HMAS Advance (P 83) was an of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Constructed during 1967 and commissioned into the RAN in 1968, Advance operated from Darwin and patrolled northern Australian waters.

During her career, the patrol boat shadowed a Soviet trawler, survived Cyclone Tracy, was used for filming of the television series Patrol Boat, and participated in the RAN's first anti-terrorism patrol of the North West Shelf. Advance was replaced in 1980, but continued to operate as a training ship until she was decommissioned in 1988.

Advance was donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum, which has maintained her in an operational condition.

Design and construction

The Attack class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boats based on lessons learned through using the s on patrols of Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and to replace a variety of old patrol, search-and-rescue, and general-purpose craft. Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied to the two propellers.

Advance was laid down by Walkers Limited at Maryborough, Queensland in March 1967, launched on 16 August 1967, and commissioned on 24 January 1968. It was the third ship of its class.

Advance and three other patrol boats were in Darwin Harbour on 25 December 1974, when Cyclone Tracy hit. Advance and managed to escape serious damage, but Attack was forced aground and suffered hull damage, and collided with Stoke's Hill Wharf and sank.

The patrol boat has been maintained in operational condition by the ANMM.

Citations

References

Books

News articles and websites

  • Patrol Boat: HMAS Advance – vessel page at the Australian National Maritime Museum