HMAS Melbourne’s last visit to Hobart will include Open Day

Guided missile frigate HMAS Melbourne and her 180-strong ship’s company arrived in the City of Hobart today for one of her final port visits before she is decommissioned later this year.

FILE PHOTO (December 1999): Major General Peter Cosgrove is whisked ashore from HMAS Melbourne in Dili Harbour after a brief visit. Photo by Corporal Brian Hartigan for ARMY Newspaper.

The 138-metre-long warship pulled alongside McQuarrie Wharf 2 this morning ahead of a four-day port visit which will include a public open day.

Commanding Officer Commander Marcus Buttler said the visit was bittersweet as it marked the beginning of Melbourne’s decommissioning voyage.

“HMAS Melbourne and her crew have never stopped working hard and were deployed overseas for most of 2018 and 2019,” Commander Buttler said.

“We appreciate the opportunity to pause in a port as beautiful as Hobart.

“We look forward to welcoming the people of Hobart aboard, just as they have welcomed us into port, and showing them what this great ship has been doing on behalf of Australia.”

The last of six Adelaide-class frigates in the Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet, HMAS Melbourne was commissioned in 1992 and has sailed more than 780,000 nautical miles throughout her service life.

She deployed on operations to the Middle East eight times, earning battle honours for service there, as well as in East Timor and the Persian Gulf.

HMAS Melbourne recently completed a four-month deployment through north Asia, including conducting international maritime surveillance operations to enforce sanctions against North Korea.

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