Bay class minehunter

For the Canadian minesweepers, see Bay class minesweeper.

Class overview
Name:	Bay
Operators:	Royal Australian Navy
Preceded by:	Ton class minesweeper
Succeeded by:	Huon class minehunter
In commission:	1986-2001
Planned:	6
Completed:	2
Cancelled:	4
Retired:	2
General characteristics
Type:	Minehunter Inshore
Displacement:	178 tons
Length:	30.9 m (101 ft)
Beam:	9 m (30 ft)
Draught:	2 m (6.6 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × Poyard 520-V8-S2 diesel generators; 650 hp(m) (478 kW); 2 Schottel hydraulic transmission and steering systems (one to each hull)
Complement:	3 officers, 10 crew
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar: Kelvin Hughes Type 1006; I-band Sonar: Atlas Elektronic DSQS-11M; hull-mounted; minehunting; high frequency
Electronic warfare and decoys:	MCM: STN Atlas Elektronic MWS80-5 minehunting system (containerized); ECA 38 mine disposal system with two PAP 104 Mk 3 vehicles; Syledis and GPS precision navigation systems.
Armament:	2 x remote control mine disposal vehicles 2 x 12.7 mm (0.50 in) machineguns

The Bay class Minehunter Inshores were a class of catamaran-hull mine warfare vessels operating with the Royal Australian Navy from 1986. Also referred to as the MHCAT (MineHunter CATamaran), the class was an attempt to produce a locally designed inshore mine warfare vessel.^[1] Two prototype ships were ordered in 1981, with the first ship, Rushcutter, commissioned in November 1986.^[1] The two ships experienced delays in construction, and the RAN resorted to acquiring six minesweeper auxiliaries (MSA) to provide an interim mine-warfare capability, while also keeping Ton class minesweeper HMAS Curlew in service until 1990, well beyond her intended decommissioning date.^[1][2] The ships did not enter service until 1993, due to problems with the sonar.^[3]

Design

One of the identifying features of this class is that vessels have a fibreglass hull constructed with a multi-layer foam sandwich core.^[4][5] No metal is contained in the hull.

Construction

The ships were built by Ramsay Fibreglass, a subsidiary of Carrington Slipways located in Tomago, New South Wales, Australia.^[6] They were constructed in a purpose-built facility and then carried by crane a short distance south to be launched into a small man-made lunching basin off the Hunter River. (Construction site 32°49′44.3″S 151°42′22.4″E / 32.828972°S 151.706222°E / -32.828972; 151.706222) Construction of a third hull was commenced before cancellation of the project occurred. However, this was never completed. It remained at the rear of the facility until the early 2000s.

Deployment restrictions

The small size of the ships limited their ability at sea, and prohibited deployment outside of the Sydney area.^[3] The ships were removed from operational service, and the RAN instead focused on acquiring four to six coastal minesweepers (the Huon class), and maintaining the MSAs as an as-needed inshore mine-warfare force.^[3]

Fate

Both ships in the class were decommissioned on 14 August 2001.^[7] Four additional ships, to be named Westernport, Discovery, Esperance, and Melville, were planned^[8] but never constructed.

Citations

1. ^ ^{a b c} Jones, in The Royal Australian Navy, p. 222
2. ^ Jones, in The Royal Australian Navy, p. 252
3. ^ ^{a b c} Spurling, in The Royal Australian Navy, p. 275
4. ^ Scott, Eleventh International Conference on Composite Materials^{[page needed]}
5. ^ Bay Class Minehunter Inshore Glass Reinforced Plastic Repair Manual Defence Instruction (Navy) ABR 5803, Royal Australian Navy, July 1992.
6. ^ Flapan, NSW Ship & Boat Builders
7. ^ Navy News, Hunters Paid Off
8. ^ Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946, p. 85

References

Books

• Gillett, Ross (1988). Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946. Brookvale, NSW: Child & Associates. ISBN 0867772190. OCLC 23470364. 
• Murray L. Scott (1997). Eleventh International Conference on Composite Materials. Woodhead Publishing. ISBN 9781855733565. http://books.google.com/?id=cqXCHg3FHtYC&pg=PA413&lpg=PA420&dq=%22Bay+class+minehunter%22 
• Stevens, David, ed (2001). The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence (vol III). South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195555422. OCLC 50418095. 
  • Jones, Peter. "Towards Self Reliance"; "A Period of Change and Uncertainty". The Royal Australian Navy. 
  • Spurling, Kathryn. "The Era of Defence Reform". The Royal Australian Navy. 

News articles

• "Hunters Paid Off". Navy News. 2001-09-03. http://www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews/editions/2001/09_03_01/story12.htm. Retrieved 2007-12-02. 

Websites

• Flapan, Mori (21 March 2008). "NSW Ship & Boat Builders". The Register of Australian and New Zealand Ships and Boats. http://www.boatregister.net/NSW_Builders.htm. Retrieved 9 August 2010.