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HMAS Bombard(P99)
Commissioned 17th July 1965 ... Paid off 15th October 1983
Sister Ships:
Acute, Adroit, Advance, Aitape, Samarai, Archer, Ardent, Arrow, Assail, Aware, Ladava, Lae, Madang, Bandoiler, Barbette, Barricade, Buccaneer, Bayonet.Displacement:
100 tons standard (146 tons full load)Armament:
1 x 40 mm gun, 1 x 81 mm mortar, 2 x .50 calibre machine guns. Mines and depth charges could also be carriedDimensions:
Length: 32.76 metres (107.5 ft), Beam: 6.2 metres (20 ft), Draught: 1.9 metres (6.2 ft).Propulsion:
Two 16 cylinder Davey-Paxman Ventura turbocharged diesel engines developing 3,460 hp, driving two shafts = 24 knots (44 kph)
Range:
1220 nm @ 13 knotsComplement:
19.
Builders:
Walkers in Marybourough & Evans Deakin in BrisbaneLaunched:
16th July 1968.Commissioned:
5th november 1968.Paid Off:
12th September 1983.Fate:
Transferred to Indonesian Navy and renamed Siribua, Status unknown.HMAS Bombard Related links:
Brent's Blog (with video) -- Ships Motion report -- HMAS Bombard and others -- Naval Historical SocietyTV Week, April 7-13 1979
"The star of ABC’s Patrol Boat, HMAS Bombard, has been towed back to Sydney for repairs after a fire onboard caused extensive damage. ABC is now rescheduling filming as the stand-in boat, HMAS Advance, is about to be recalled for official duty."
As a member of the crew at that time I was part of the making of "Patrol Boat" a successful TV series but one in which our hull number of 99 was changed to 83, that of HMAS Advance, for continuity. Advance started the series but was soon deployed north, leaving Bombard to take on the role. This hull number change was later to prove a source of confusion when a serious engine room fire left us dead in the water, pre-dawn,
receive capability communications only (due to a load stone peninsular - Point Perpendicular) and a changing ionosphere with dawn. One spotter plane,(a Grumman Tracker from HMAS Albatross) who was looking for us, (now over due) overflew us but mistook us for the Advance (83) and continued on looking for Bombard 99.
Needless to say we were found and towed to harbour, the engines were replaced, a new funnel bolted on, some lagging, a lick of paint and we were off again (6 months in Garden Island). From that point, all Patrol boats in the fleet were fitted with "engine room exhaust fan shutdown switches" on the outside of the main engine room hatch, as prior to this incident it was located down with the engines.
Over her 18 years of service HMAS Bombard circumnavigated Australia, patrolled for illegal fishing vessels and refugees, assigned as "Safety Tug" for the nuclear powered submarine, USS Gurnaard (SSN-662), many deployments to Bass Strait for Oil Rig Survellance (BSORS), goodwill portcalls, torpedo sounding target for the Oberon Class submarine, Oxley and the list goes on.
