Ex-Royal Australian Navy patrol boat to be put on public display in namesake city

A decommissioned Royal Australian Navy (RAN) patrol boat has arrived in the city of Townsville in northeastern Queensland, where she will be put on permanent public display.

Ex-HMAS Townsville was one of 15 Fremantle-class patrol boats built and operated by the RAN. The vessel entered service in July 1981 and was gifted to her namesake city’s maritime museum following her decommissioning in May 2007.

Townsville has been relocated from the Townsville Marine Precinct where she underwent remediation works, to a new display position at the slipway on Ross Street in South Townsville.

"Named after the city of Townsville, often visiting the port and occasionally crewed by RAN members originating from Townsville, the vessel holds special memorial, spiritual and social significance," said Robert De Jong, Curator at the Maritime Museum of Townsville.

"The vessel was decommissioned in Cairns and gifted to the Maritime Museum of Townsville by the Commonwealth Department of Defence."

"The move was no small undertaking, with the vessel being towed on water under escort from the Townsville Marine Precinct to the Port of Townsville, then down Ross Creek where she was secured into place on the disused slipway on Ross Street," said Port of Townsville Chief Executive Officer Ranee Crosby.

Members of the public who are interested in viewing Townsville can do so from Lighthouse Park on Palmer Street and various other vantage points along both sides of Ross Creek.