Adelaide Class Frigate

Adelaide Class Frigate

The Adelaide class is a ship class of six guided missile frigates constructed in Australia and the United States of America for service in the Royal Australian Navy. The class is based on the United States Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates, but modified for Australian requirements. The first four vessels were built in the United States, while the other two were constructed in Australia.

The first ship entered service in November 1980, and four of the six ships are active as of 2012. Canberra and Adelaide were paid off in 2005 and 2008 respectively, and later sunk as dive wrecks: their decommissioning was to offset the cost of an A$1 billion weapons and equipment upgrade to the remaining four ships. The four surviving ships will be replaced by the Hobart class air-warfare destroyer from 2013 onwards.