HMAS Westralia (O 195)

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:	5 November 1973
Launched:	24 July 1975
Commissioned:	9 October 1989
Decommissioned:	16 September 2006
Fate:	Awaiting Disposal
Struck:
General Characteristics
Displacement:	40, 870 tonnes (full load)
Length:	171 m
Beam:	26 m
Draught:
Propulsion:	2 x SEMT–Pielstick 14 PC2-2 V400 diesel engines; one shaft
Speed:	16 knots
Range:
Complement:	Approximately 84
Armament:	Two .50 cal Browning machine gun
Aircraft:	Landing platform only
Motto:	"Faithful and Bold"

HMAS Westralia (O 195) is a modified Stat 32 class replenishment oiler which served with the Royal Australian Navy from 1989 to 2006. The ship was leased from the United Kingdom, where it had previously served with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as RFA Appleleaf. The ship is the second and latest vessel to carry the name HMAS Westralia.

1 History
2 Description
3 See also
4 References

[edit] History

Westralia was laid down on 5 November 1973 by Cammell Laird on the River Mersey in England as the commercial tanker Hudson Cavalier and launched on 24 July 1975. In 1979, the ship was modified for underway replenishment for service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as RFA Appleleaf. The ship operated in this capacity under charter, and was later leased to Australia to fulfill the Royal Australian Navy's need for underway replenishment (termed Repleneshment At Sea, or RAS, by Australian Navy officials) capability. She served as one of two Australian vessels with this capability into 2006.

Westralia operations included participating with Australian forces in the 1991 Gulf War as part of the Multi-National Naval Force in the Persian Gulf. The ship served there as a member of Task Force 627.4 in Operation Damask II from 3 December 1990 to 28 May 1991. This deployment included the distinction of being the first time Australian women had been deployed to a combat zone, as the Westralia counted seven female members in her crew.

On the May 5, 1998 a flexible hose in the ship's engine room burst, the resulting fire caused the deaths of four sailors on board. The fire and deaths lead to an inquiry, this found the training given to the contractors insufficient.

Australia purchased the ship outright in 1994, and she served until her decommissioning on 16 September 2006 at Fleet Base West in Western Australia. About half of Westralia's crew transfered to her replacement, HMAS Sirius, the same day.

[edit] Description

Westralia was a replenishment oiler of conventional design. She was a modified civilian tanker, with the main modfications giving it the capability to fuel and transfer stores to ships at sea. After her purchase outright by Australia, a helicopter landing platform was installed to allow helicopter operations to be conducted, although no helicopters were carried by the ship. For her primary role of fuel replenishment, she carried 25,000 tonnes of fuel, and was capable of relpinshing two vessels simultaneously, with one on each side of the Westralia. These operations could be conducted during the night as well as the day.