HMAS Hobart (D 39)

HMAS Hobart in California, 1992
History
Australia
Namesake	City of Hobart
Builder	Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Michigan, US
Laid down	26 October 1962
Launched	9 January 1964
Commissioned	18 December 1965
Decommissioned	12 May 2000
Motto	"Sic Fortis Hobartia Crevit" (Thus Did Hobart Grow Strong)
Honours and awards	Battle honours: Vietnam 1967–70 plus eight inherited honours Awards: Navy Unit Commendation (United States)
Fate	Sunk as dive wreck 5 November 2002
General characteristics
Class and type	Perth-class guided missile destroyer
Displacement	3,370 tons standard 4,618 tons full load
Length	440 ft 3 in (134.19 m) length overall 420 ft (130 m) between perpendiculars
Beam	47 ft 1 in (14.35 m)
Draught	15 ft 3 in (4.65 m) maximum
Propulsion	2 × General Electric steam turbines, 70,000 shp (52,000 kW), 2 shafts
Speed	35 knots (65 km/h; 40 mph)
Range	6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	20 officers, 312 sailors
Armament	1 × Mk 13 launcher for Tartar, then Standard missiles 2 × 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 guns 2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tube sets 2 × Ikara anti-submarine missile launchers (removed 1989) 2 × Phalanx CIWS (installed 1991)

HMAS Hobart (D 39) was a Perth-class guided missile destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built in the United States of America to a slight variant of the United States Navy (USN) Charles F. Adams class, she was commissioned into the RAN in 1965. In March 1967, Hobart became the first RAN combat ship deployed to fight in the Vietnam War. This marked the start of consistent six-month deployments to the warzone, which continued until late 1971; Hobart was redeployed in 1969 and 1970. During the 1968 tour, the destroyer was attacked by a United States Air Force aircraft.

After the Vietnam War, Hobart saw service during Operation Navy Help Darwin; the RAN disaster relief effort following Cyclone Tracy, was the first RAN ship to dock at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, and completed a round-the-world voyage in 1976. The ship was modernised during the late 1970s. Hobart was decommissioned in 2000, and sunk as a dive wreck off South Australia.