HMAS Jervis Bay (GT 203) was a roll-on/roll-off passenger and vehicle ferry operated by the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN) between 1977 and 1994. Built during the late 1960s as the Australian National Line vessel Australian Trader, the ship was leased to the RAN in 1977 for use as a training ship and troop transport. After decommissioning in 1994, the vessel was sold into civilian service and operated in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf before being scrapped

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

 in 2004.

Design and construction

The vessel was built as Australian Trader for the Australian National Line (ANL) by New South Wales State Dockyard in Newcastle, New South Wales. The vessel had a displacement of 8770 tonnes (8,631.5 LT) at standard load and 8195 tonnes (8,065.5 LT) at full load, a length of 445 feet (135.6 m) overall, a beam of 70.5 feet (21.5 m), and a draught of 20 feet (6.1 m). Australian Trader was propelled by two 16 PC 2V400 Pielstick diesels, which supplied 6500 shp to the vessel's two propeller shafts, and allowed her to reach 19.5 knots (10.6 m/s). The ship was also fitted with a bow thruster. A stern door allowed for the embarking and disembarking of vehicles. Australian Trader laid down on 18 August 1967, launched on 17 February 1969, and was completed on 17 June 1969.

Operational history

The ship was used by ANL as a cross-Bass Strait

Bass Strait

Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...

 ferry.

Starting on 6 October 1976, the RAN began to show interest in acquiring Australian Trader, for use as a training ship and troop transport. Australian Trader was marked by ANL as surplus in November 1976, and was sold to the RAN for $5.07 million. The ship was handed over to the RAN on 28 January 1977, and began $720,000 worth of modifications for naval service, which included the installation of a new navigation bridge and the refitting of some passenger cabins into classrooms. The vessel was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Jervis Bay on 25 August. Modification was not completed until January 1978. Jervis Bay replaced the destroyer in the training role, with Duchess decommissioning in October 1977.

Jervis Bays primary role was to facilitate the seamanship and navigation training of officer cadets, with logistic transport of Australian Army

Australian Army

The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...

 soldiers and equipment seen as a back-up capability. In RAN service, the ship's company consisted of 14 officers and 163 sailors, with up to 76 trainees embarked at any time. The ship did not carry any fitted weapons, and relied on small arms

Small arms

Small arms is a term of art used by armed forces to denote infantry weapons an individual soldier may carry. The description is usually limited to revolvers, pistols, submachine guns, carbines, assault rifles, battle rifles, multiple barrel firearms, sniper rifles, squad automatic weapons, light...

 for defence. The vessel's first training cruise occurred in February 1978. In December 1980, trials to mate Jervis Bay with the landing craft were successfully performed in Sydney Harbour. In 1987, the deckhouse was removed, and the ship's aft deck was strengthened to allow a single Sea King

Westland Sea King

The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines , British made anti-submarine warfare systems and a...

 or similar helicopter; more extensive plans to allow the embarkation of a flight of six helicopters were shelved.

Jervis Bay paid off on 18 April 1994, and was sold on 7 December 1994 to the Greek company Med Link Lines, which renamed the ship MS Agios Andreas and operated her as a passenger ferry in the Mediterranean. She was sold in 2003 to Ajman lines renamed MS Ajman Leader and operated in the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 out of Dubai. She was sold in 2004 for scrap, and renamed MS Ajman City for the delivery voyage to Alang, India. She arrived at Alang in September 2004, where she was pulled up the beach and scrapped.

External links

Fakta om Fartyg: Australian Trader