HMAS Adelaide (FFG 01) - Decommissioning and Fate

Decommissioning and Fate

Adelaide was originally scheduled to be paid off in November 2006, but delays with the project to upgrade four of Adelaide's sister ships required that she be kept in service for another fourteen months to minimise the impact on the fleet. Adelaide was decommissioned on 19 January 2008 at HMAS Stirling, before she was towed to Sydney and given to the New South Wales Government, which planned to sink her as a dive wreck off the coast near Terrigal: the first military ship dive wreck in New South Wales. After spending time alongside at HMAS Kuttabul, Adelaide was towed to White Bay at a point prior to November 2009.

The ship was prepared for scuttling during late 2009 and early 2010: her mast (which would have become a navigational hazard once the ship was scuttled) was removed, dangerous materials and toxins were removed, and access holes were cut in the ship's flanks. The ship was scheduled to be sunk on 27 March, 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) offshore from Avoca Beach, New South Wales, in 32 metres (105 ft) of water. Local resident action groups campaigned to prevent the scuttling, claiming that the wreck will affect tides and littoral sand drift, and that the removal of chemicals and hazardous materials in the ship has not been thorough enough, with the chance that marine life and people could be poisoned.

An appeal by the protest groups to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal three days before the sinking saw the project placed on hold until the case can be heard in full: supporters and opponents of the dive wreck agreed to participate in mediation in the meantime. The case was to be heard on 5 May, but was later postponed to July. On 15 September, the Tribunal ruled that scuttling of the ship could go ahead after the removal of any remaining wiring, which may contain polychlorinated biphenyls, canvas, insulation, and exfoliating red lead paint. The delays caused by the tribunal hearing meant that the original $5.8 million assigned to the scuttling project was expended, and the tribunal hearing, additional cleanup, and berthing fees brought the cost of the scuttling project to $8.5 million.

A new scuttling date was announced on 24 February 2011 by NSW Lands Minister Tony Kelly, with Adelaide scheduled to be sunk on 13 April 2011, after the additional cleaning ordered by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal was completed in March. Adelaide was towed from Sydney Harbour on the morning of 11 April for the voyage north. The action group attempted to cancel or delay the sinking of the warship; requesting that the New South Wales Ombudsman investigate the government's handling of the artificial reef project, filing a summons in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales on the afternoon of 12 April, and asking an Aboriginal 'whale caller' to summon humpback whales to the planned wreck site. Despite this, the sinking went ahead just before midday on 13 April, after being delayed by over an hour by a pod of dolphins inside the 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) exclusion zone. After the scuttling charges were fired, Adelaide submerged within two minutes.