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2 hours ago

The Tribal class destroyer were some of the most storied destroyers operated by the navies of the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia during the second world war.

Australia built three of the class, with two seeing service in WW2 and the third, commissioning too late for service against the Japanese, saw action against the North Korean and Chinese during the Korean War ...

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2 days ago

The Charles F Adams class destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy were for more than two decades the spear point of the Navy.

The Perth class as they were known, broke new ground for the Navy, the first US ships in the fleet, the first area surface to air missile system, the first automated fire control systems and much more.

They instilled a fierce pride in their crews and a remarkable number of their Commanding Officers ended up as future heads of the Navy and ADF. ...

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3 days ago

Another gallery from the 2018 Regatta. Hi lighting that Task Force 72 is not all grey hulls, firepower and large model ships. The fleet is quite varied, some wonderful model ships from the last hundred years or more. ...

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4 days ago

Now for something a little older.

SMS Emden was the second and final member of the Dresden class of light cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine).

Her name was made by a short but daring career as a raider in the Pacific and Indian ocean during the early months of World War 1, before being trapped and sunk by the cruiser HMAS Sydney in the nascent Australian Navy's first ever surface action. ...

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6 days ago

With several "What If" or "What may have been" type models coming up on our page recently, I thought I'd show a concept of "What may have been" for the RAN. In the early 90s, not long after the PERTH Class DDGs had been upgraded and had PHALANX CIWS installed, there was a concept developed by one of the shipyards to keep them on the front line for the RAN.

This involved replacing the steam turbines with four LM2500 Gas Turbines or two Gas Turbines and four Diesels (CODAG) propulsion. This would have left two huge compartments (#1 Fire Room and #2 Fire Room) virtually empty. The new power plants would have increased their speed to over 40 knots and, with other modernised systems, reduced their crew compliment by nearly 100. #1 & #2 Fire Rooms would have been converted into fuel tanks and expanded accommodation and other uses as the two LM2500 GTs, diesels and Gear Boxes would fit easily into each of the main engine rooms saving a huge amount of space.

The Gas Turbine/Diesel combination reduced fuel usage and the new extra fuel tanks would have effectively doubled their range to well over 10,000 nm at 18 knots. (Cruising around on two GTs or two diesel engines most of the time). With Gas Turbines fitted, a major change to her look would have been the new Uptakes. GTs produce a lot of heat and the way to diffuse it is via large well ventilated uptakes. These are located directly above the engine rooms to clear the exhaust and heat via the most direct route.

The other major change that is clearly visible is the new covered quarter deck with a large RAST (Recover, Assist, Secure, Traverse) helicopter haul down system fitted flight deck, double hanger for two of the then new S-70B SEAHAWKS and moved Mk13 Missile Launcher forward. As you can see the aft Mk42 5 inch gun was removed leaving only Mount 51 5 inch gun in place forward.

Other updates that aren't easily seen were the addition of SPG-60 Fire Control in place of the older Mk68 director on the Gun Direction Platform (GDP) and the SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare (EW) System as used on the ADELAIDE Class FFGs. As you can just see, the plan was to close in the IKARA Missile launcher deck and add in a second large Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) and crane. It was also looked into fitting an 8 cell (2 Quad) launchers for the HARPOON Anti-Shipping Missile midships on what was the IKARA Magazine Deck to free up space in the Mk13 Missile Launcher which could also launch HARPOON.

This upgrade would have made the PERTH Class DDGs a formidable surface combatant and probably one of the most powerful warships of their size anywhere in the world.

I can feel the need for a new model coming on :) ...

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