Australian Department of Defence, NUSHIP Toowoomba will be commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy on Saturday, 8 October 2005 at the Bulk Sugar Terminal in Brisbane
NUSHIP Toowoomba is the seventh ANZAC Class Frigate to be built by Tenix Defence Systems Pty Ltd in Williamstown, Victoria and was launched on 16 May 2003. The final ANZAC ship, NUSHIP Perth, is expected to commission in September 2006.
Senator The Honourable Robert Hill MP will be the Guest of Honour for the commissioning. Ms Judy Blight will be the Christening Lady for the commissioning. Ms Judy Blight is the daughter of the late Lieutenant Commander Howard Goodwin RAN, the last Commanding Officer of HMAS Toowoomba I during World War II.
NUSHIP Toowoomba will be deployed within Australian waters and overseas in support of Australian Government policy, with her sister ships (ANZAC and STUART) having already been deployed as part of coalition operations in the Persian Gulf.
NUSHIP Toowoomba is the second RAN warship to bear the name after the Queensland City of Toowoomba. The first HMAS Toowoomba was commissioned on 9 October 1941 as one of the 60 Bathurst Class Minesweeping Corvettes. The ship served with distinction during WWII and is known for rescuing 42 survivors from the bombed merchant ship MERULA and for attacking a German submarine during Persian Gulf convoy escort duty. This ceremony will be one day shy of the 64th anniversary of Toowoomba I's commissioning.
NUSHIP Toowoomba is 118 metres long, displaces 3,600 tonnes and is capable of more than 27 knots. She has a complement of 174 personnel including her helicopter flight crew. Toowoomba will be home-ported in Perth from 21 October 2005.
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