HMAS Moresby (1963)
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| Career (Australia) |  |
|---|---|
| Builder: | State Dockyard Newcastle |
| Laid down: | May 1962 |
| Launched: | 7 September 1963 |
| Commissioned: | 6 March 1964 |
| Decommissioned: | 1998 |
| Renamed: | MV Patricia Anne Hotung (1999) |
| Homeport: | HMAS Stirling |
| Motto: | ”With Science and Vision” |
| Fate: | Sold September [1999] as humanitarian ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2340 tonnes |
| Length: | 95.7 m (314 ft) |
| Beam: | 12.8 m (42 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.81 m mean (12ft 6in) |
| Propulsion: | Diesel Electric, three English Electric diesel engines, 2 electric motors, 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 19 knots |
| Range: | 10,000 miles |
| Boats and landing craft carried: |
3 x 34 ft Survey Motor Boat |
| Capacity: | 372 tons oil fuel |
| Complement: | 146 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
TM 829 radar, Lambda position fixing system, Simrad SU2 sonar, echo sounders, magnetometer |
| Armament: | 2x 40mm Bofors guns (removed 1973) |
| Aircraft carried: |
Westland Scout (1964-1973) Bell 206B-1 Kiowa (1973) |
HMAS Moresby is the first and only ship of the Moresby class of hydrographic survey vessel for the Royal Australian Navy.
Moresby is the second ship named for the explorer Captain John Moresby to fulfill the role of a survey vessel, with her predecessor, the ex-HMS Silvio carrying out the function from 1925 to 1948.
Moresby was launched at the State Dockyard, Newcastle on 7 September 1963 by Mrs Gatacre, the wife of Rear Admiral G. G. O. Gatacre, CB, DSO, DSC. She was commissioned on 6 March 1964 under the command of Commander J. H. S. Osborn, RAN.[1]
Throughout her career in the RAN, Moresby sailed over 1 million miles, and carried out surveys of Torres Strait, the D’Entrecasteaux Channel in Tasmania, Exmouth Gulf, Wilsons Promontory and the Gulf of Papua.[2]
In September, 1999 Moresby was sold to Chinese business interests and renamed MV ‘’Patricia Anne Hotung’’ [3] after the wife of chairman of Hotung Institute of International Affairs Mr Eric Hotung. Mr Hotung reportedly spent over A$1 million on a refit enabling the 95 metre ship to carry 850 passengers[4]
The Patricia Anne Hotung was chartered by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), and transported some 10,000 refugees from the West Timor camps to East Timor between January 2000 and 24 July 2001.
IOM Director General Brunson McKinley described the ship's role as "invaluable" and "a remarkable contribution to the international humanitarian effort to bring East Timorese refugees home to begin rebuilding their devastated country" [5]
[edit] References
- ^ Straczek, John. “The Royal Australian Navy: Ships, Aircraft and Shore Establishments”, Navy Public Affairs, Sydney, 1996. ISBN 1-876-04378-4
- ^ Bastock, John. “Australia’s ships of war”, Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1975. ISBN 0-207-12927-4
- ^ Moresby now a mercy vessel, Navy News, 24 January, 2000
- ^ Maritime Engineers Pty Ltd
- ^ IOM Press Briefing Notes 24 Jul 2001: West Timor. Retrieved 15-1-07)
