NAVYPEDIA

Photo

Shoalwater 1987

Ships

Name	No	Yard No	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Comp	Fate
Rushcutter	M80		Carrington Slipways, Tomago	31.5.1984	8.5.1986	1.11.1986	stricken 8.2001
Shoalwater	M81		Carrington Slipways, Tomago	17.9.1985	26.6.1987	10.10.1987	stricken 8.2001

Technical data

Displacement standard, t	100
Displacement full, t	170
Length, m	28.0 wl 31.0 oa
Breadth, m	9.00
Draught, m	1.90
No of shafts	2 Schottel azimuthal pods
Machinery	2 SACM-Poyaud 520-V8-S2 diesel-pumps, 2 hydraulic motors
Power, h. p.	340
Max speed, kts	10
Fuel, t	diesel oil
Endurance, nm(kts)	1200(10)
Armament	2 x 1 - 12.7/90, 2x PAP-104 USV, Mini-Dyad magnetic minesweeping gear
Electronic equipment	M80: type 1006 radar, MWS-80-5 (DSQS-11M) sonar M81: type 1006 radar, Ibis V sonar
Complement	13

Graphics

Project history

Tenders for two prototype glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) catamaran minehunters were sought in April 1981 and orders were placed in January 1983. It was hoped to order four more (Westernport, Discovery, Esperance, Melville) following trials and evaluation but the hull proved too small for coastal work and severe problems were encountered with the sonar, so the project was stopped. In 1991 Thomson Sintra leased its Ibis V system for trials in Shoalwater, and early in 1992 Atlas Elektronik installed their new DSQS-11M in Rushcutter for competitive trials. The German sonar passed acceptance and was retrofitted to Shoalwater.

Modernizations

late 1980s, Shoalwater: - Ibis V sonar; + MWS-80-5 (DSQS-11M) sonar

Naval service

No significant events.