HMAS

Broome

(II)

HMAS Broome was one of 14 Armidale-class patrol boats (ACPB) constructed for the Royal Australian Navy. The ship was built by Austal Ships at Henderson, Western Australia, as part of a $553 million contract between the Federal Government and Defence Maritime Services.

The Armidale class vessels have continued the legacy of service established by the RAN’s former Attack- and Fremantle-class patrol boats. The larger, more capable ACPBs were characterised by good seakeeping qualities, improved range and endurance, and a state-of-the-art surveillance system. They have contributed significantly over the last two decades to myriad border protection and maritime security operations, both in Australian waters and throughout the south-west Pacific.

HMAS Broome (II) was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy at a ceremony in Broome on 10 February 2007. The Commissioning Guest of Honour was Mrs Anne Zilko, daughter of CMDR Bill Ritchie RANR, who had served in HMAS Broome (I) during the Second World War. Other guests included the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Russ Shalders, AO, CSC, RAN, the commander of the Australian fleet, Rear Admiral Davyd Thomas, RAN, and, representing the Minister for Defence, Mr Barry Haase, MP.

After commissioning, HMAS Broome returned to its home port of Darwin where the boat had been undergoing sea trials prior to commissioning. At the end of February 2007, the ship sailed to support Operation Resolute, the ongoing Australian Defence Force effort to protect Australia’s borders and offshore maritime interests. The new patrol boat returned to the port of Broome in May 2007, where the ship’s company proudly conducted a Freedom of Entry parade in its namesake town.

Border protection operations comprised the bulk of Broome’s operational commitments in the first few years of its commission. The ship’s company boarded and investigated many foreign fishing vessels to determine whether they were fishing illegally in Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone, often with Australian Fisheries Management Authority officers embarked. The crew also intercepted many Suspected Irregular Entry Vessels and embarked Potential Irregular Immigrants for processing and medical care at Christmas Island. In each year of its commission, Broome spent many months force assigned to Operation Resolute, variously taking up the role of response vessel at Ashmore Island, the Torres Strait, Christmas Island, and the Cocos Keeling Islands.

In addition to ongoing contribution to Operation Resolute, Broome also participated in the Australian Fisheries Management Authority’s Operation Sandfish, targeting illegal fishing activity in the Torres Strait. In 2018, Broome served in support of Operation Augury, a joint patrolling operation in Philippines waters, with ships of the Philippines Navy. After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, members of Broome’s ship’s company were force assigned to Operation COVID-19 Assist.

Alongside operational commitments, HMAS Broome engaged with the Australian community. Broome was one of several Armidale-class patrol boats that featured as the fictional “HMAS Hammersley” on the television series Sea Patrol, with film cast and crew embarked at different times in 2007 and 2008. In October 2013, Broome was one of many Australian and international naval vessels that entered Sydney Harbour as part of the International Fleet Review, to mark the centenary of the Royal Australian Navy’s fleet unit arrival. Broome made many operational visits to Saibai Island, one of the most northerly of the Torres Strait Islands, where the locals welcomed the ship’s company.

Broome has also engaged with neighbouring countries in South East Asia. It made numerous visits to foreign ports, including Singapore, Dili, Muara, Kupang, Bali, Bitung, Puerto Princesa, Zamboanga, Tawi Tawi, Cebu, Madang, Alotau, and Port Moresby.

Broome participated in several multi-national exercises in Australian waters and overseas, building interoperability and familiarity with allied navies. Broome took part in Exercise Talisman Sabre in 2009 and 2017, alongside large numbers of US and Australian ships in Queensland waters. In 2010, Broome participated in Exercise Penguin alongside units of the Royal Brunei Navy, and with the Philippines Navy in Exercise Lumbas. Broome regularly took part in several recurrent exercises including Exercise Paradise, a joint training exercise with the Maritime Element of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, and Exercise Cassowary, a joint exercise with the Indonesian Navy. Broome operated alongside British and Fijian ships in Exercise Kakadu in 2022.

The Armidale-class patrol boats employed a multi-crewing arrangement for several years before reverting to a more conventional single crew arrangement in August 2015. During that time, hundreds of officers and sailors have developed a strong affiliation with the ship, heeding the injunction of its motto to fight and endure. 

The boat was operated with multi-crewing until 2015, then a regular ship's company from then on.