HMAS Flinders (GS 312)
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Other ships
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMAS Flinders (GS 312/A 312), named for Matthew Flinders (1774–1814), was a hydrographic survey ship of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built by HMA Naval Dockyard at Williamstown, Victoria, Flinders was commissioned into the RAN in 1973, and was used to conduct hydrographic surveys in the waters to Australia's north, including parts of New Guinea. In 1974, the ship was tasked with assisting clean up efforts in the wake of Cyclone Tracy, which devastated large parts of Darwin. The ship was decommissioned in 1998 and sold to civilian operators, who have since converted her into a private yacht in the Cayman Islands.
Construction and designEdit
The ship was ordered in 1970 to replace the light survey vessel Template:HMAS.<ref name=Gillett101>Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships Since 1946, p. 101</ref> Flinders was Template:Convert in length overall, with a beam of Template:Convert, a draught of Template:Convert, and a full load displacement of 740 tons.<ref name=Gillett102/> Propulsion was provided by two Paxman Ventura diesel motors connected to twin screws, providing a top speed of Template:Convert and a range of Template:Convert at Template:Convert.<ref name=Gillett102/> The hull was all-welded, and designed to Australian Shipping Board standards for coastal operations.<ref>Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships Since 1946, pp. 101–2</ref> Increased seakeeping ability was imparted through a bulbous bow, high forecastle, and a stabilising system.<ref name=Gillett102/> Most operations were intended to be in the waters of Australia and Papua New Guinea, although Flinders was also capable of limited oceanographic work.<ref name=Gillett101/> The ship's company consisted of 38 personnel, and Flinders carried light-calibre weapons for self-defence.<ref name=Gillett102/>
Flinders was laid down by HMA Naval Dockyard at Williamstown, Victoria, in February 1971.<ref name=Gillett102/><ref name=Bastock393>Bastock, Australia's Ships of War, p. 393</ref> She was launched on 29 July 1972 and commissioned into the RAN on 27 April 1973.<ref name=Gillett102>Gillett, Australian and New Zealand Warships Since 1946, p. 102</ref><ref name=Bastock393/> The ship cost $2,600,000.<ref name=Gillett274>Gillett & Graham, Warships of Australia, p. 274.</ref>
Operational historyEdit
On commissioning, the ship was based in Cairns,<ref name=Gillett102/> and afterwards was used to undertake hydrographic surveys to Australia's north.<ref name=Gillett274/> Following the destruction of Darwin by Cyclone Tracy during the night of 24–25 December 1974, Flinders was deployed as part of the relief effort; Operation Navy Help Darwin.<ref name=NavyHelp>Template:Cite journal</ref> She sailed from Cairns on 26 December, and as the first ship to arrive, Flinders was tasked with surveying the harbour to work out the position of wrecks and the safest areas for the other RAN ships to anchor.<ref name=NavyHelp/> The majority of FlindersTemplate:' survey work was undertaken off the Queensland coast, but in 1976 she undertook operations in the Dampier Strait, in New Guinea waters.<ref name=Gillett274/> From 1980 to 1983 she operated off the coasts of Queensland and Papua New Guinea under Commander James Bond.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1982, Bond and Flinders discovered, surveyed and charted the Hydrographers Passage, providing a faster, more efficient route through the Great Barrier Reef for merchant shipping.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Flinders was decommissioned in 1998.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In October 1999, the ship was sold at auction for A$518,460 to a New Zealand consortium.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> She was remodelled into a private yacht, and now operates as MY Plan B, registered in the Cayman Islands.<ref name="SYT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>