The Flagship
176th AUSTRALIA DAY REGATTA – THE FLAGSHIP
The Flagship of the 176th Australia Day Regatta will be the guided missile frigate HMAS Sydney.
Five ships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) have been, or will be, named HMAS Sydney, for Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales and birthplace of the nation.
• HMAS Sydney (1912), a Chatham-class light cruiser launched in 1912, decommissioned in 1928, and broken up for scrap
• HMAS Sydney (D48), a Modified Leander-class light cruiser launched in 1934, and sunk following an engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran on 19 November 1941.
• HMAS Sydney (R17), a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier launched in 1944, decommissioned in 1973, and broken up for scrap
• HMAS Sydney (FFG 03), an Adelaide-class guided missile frigate launched in 1980, expected to remain in service until 2013
• HMAS Sydney (DDGH 42), the third of Australia’s Hobart-class guided-missile destroyers is scheduled to enter service in 2017
The current HMAS Sydney, is one of four guided missile frigates currently in service with the Royal Australian Navy. She has recently been extensively upgraded. Sydney is a long-range escort with the ability to provide area air defence, anti-submarine and anti-shipping warfare, surveillance, reconnaissance and interdiction.
She can counter simultaneous threats from the air, sea surface and under water. Sydney has been deployed to the Middle East four times. On the first occasion she took part in Operation Desert Storm, the action against Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War, for which she earned a Meritorious Unit Citation. She later supported UN sanctions against Iraq in 1991/92 and 1993. Sydney was also deployed to East Timor in support of INTERFET in 1999 and in 2000, and supported the efforts to bring peace to the Solomon Islands. Her fourth deployment to the Middle East was during the height of the Iraq War in 2003 in support of allied forces.
She is the fourth ship to carry the name Sydney and she is the proud inheritor of eight “battle honours”, more than any other RAN unit. Notable actions of former ships include the sinking of the German light cruiser SMS Emden by Sydney (I) in World War I. During World War II, Sydney (II) sank the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni, damaged another and shared in the destruction of an Italian destroyer.
On 19 November 1941, Sydney (II) was lost with all hands in battle against the German Raider Kormoran, which was also sunk. This loss of 645 sailors represented over a third of the RAN’s casualties during WWII. The wreck was rediscovered in 2008. Sydney (III), a light carrier, operated with distinction in the Korean and Vietnam conflicts.
The present HMAS Sydney was also flagship of the 150th Australia Day Regatta in 1986 and the 160th Regatta in 1996.