HMAS Lae ( P 93 ) HMAS " Lae " ( P 93 ) was an " Attack " class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy ( RAN ) . It was named for the city of Lae , capital of Morobe Province , Papua New Guinea . Completed in 1968 , the vessel was one of five assigned to the RAN ' s Papua New Guinea ( PNG ) Division . The patrol boat was transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in 1974 as HMPNGS " Lae " . She remained in service until 1988 . Design and construction . The " Attack " class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boat s ( based on lessons learned through using the Ton class minesweeper s on patrols of Borneo during the Indonesia - Malaysia Confrontation , and to replace a variety of old patrol , search - and - rescue , and general - purpose craft . Initially , fourteen were ordered for the RAN , five of which were intended for the Papua New Guinea Division of the RAN , although another six ships were ordered to bring the class to twenty vessels . The patrol boats had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load , were in length overall , had a beam of , and draughts of at standard load , and at full load . Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16 - cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines , which supplied to the two propellers . The vessels could achieve a top speed of , and had a range of at . The ship ' s company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors . Main armament was a bow - mounted Bofors 40 mm gun , supplemented by two . 50 calibre M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms . The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible : the " Attack " s were to operate in remote regions of Australia and New Guinea , and a town ' s hardware store would be more accessible than home base in a mechanical emergency . " Lae " was built by Walkers Limited of Maryborough , Queensland , launched on 5 October 1967 , and commissioned on 3 April 1968 . Operational history . Primary roles of the new patrol boats were fisheries protection and sea training , but also undertook search and rescue , medical evacuation and monitoring of navigational aid s roles . The ship ' s company was a made up of both Australian and PNG servicemen . Prior to the arrival of the " Attack " - class patrol boats , surveillance of PNG waters was conducted by small coastal craft and occasional visits by larger RAN warships , but the PNG Division was now able to chase and apprehend vessels suspected of illegal fishing . The first arrest of a foreign fishing vessel by the new patrol boats was made by " Lae " in November 1968 when they responded to a radio report and surprised the Taiwanese " Chin Hong Ming " . The vessel was boarded and escorted to Medang . In January 1970 , " Lae " responded to rescue operations in the Whitsunday Islands when they were hit by Cyclone Ada . Over three days , the patrol boat battle large seas delivering medical supplies to islands and evacuating injured people , including tourists from Hayman Island at the height of the storm . The vessel ' s commander , Lieutenant John Scott , RAN , was awarded an MBE for leadership during the rescue efforts , while two other personnel were awarded the BEM . While on patrol in July 1970 , " Lae " struck a shallow reef and was pulled off with the aid of sister ships " Aitape " and " Samarai " , fortunately suffering little damage . " Lae " was one the five " Attack " - class patrol boats of the RAN PNG Division transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force ' s ( PNGDF ) Maritime Element ( now Maritime Operations Element ) on 14 November 1974 when the PNGDF took over maritime functions from the RAN . They formed the PNGDF Patrol Boat Squadron based at Manus . " Lae " was decommissioned in 1988 .