HMAS Manoora (L 52)

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For other ships of this name, see HMAS Manoora.

Career Australia
HMAS Manooraat Fleet Base East
Builder:	National Steel and Shipbuilding Company
Laid down:	19 December 1970
Launched:	7 February 1970
Commissioned:	25 November 1994 (RAN service)
Status:	Active
Homeport:	Fleet Base East
General Characteristics
Displacement:	8,534 tons
Length:	159.2 m
Beam:	21.2 m
Draught:	5.3 m
Propulsion:	6 x ALCO V16 diesel engines, 2,750 hp each driving two shafts (3 engines per shaft)
Speed:	21 knots
Range:	14,000 miles at 14 knots
Boats and landing craft carried:	2 x LCM8 landing craft
Capacity:	400 embarked forces, 955 square metres of useable tank deck space
Complement:	23 naval Officers, 2 army Officers, 197 sailors, 18 soldiers
Armament:	1 × 20 mm Phalanx Mk 15 close–in weapon system, 6 × 12.7 mm Machine guns
Aircraft carried:	4 x Blackhawk or 3 x Sea King
Motto:	"In War and In Peace"
Badge:

HMAS Manoora (L 52) was acquired as a training and helicopter support ship, originally built as the Newport class tank landing ship (LST) USS Fairfax County for the U.S. Navy by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company at San Diego in California. The ship was acquired by the Royal Australian Navy and commissioned as Manoora in 1994, for use as an amphibious transport ship. This required the ship to be extensively reconstructed, essentially making it a new vessel; the second ship of the Kanimbla class.

[edit] Operational History

Manoora has seen active service in the Persian Gulf (2002, 2003) and non-combat service in The Solomon Islands (2000, 2001, 2003) and East Timor (2006).

In 2001, Manoora was involved in a diplomatic incident involving a Norwegian cargo ship, MV Tampa and a group of refugees rescued by Tampa. The refugees were transferred to Manoora, and were then transported to Nauru as part of Australia's "Pacific Solution" asylum seeker program.

Manoora undertook an extensive refit during 2004, allowing the vessel to carry the heavier M1 Abrams.