{{short description|Australian, then PNG, naval vessel}} {{Use Australian English|date=April 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=HMASAdvancecrop.jpg |image_caption={{HMAS|Advance|P 83|6}}, a sister ship to ''Samarai'' }}
|section2={{Infobox ship/career |country=Australia |flag={{shipboxflag|Australia|naval}} |namesake=Island and town of Samarai, Papua New Guinea |builder=Evans Deakin and Company |laid_down= |launched=14 July 1967 |commissioned=1 March 1968 |decommissioned=14 November 1974 |nickname= |honours= |fate=Transferred to Papua New Guinea |notes= |badge= }}
|section3={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header=title |country=Papua New Guinea |flag={{shipboxflag|Papua New Guinea|naval}} |name= |acquired= |commissioned=14 November 1974 |decommissioned=1987{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} |motto= |nickname= |honours= |fate=Used as parts hulk{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} |notes= |badge= }}
|section4={{Infobox ship/characteristics |class={{sclass|Attack|patrol boat}} |displacement=*100 tons standard *146 tons full load |length={{convert|107.6|ft|abbr=on}} length overall |beam={{convert|20|ft|m|abbr=on}} |draught=*{{convert|6.4|ft|abbr=on}} at standard load *{{convert|7.3|ft|m|abbr=on}} at full load |propulsion=*2 × 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines *{{convert|3460|shp|abbr=on}} *2 shafts |speed={{convert|24|kn}} |range={{cvt|1200|nmi}} at {{convert|13|kn}} |complement=3 officers, 16 sailors |sensors= |EW= |armament=*1 × Bofors 40 mm gun *2 × .50-calibre M2 Browning machine guns *Small arms |notes= }} }} '''HMAS ''Samarai'' (P 85)''', named after the island of Samarai and its former town, was an {{sclass|Attack|patrol boat}} of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Completed in 1968, the vessel was one of five assigned to the RAN's Papua New Guinea (PNG) Division. The patrol boat was transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in 1974 as '''HMPNGS ''Samarai'''''. She remained in service until 1987, when she was paid off and used as a parts hulk.
==Design and construction== {{main|Attack-class patrol boat}} The ''Attack'' class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boats (based on lessons learned through using the {{sclass2|Ton|minesweeper}}s on patrols of Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and to replace a variety of old patrol, search-and-rescue, and general-purpose craft.<ref name=Gillett86/> 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.<ref name=Gillett86/>
The patrol boats had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load, were {{convert|107.6|ft}} in length overall, had a beam of {{convert|20|ft|m}}, and draughts of {{convert|6.4|ft}} at standard load, and {{convert|7.3|ft|m}} at full load.<ref name=Gillett86>Gillett, ''Australian and New Zealand Ships since 1946'', p. 86</ref><ref name=Janes68>Blackman (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships, 1968–69'', p. 18</ref> Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied {{convert|3460|shp}} to the two propellers.<ref name=Gillett86/><ref name=Janes68/> The vessels could achieve a top speed of {{convert|24|kn}}, and had a range of {{convert|1200|nmi}} at {{convert|13|kn}}.<ref name=Gillett86/><ref name=Janes68/> The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors.<ref name=Janes68/> Main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, supplemented by two .50-calibre M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms.<ref name=Gillett86/><ref name=Janes68/> The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible: the ''Attack''s 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.<ref name=ANMM>''The patrol boat'', Australian National Maritime Museum</ref>
''Samarai'' was built by Evans Deakin and Company at Brisbane, Queensland.<ref name=Gillett87>Gillett, ''Australian and New Zealand Ships since 1946'', p. 87</ref> ''Samarai'' was launched on 14 July 1967,<ref name=Sinclair/> and commissioned on 1 March 1968.<ref name=Gillett87/>
==Operational history== ''Samarai'' arrived in Port Moresby on 16 April 1968, before travelling with her sister ship ''Aitape'' for her home port at the RAN base {{HMAS|Tarangau}} at Los Negros Island, Manus Province on 3 January 1968.<ref name=Sinclair>{{cite book |last=Sinclair |first=James |title=To find a path: the life and times of the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment |year=1990 |publisher=Boolarong Publications |isbn=0-7316-9111-3 |edition=Commemorative |chapter=The Maritime Element}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Sinclair/> 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.<ref name=Sinclair/>
''Samarai'' was one of the five ''Attack''-class patrol boats of the RAN PNG Division transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force's (PNGDF) Maritime Element (now Maritime Operations Element) on 14 November 1974 when the PNGDF took over maritime functions from the RAN.<ref name=Sinclair/> They formed the PNGDF Patrol Boat Squadron based at Manus.<ref name=Sinclair/>
''Samarai'' was paid off in 1987, and was used as a parts hulk.{{citation needed|date=December 2012}}
==Citations== {{reflist}}
==References== *{{cite book |editor=Blackman, Raymond |title=Jane's Fighting Ships, 1968–69 |edition=71st |year=1968 |publisher=Jane's Publishing Company |location=London |oclc=123786869}} *{{cite book |last=Gillett |first=Ross |title=Australian and New Zealand Warships since 1946 |year=1988 |publisher=Child & Associates |location=Brookvale, NSW |isbn=0-86777-219-0 |oclc=23470364}} *{{cite book |title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1998–99 |editor=Sharpe, Richard |publisher=Jane's Information Group |location=Coulsdon, Surrey |year=1998 |edition=101st |isbn=0-7106-1795-X |oclc=39372676}} *{{cite web |url=http://www.anmm.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=1369 |title=The patrol boat |publisher=Australian National Maritime Museum |access-date=30 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706121634/http://www.anmm.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=1369 |archive-date=6 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}
{{Attack class patrol boat}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samarai}} Category:Attack-class patrol boats Category:Ships built in Queensland Category:1967 ships