Today the former Oliver Hazard Perry class (or Adelaide class) guided missile frigate HMAS Sydney will depart through her namesake city’s heads for the last time.
Minister for Defence Personnel Dan Tehan said Ex-HMAS Sydney would be towed to WA for recycling by Australian company Birdon Pty Ltd.
“Ex-HMAS Sydney had an illustrious career during her 32 years in service with the Royal Australian Navy,” Minister Tehan said.
“The Adelaide Class Frigate was involved in operations spanning the Middle East, East Timor, Fiji and the Solomon Islands and earned a Meritorius Unit Citation during the First Gulf War in 1991.
“She was built at the Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle, Washington, USA, and commissioned there on 29 January 1983.
“The former Sydney was decommissioned from the Royal Australian Navy on 7 November 2015 to make way for the Hobart class guided missile destroyers, which will provide Australia with an improved war fighting capability.”
Ex-HMAS Sydney’s journey from Sydney to the Common User Facility at Henderson, WA, will take up to 22 days.
Sydney had been offered to States and Territories for use as a dive wreck, however, there was no interest in the ship, so the Government decided to recycle her by scrapping.
On Monday, the AWD Alliance successfully loaded out the mast onto the hull of the next and fifth warship to proudly bear the name,Ship 03 Sydney, following the Mast Stepping Ceremony that was held last week. The Mast Stepping Ceremony celebrates a long standing naval tradition, dating back to the ancient Romans, which involves placing a coin under the mast of a ship for good luck.