepared.

The ship was prepared for scuttling by McMahon Services during late 2009 and early 2010: her mast (which would have become a navigational hazard once the ship was scuttled) was removed, dangerous materials and toxins were removed, and access holes were cut in the ship's flanks. The ship was scheduled to be sunk on 27 March, offshore from Avoca Beach, in of water.

An appeal by the protest groups to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal three days before the sinking saw the project placed on hold until the case could be heard in full: supporters and opponents of the dive wreck agreed to participate in mediation in the meantime. The case was to be heard on 5 May, but was later postponed to July. On 15 September, the Tribunal ruled that scuttling of the ship could go ahead after the removal of any remaining wiring, which may contain polychlorinated biphenyls, canvas, insulation, and exfoliating red lead paint. The delays caused by the tribunal hearing meant that the original $5.8 million assigned to the scuttling project was expended, and the tribunal hearing, additional cleanup, and berthing fees brought the cost of the scuttling project to $8.5 million. Adelaide was towed from Sydney Harbour on the morning of 11 April for the voyage north. The action group attempted to cancel or further delay the sinking of the warship, requesting that the New South Wales Ombudsman investigate the government's handling of the artificial reef project, filing a summons in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales on the afternoon of 12 April, and asking an Aboriginal 'whale caller' to summon humpback whales to the planned wreck site. Despite this, the sinking went ahead just before midday on 13 April, after being delayed by over an hour by a pod of dolphins inside the exclusion zone.

As an artificial reef, the aluminum superstructure of the ship has suffered galvanic corrosion. With the superstructure weakened, a storm and heavy seas in 2024 removed the superstructure from the vessel and deposited it on the seabed on the port side of the vessel. Most reef life was also swept away from the vessel by the storm.

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Other sources

  • Senate Select Committee Inquiry into A Certain Maritime Incident