HMAS Geelong (FCPB 215)

{{main|Fremantle-class patrol boat}}

Starting in the late 1960s, planning began for a new class of patrol boat to replace the {{sclass|Attack|patrol boat|4}}, with designs calling for improved seakeeping capability, and updated weapons and equipment.Mitchell, Farewell to the Fremantle class, p. 105 The Fremantles had a full load displacement of {{convert|220|t}}, were {{convert|137.6|ft}} long overall, had a beam of {{convert|24.25|ft}}, and a maximum draught of {{convert|5.75|ft}}.Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 89 Main propulsion machinery consisted of two MTU series 538 diesel engines, which supplied {{convert|3200|shp}} to the two propeller shafts. Exhaust was not expelled through a funnel, like most ships, but through vents below the waterline. The patrol boat could reach a maximum speed of {{convert|30|kn}}, and had a maximum range of {{convert|5000|nmi}} at {{convert|5|kn}}. The ship's company consisted of 22 personnel. Each patrol boat was armed with a single Bofors 40mm gun as main armament, supplemented by two .50 cal Browning machineguns and an 81 mm mortar, although the mortar was removed from all ships sometime after 1988.{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} The main weapon was originally to have been two 30-mm guns on a twin-mount, but the reconditioned Bofors were selected to keep costs down; provision was made to install an updated weapon later in the class' service life, but this did not eventuate.Jones, in Stevens, The Royal Australian Navy, p. 222Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 88

Geelong was laid down by NQEA in Cairns, Queensland on 15 November 1982, launched on 14 April 1984, and commissioned into the RAN on 2 June 1984.Moore, Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86, p. 26Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Geelong (II)

Geelong was decommissioned at {{HMAS|Coonawarra}} on 8 July 2006. The patrol boat was broken up for scrap in Darwin during 2006 and 2007, at a cost of $450,000 to the Australian government.{{Citation |author=Australian National Audit Office|date=5 February 2015 |title=Management of the Disposal of Specialist Military Equipment |type=Report |url=http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22publications%2Ftabledpapers%2F7941c678-26dd-4f9e-8822-4ad155db9698%22 |publisher=Government of Australia |page=62 |accessdate=24 April 2015}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book |last=Gillett |first=Ross |title=Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946 |year=1988 |publisher=Child & Associates |location=Brookvale|isbn=0-86777-219-0 |oclc=23470364}}
• {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Peter |editor=Stevens, David |title=The Royal Australian Navy |series=The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III) |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press|location=South Melbourne|isbn=0-19-555542-2 |oclc=50418095 |chapter=Towards Self Reliance}}
• {{cite book |last=Mitchell |first=Brett |editor=Forbes, Andrew |editor2=Lovi, Michelle |title=Australian Maritime Issues 2006 |publisher=Sea Power Centre|year=2007 |series=Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs |issue=19 |issn=1327-5658 |chapter=Farewell to the Fremantle Class |isbn=978-0-642-29644-3 |url=http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/PIAMA19.pdf |accessdate=12 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613185344/http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/PIAMA19.pdf |archivedate=13 June 2011 }}
• The chapter is available separately as Semaphore, Issue 17, 2005 in [https://web.archive.org/web/20090514185457/http://www.navy.gov.au/w/images/Semaphore_2005_17.pdf PDF] and [http://www.navy.gov.au/Publication:Semaphore_-_Issue_17%2C_2005 HTML] formats.
• {{cite book|editor-last=Moore|editor-first=John|title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1985–86|year=1985|publisher=Janes Information Services|location=London|isbn=0-7106-0814-4}}

• {{cite web|title=HMAS Geelong (II)|url=http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-geelong-ii |publisher=Royal Australian Navy |date=26 March 2015}}

{{Fremantle class patrol boat}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geelong}}

Category:Ships built in Queensland

Category:Fremantle-class patrol boats

Category:1984 ships

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