Construction
Torrens and sister ship HMAS Swan were ordered in 1964 as replacements for HMAS Voyager, a destroyer lost following a collision with the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne in 1964. Although intended to be the same as the previous River class ships (themselves based on the British Type 12 frigate), the design was changed from 1965 to incoprorate many of the improvements of the British Leander class frigates. Work on the two vessels started without specifications or a contract, and the evolving design meant changes were being made as the ships were being constructed, with resulting delays and cost increases attributed to a lack of planning.
Torrens was laid down by the Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company Propriety Limited at Sydney, New South Wales on 18 August 1965. She was launched on 28 September 1968 by Dame Zara Holt, and commissioned into the RAN on 19 January 1971. Torrens was the last major war vessel built in an Australian shipyard until work commenced on HMAS Melbourne in 1985.
Read more about this topic: HMAS Torrens (DE 53)
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