The Attack class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boats (based on lessons learned through using the Ton-classminesweepers on patrols of Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and to replace a variety of old patrol, search-and-rescue, and general-purpose craft.[1] Initially, fourteen were ordered for the RAN, five of which were intended for the Papua New Guinea Division of the RAN, although another six ships were ordered to bring the class to twenty vessels.[1]
The patrol boats had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load, were 107.6 feet (32.8 m) in length overall, had a beam of 20 feet (6.1 m), and draughts of 6.4 feet (2.0 m) at standard load, and 7.3 feet (2.2 m) at full load.[1][2] Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied 3,460 shaft horsepower (2,580 kW) to the two propellers.[1][2] The vessels could achieve a top speed of 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), and had a range of 1,200 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,400 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).[1][2] The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors.[2] Main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, supplemented by two .50-calibre M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms.[1][2] The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible: the Attacks were to operate in remote regions of Australia and New Guinea, and a town's hardware store would be more accessible than home base in a mechanical emergency.[3]
HMAS Ladava arrived at the RAN base HMAS Tarangau at Los Negros Island, Manus Province in December 1968, joining the previously delivered Aitape, Samarai, and Lae.[5] Primary roles of the new patrol boats were fisheries protection and sea training, but also undertook search and rescue, medical evacuation and monitoring of navigational aids roles. The ship's company was made up of both Australian and PNG servicemen.[5] Prior to the arrival of the Attack-class patrol boats, surveillance of PNG waters was conducted by small coastal craft and occasional visits by larger RAN warships, but the PNG Division was now able to chase and apprehend vessels suspected of illegal fishing.[5]
In February 1968, Ladava and sister shipAitape traveled 231 miles (372 km) up the Sepik River in western Papua New Guinea.[5] In a first for the PNG Division, HMAS Ladava became the first patrol boat to be completely PNG-manned on 18 June 1974, when Lieutenant Karry Frank took command.[5]
^ abcdefGillett, Australian and New Zealand Ships since 1946, p. 86
^ abcdeBlackman (ed.), Jane's Fighting Ships, 1968–69, p. 18
^The patrol boat, Australian National Maritime Museum
^ abGillett, Australian and New Zealand Ships since 1946, p. 87
^ abcdefghSinclair, James (1990). "The Maritime Element". To find a path: the life and times of the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment (Commemorative ed.). Boolarong Publications. ISBN0-7316-9111-3.
