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HMAS Adelaide
November 2008 Work on the ex HMAS Adelaide is progressing smoothly, the Navy has finished their work on her, tenders have closed for the next stage and the name of the Company doing the Swiss Cheese effect should be known in a week or two. Sinking date is still around the September/October time next year. July 2008 Update. The Central Coast Artificial Reef Ex-HMAS Adelaide Newsletter Ex HMAS Adelaide - June 2008 Update. It looks now as if the preferred sinking of the Adelaide will be mid October 2009. Les and I attended a meeting of commercially interested people along with about 45 others. The information is that everything is progressing smoothly. The Environmental Impact Studies is one of the things that is going to take a lot of time and work - approximately 10 months - but it is better to be safe than sorry. Certainly all departments involved are really excited about this project and you could feel their excitement throughout the meeting. Will keep you posted as further information comes to hand.
Jan 2008 Update Well all we can say is WOW !!!! We had a morning like no other on the 28th January commencing at 6.30a.m. With local club boats and local dive boats all heading out to sea as the sun came up to see the H.M.A.S. Adelaide whose Captain kindly did a diversion so we could see her in all her glory before she gets made ready for sinking - we thought it would not hurt to ask if they could cruise up and they agreed.
They did a few wheelies around Terrigal Bay , blew their horns 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.
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.
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 Howard 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.
Press Release from Central Coast Tourism
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. Horst Endrulat, CEO of Central Coast Tourism said "The region has been working towards this goal for 6 years, so we are over the moon to see its success and realize our long awaited ship. Over the next 18 months we will all be hard at work ensuring the region is ready for the influx of divers and dive related tourism, which we expect will inject $15 million into the local economy in its first year." 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 Links: Information, images and history on the HMAS Adelaide can be found on the below links. Central Coast Artificial Reef Project |
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