HMAS Adelaide (FFG 01) - Operational History

Operational History

Following the decommissioning of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne in 1982 and the disbandment of fixed-wing aviation squadrons in 1984, the RAN Fleet Air Arm became focused on helicopter operations, but had minimal experience flying helicopters from small ships. To remedy this, a Bell Kiowa was embarked aboard Adelaide during 1984.

In May 1987, Adelaide visited Fiji, and was alongside in Lautoka when the first of the 1987 Fijian coups d'état occurred on 14 May. Adelaide and sister ship Sydney, alongside in Suva, were instructed to remain off Fiji to aid in any necessary evacuation of Australian citizens; the first component of what became Operation Morris Dance. Adelaide remained on station until at least 29 May, when a phased withdrawal began.

On 3 July 1990, Adelaide became the first Australian warship to visit Tahiti since 1970. On 10 August, Adelaide, sister ship Darwin, and the replenishment ship Success were deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Damask, Australia's participation in the international coalition enforcing sanctions against Iraq following that nation's invasion of Kuwait. Adelaide and Darwin remained in the area until 3 December, and was used for surveillance and boarding operations.

In January 1997, the yachts of Thierry Dubois and Tony Bullimore (competitors in the 1996–97 Vendee Globe solo, round-the-world yacht race), capsized while attempting to cross the Southern Ocean. Adelaide successfully found and rescued the sailors after seven days of searching by ships and aircraft. During late May and early June, the frigate was deployed to the Philippines, and represented Australia at the Philippines Centenary International Naval Review.

Between 17 and 27 May 1998, Adelaide was one of four RAN ships placed on standby, in case Australian citizens required evacuation if the Indonesian riots of May 1998 escalated. The ships were not used. Starting in September, the frigate accompanied the destroyers Hobart and Brisbane on a cruise through South East Asia. During this deployment, the ships were present at a naval review by Indonesian president Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie.

In February 1999, Adelaide was awarded the Duke of Gloucester Cup, awarded to the most efficient ship in the RAN during the previous year. The frigate was deployed to East Timor as part of the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce from 19 September to 19 October.

On 6 October 2001, Adelaide was the ship which intercepted SIEV 4, the event which sparked the Children overboard affair. Under orders to prevent SIEVs from entering Australian waters, Adelaide attempted to warn the craft, carrying over 200 passengers (including children), against crossing from international waters during the night and into 7 October. When the SIEV failed to heed these warnings, Adelaide fired warning shots and initiated a RHIB boarding action, with the boarding party took control of the craft that afternoon. Between this time and when the craft was manoeuvred from Australian territory late the next morning, several attempts were made to sabotage the craft, and some adult passengers jumped or were thrown overboard while others threatened to do so; the fourteen people that entered the water were recovered by the frigate's RHIB and taken back to the SIEV. Adelaide observed the craft as it headed towards Indonesia, and moved in to provide further assistance a few hours later, after systematic sabotage immobilised the small vessel. Adelaide was instructed to take the vessel in tow and head for Christmas Island. The SIEV began to take on water during the afternoon of 8 October, and despite the appearance that the problem had been rectified, the craft sank without warning at 17:00. All aboard were forced into the water, and were rescued by personnel from Adelaide. Reports of the sinking were conflated with information about those who jumped or were thrown overboard the day previous to give the impression that the threat of throwing children overboard had been made or carried out, a story that was later proven false but taken up at the time by the Howard government during the lead-up to the 2001 election to support their campaign promises to tighten border controls and immigration.

From November 2001 to March 2002, Adelaide and the amphibious warfare ship Kanimbla were deployed to the Middle East as part of Operation Slipper, the Australian contribution to the War in Afghanistan. The ships also contributed to the continuing enforcement of the Iraq sanctions. Adelaide returned to the Middle East from July 2004 to January 2005 as part of Operation Catalyst, the Australian contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq following the United States-led invasion in 2003. During this deployment, in December 2004, several gunboats of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard attempted to capture a boarding party after it had inspected the freighter MV Sham, which had grounded near the Iraq-Iran maritime boundary. After completing their inspection, the boarding party returned to their two RHIBs, but were approached by an Iranian gunboat. The boarding party climbed back aboard Sham, took up defensive positions, and, according to BBC reporter Frank Gardner, "warned to back off, using what was said to be 'highly colourful language'." During the next 45 minutes, four more gunboats arrived, and the stand-off lasted for four hours before the Australians were evacuated by Adelaide's Seahawk helicopter. No shots were fired during the incident, and two of the Australians were later awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for their conduct during the stand-off. The Australian Defence Force did not immediately report the incident to the media, as they felt no need to highlight it, and the attempted capture did not come to light until July 2007, when Gardner wrote about it following the capture of 15 British personnel during a similar incident in March 2007.

A March 2010 reorganisation of battle honours awarded to RAN ships saw Adelaide retroactively honoured for her service with INTERFET ("East Timor 1999") and during the War in Afghanistan ("Persian Gulf 2001–02").