HMAS Melville

Australian Defence Magazine: HMAS Melville (A246) will be decommissioned on the 8th August after 24 years of service to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Melville and its sister ship HMAS Leeuwin (A245) were built in Cairns and commissioned into the RAN on 27th May 2000 as hydrographic survey ships.

Their smaller counterparts, the four strong Paluma class coastal survey ships, were retired progressively between 2021 and 2023. The planned decommissioning leaves Leeuwin as the RAN’s lone dedicated hydrographic survey ship.