HMAS Adelaide

Jan 2008 Update Below:

6.30a.m.on the morning of the 28th January saw local club boats and local dive boats all heading out to sea as the sun came up on the H.M.A.S. Adelaide on a lightning visit to Terrigal.

The Captain kindly did a diversion so we could see her in all her glory before she gets made ready for sinking.

(Photo : Sue Dengate )

The navy frigate did a few wheelies around Terrigal Bay, blew its horn and woke up all the residents in Terrigal. Finally with full steam ahead, leaving a huge white foam wake headed off at high speed to Sydney. Our thanks to all the crew on board the Adelaide for giving Terrigal a private viewing.

(Photo : Sue Dengate )

She now goes into Garden Island Dockyard for equipment to be taken off her with approximately five months for stripping and de-storing, before being handed over to the State Government to make it diver safe and do the Swiss cheese effect. Another step closer in an 8 year dream.

The Defence Minister, Brendan Nelson announced on February 8th 2007 that the escort frigate HMAS Adelaide will be gifted to the New South Wales Government and sunk as a dive wreck and artificial reef in 35 metres off Terrigal.

HMAS Adelaide will decommission late in 2007 at her home port in Rockingham, Western Australia with handover to the New South Wales Government expected in early to mid 2008.

In addition to the warship, the Australian Government will contribute up to $3 million in funding toward the costs of preparing the ship for sinking.

HMAS Adelaide was built in the United States and commissioned in the Royal Australian Navy on 15 November 1980 and is the second ship to carry this name. The first was a light cruiser that served from 1922 to 1945. HMAS Adelaide was the first guided missile frigate to be home ported in Western Australia.

HMAS Adelaide participated in the 1990/91 Gulf War as part of Operation DAMASK, Australia's participation in the international coalition against Iraq 's invasion of Kuwait . More recently, the ship was deployed for peacekeeping operations in East Timor in 1999 and to the Persian Gulf as part of the International Coalition against Terrorism in 2001 and 2004. HMAS Adelaide is 138 metres long, displaces 4100 tonnes and has a crew of 184 as well as helicopter aircrew and maintainers.

The Central Coast is set to be one of the best diving destinations in NSW, having secured an ex-military ship to be sunk as an artificial diving reef at Terrigal.

The HMAS Adelaide will be decommissioned by the end of 2007 and should be ready for divers to explore off Terrigal Skillion Headland from late 2008.

The Central Coast will provide the only military wreck dive in NSW and it will also be the closest site to a major city, being only an hour's drive north of Sydney.

The wreck will be sunk on a sand bank 1km away from shore, between Terrigal Headland and Avoca Beach, with departures by boat from Terrigal.

This new wreck dive site will be providing world class diving for all levels of ability. At its highest point the wreck will be only 10 metres below the surface, which will be suitable for novice divers and snorkelling. More experienced divers will be able to reach 30 metres below the surface for advanced level diving.

The ship will also be providing a valuable research tool to Newcastle University 's Ourimbah Campus, making the university unique by boasting an artificial reef so close to its marine studies campus.

The HMAS Adelaide is a long-range escort frigate that has been serving the Royal Australian Navy since 1980. It is 138 metres long with a beam of 14.3 metres. The ship has served in the 1990/1991 Gulf War, peacekeeping operations in east Timor in 1999 and was deployed in the Arabian Gulf in 2001 and 2004