HMAS Armidale, the first of twelve Armidale-class patrol boats officially entered Royal Australian Navy service in June. The class, built by Austal Shipyard in Henderson, Western Australia, has been progressing rapidly since construction began. Armidale was named on 21 January 2005 and delivered in April. Following the successful completion of her yard and mission trial she was commissioned into service on 24 June. The 56-meter monohull craft will be based in Darwin while subsequent craft are expected to sail out of either Cairns or Darwin. According to the Royal Australian Navy, Armidale's missions will consist primarily of "surveillance, interception, investigation, apprehension, and the escort to port of vessels suspected of illegal fisheries, quarantine, customs, or immigration offences." The patrol craft will likely play an important role in homeland and port security, not to mention local anti-terrorism operations. The Armidale-class will patrol relatively close to shore, likely operating for roughly three weeks at a time within Australian maritime jurisdictional zones. She is armed with a 25-mm Bushmaster cannon and carries a rigid inflatable boat at her stern.
On 27 June, the Swedish air independent propulsion (AIP) submarine Gotland, and her crew, arrived in San Diego via a transport ship from Sweden. Under a bilateral agreement between Sweden and the United States, Gotland will be home-ported in San Diego for one year, during which time she will assist with various training opportunities and serve as the opposing force-OPFOR-during at-sea antisubmarine warfare exercises for U.S. aircraft carrier and expeditionary strike groups. Two sister submarines, Halland and Uppland, were not covered under the agreement and will remain in Sweden.
As a part of the 200th anniversary celebrations commemorating the British victory at Trafalgar, 167 warships from 35 nations gathered in and around Portsmouth Naval Base during June and July for what the London Daily Telegraph dubbed the, "biggest international display of sea power in British waters since the Normandy invasion." Interestingly, the largest vessel on display at the event was the 262-meter, 40,000-ton French nuclear powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. The Royal Navy aircraft carriers HMS Invincible and Illustrious (right) also took part in the festivities, as did ships from six continents and from as far away as Japan, Indonesia, Uruguay, and South Africa. Additional festivities are planned throughout the year in honor of Lord Nelson's 21 October 1805 victory off Cape Trafalgar.
Combat Fleets
By Eric Wertheim, Editor, <i>Combat Fleets of the World</i>