HMAS Yarra (DE 45)

For other ships with the same name, see HMAS Yarra.

HMAS Yarra (F07/DE 45), named for the Yarra River, was a River-class destroyer escort of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).^[1] The antisubmarine warship operated from 1961 to 1985.

HMAS Yarra (DE 45) underway circa 1962
History
Australia
Namesake	The Yarra River
Builder	Williamstown Naval Dockyard
Laid down	9 April 1957
Launched	30 September 1958
Commissioned	27 July 1961
Decommissioned	22 November 1985
Motto	"Hunt and Strike"
Honours and awards	Battle honours: Malaysia 1964–1966 Plus four inherited honours
Fate	Broken up for scrap
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	River-class destroyer escort
Displacement	2,750 tons full load
Length	112.8 m (370 ft)
Beam	12.49 m (41.0 ft)
Draught	5.18 m (17.0 ft)
Propulsion	2 × English Electric steam turbines 2 shafts; 30,000 shp total
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement	250
Sensors and processing systems	LW-02 long range air warning radar 1979: Mulloka sonar system SPS-55 surface-search/navigation radar Mark 22 fire control radar
Armament	Original: 2 × 4.5-inch (110 mm) Mk 6 guns 2 × Limbo Mk 10 anti-submarine mortars (both later removed) 2 × 40-millimetre (1.6 in) Bofors (later removed) '1965 refit: 1 × quad Seacat SAM launcher 1979 refit: 1 × Ikara ASW system
Notes	Taken from:[1]

Construction

Yarra was laid down by the Williamstown Naval Dockyard at Melbourne, Victoria on 9 April 1957.^[1] An enhanced derivative of the Royal Navy's Type 12 frigate, Yarra was one of four ships constructed to provide an anti-submarine warfare capability for the RAN.^[2] She was launched on 30 September 1958 by Lady McBride, wife of the Minister for Defence and commissioned into the RAN on 27 July 1961.^[1]

Operational history

Yarra operated during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation; during a three-week patrol in June 1965, the ship fired on an Indonesian incursion force near Sabah.^[3] The ship's service was later recognised with the battle honour "Malaysia 1964–66".^[4][5]

In 1983, Yarra was accompanied by the patrol boats Warrnambool and Ipswich on a deployment to South-East Asia for the multinational Exercise Starfish.^[6]

Decommissioning and fate

Yarra paid off 22 November 1985.^[1] She was sold for scrap.