# Attack-class patrol boat

The Attack-class patrol boats were small coastal defence vessels built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and operated between 1967 and at least 1991. Following their Australian service, twelve ships were transferred to Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

## Construction

Twenty boats were ordered by the Department of Defence in November 1965 at a cost of around A$800,000 each from two Queensland shipyards, Evans Deakin in Brisbane and Walkers in Maryborough. Five were marked for the formation of a "New Guinea coastal security force", while the other fifteen were for patrols and general duties in Australian waters.
The first vessel was scheduled to be commissioned in August 1966, but she was not launched until March 1967.
The inclusion of the Attack class in the RAN fleet led to a smaller scaled down version of the Ships Crest ship's badge design to be created, as it was not deemed appropriate for such small vessels to use the full-size crest. The crest used by the patrol boats and other minor war vessels is scaled down from 755 by 620 millimetres (29.7 by 24.4 in) to 440 by 365 millimetres (17.3 by 14.4 in), with no other alterations to the design.

## Operational history and fates

The Attack class was replaced in RAN service by the larger and more capable Fremantle-class patrol boats.
In 1975, Aitape, Ladava, Lae, Madang, and Samarai were transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force. All five were paid off during the late 1980s, with Aitape sunk as a dive wreck off Port Moresby in 1995.
Acute, Archer, Assail, Attack, Barbette, Bandolier, Barricade, and Bombard were transferred to the Indonesian Navy between 1974 and 1985, and are listed in Jane's Fighting Ships as still operational in 2011.
Arrow was destroyed in Darwin on 25 December 1974 during Cyclone Tracy.
Advance was donated to the Australian National Maritime Museum in the late 1980s for preservation as a museum ship. Ardent was to be preserved as a memorial in Darwin, but was instead sold into civilian service in 2001 and converted into a pleasure craft. Aware was sold to a private owner during the 1990s, who modified her for use as a diving and salvage mothership, then was resold in to new owners in 2006. Bayonet was scuttled in Bass Strait in 1999 and has been successfully dived. Adroit paid off on 28 March 1992 and was sunk as a target by A-4 Skyhawk aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force west of Rottnest Island on 8 August 1994. The remainder of the class were broken up for scrap.

### In fiction

Two Attack-class boats represented the fictional HMAS Ambush in the first series of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation TV series Patrol Boat.

## List of ships

Royal Australian Navy :
| Ship | Pennant | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate |
| Acute | P 81 | Evans Deakin and Company | 26 August 1967 | 26 April 1968 | 6 May 1983 | Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Silea 858) |
| Adroit | P 82 | Evans Deakin and Company | 3 February 1968 | 17 August 1968 | 28 March 1992 | Sunk as target, 8 August 1994 |
| Advance | P 83 | Walkers Limited | 16 August 1967 | 24 January 1968 | 6 February 1988 | Museum ship ANMM, Sydney |
| Archer | P 86 | Evans Deakin and Company | 2 December 1967 | 15 May 1968 | 21 May 1974 | Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Siliman 848) |
| Ardent | P 87 | Evans Deakin and Company | 27 April 1968 | 26 October 1968 | 6 January 1994 | Decommissioned to a navigation training vessel (pennant number A243), paid off December 1998. Sold into civilian service as MV Ardent, purchased by Indonesia in 2002 (KRI Tenggiri 865) |
| Arrow | P 88 | Walkers Limited | 17 February 1968 | 3 July 1968 | | Destroyed at Darwin by Cyclone Tracy on 25 December 1974. |
| Assail | P 89 | Evans Deakin and Company | 18 November 1967 | 21 July 1968 | 18 October 1985 | Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Sigurot 864) |
| Attack | P 90 | Evans Deakin and Company | 17 November 1967 | 8 April 1967 | 21 February 1985 | Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Sikuda 863 |
| Aware | P 91 | Evans Deakin and Company | 7 October 1967 | 21 June 1968 | 17 July 1993 | Sold into private ownership, Bundaberg, Queensland. Scrapped 2011. |
| Bandolier | P 95 | Walkers Limited | 2 October 1968 | 14 December 1968 | 16 November 1973 | Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Sibarau 847) |
| Barbette | P 97 | Walkers Limited | 10 April 1968 | 16 August 1968 | 15 June 1984 | Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Siada 862) |
| Barricade | P 98 | Evans Deakin and Company | 29 June 1968 | 26 October 1968 | 20 May 1982 | Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Sigalu 857) |
| Bayonet | P 101 | Evans Deakin and Company | 6 November 1968 | 22 February 1969 | 26 June 1988 | Scuttled 21 September 1999, Victoria |
| Bombard | P 99 | Evans Deakin and Company | 6 July 1968 | 5 November 1968 | 12 September 1983 | Transferred to Indonesia (KRI Siribua 859) |
| Buccaneer | P 100 | Evans Deakin and Company | 14 September 1968 | 11 November 1969 | 27 July 1984 | Sunk as target, 8 October 1988 |
Royal Australian Navy – Papua New Guinea Division :
| Ship | Pennant | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Fate |
| Aitape | P 84 | Walkers Limited | 6 July 1967 | 13 November 1967 | 14 November 1974 | Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Aitape). Scuttled 1995 |
| Ladava | P 92 | Walkers Limited | 11 May 1968 | 13 November 1967 | 14 November 1974 | Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Ladava) |
| Lae | P 93 | Walkers Limited | 5 October 1967 | 3 April 1968 | 14 November 1974 | Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Lae) |
| Madang | P 94 | Evans Deakin and Company | 10 October 1968 | 28 November 1968 | 14 November 1974 | Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Madang) |
| Samarai | P 85 | Evans Deakin and Company | 14 July 1967 | 1 March 1968 | 14 November 1974 | Transferred to Papua New Guinea, (HMPNGS Samarai) |
The 1998 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships reports that two vessels of a similar design, pennant numbers 860 and 861 (KRI Waigeo), were being operated by the Indonesian Navy. It speculates that these were locally built copies of the class.