ADV Cape Woolamai

ADV Cape Woolamai at Austal shipyards in Henderson, Western Australia in February 2023
History
Australia
Namesake	Cape Woolamai
Builder	Austal, Henderson, Western Australia
Commissioned	22 June 2023
Homeport	HMAS Coonawarra
Identification	IMO number: 4764111 MMSI number: 503105000 Callsign: VKBU Pennant number: 318
General characteristics
Class and type	Cape-class patrol boat
Length	58.1 m (190 ft 7 in)
Beam	10.6 m (34 ft 9 in)
Draught	3.1 m (10 ft 2 in)
Propulsion	2 x Caterpillar 3516C diesels 6,770 hp (5,050 kW) 2 shafts, 1 bow thruster
Speed	26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph)
Range	4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	25 standard, 32 maximum
Armament	2 × 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns

Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Woolamai, named after Cape Woolamai in Victoria, is an evolved Cape-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).^[1][2]

The ship is the fifth of eight evolved Cape-class patrol boats to be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy. Prior to Cape Woolamai, the RAN already operated the Cape-class patrol boats Cape Fourcroy and Cape Inscription as well as the evolved Cape-class patrol boats Cape Otway, Cape Peron, Cape Naturaliste and Cape Capricorn.^[1][2]

The ship was built by Austal in Henderson, Western Australia, commissioned on 22 June 2023 and is to be based at HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin, Northern Territory.^[1][2]

The ship is one of the original six evolved Cape-class patrol boats the RAN ordered in April 2020 to replace the Armidale-class patrol boats in this role, at a projected cost of A$324 million. This order was subsequently expanded by another two boats in April 2022, at an additional projected cost of $124 million.^[3]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Royal Australian Navy webpage for ADV Cape Woolamai
• Austal: Cape-class Patrol Boat (Austal Patrol 58)