HMAS Gladstone (FCPB 216)

HMAS Gladstone (FCPB 216), named for the city of Gladstone, Queensland, is a Fremantle class patrol boat, formerly of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Design and construction
Starting in the late 1960s, planning began for a new class of patrol boat to replace the Attack class, with designs calling for improved seakeeping capability, and updated weapons and equipment. The Fremantles had a full load displacement of 220 t, were 137.6 ft long overall, had a beam of 24.25 ft, and a maximum draught of 5.75 ft. Main propulsion machinery consisted of two MTU series 538 diesel engines, which supplied 3200 shp to the two propeller shafts. Exhaust was not expelled through a funnel, like most ships, but through vents below the waterline. The patrol boat could reach a maximum speed of 30 kn, and had a maximum range of 5000 nmi at 5 kn. The ship's company consisted of 22 personnel. Each patrol boat was armed with a single 40 mm Bofors gun as main armament, supplemented by two .50 cal Browning machineguns and an 81-mm mortar, although the mortar was removed from all ships sometime after 1988. The main weapon was originally to be two 30-mm guns on a twin-mount, but the reconditioned Bofors were selected to keep costs down; provision was made to install an updated weapon later in the class' service life, but this did not eventuate.

Gladstone was laid down by North Queensland Engineers and Agents at Cairns, Queensland on 7 March 1983, launched on 28 July 1984, and commissioned into the RAN on 8 September 1984.

Fate
Gladstone operated out of HMAS Cairns until 13 March 2007, when she decommissioned. She was gifted on the same day to the Gladstone Maritime History Society. Gladstone was to be preserved as a museum ship and attached to the Gladstone Maritime Museum during the latter's redevelopment. As of late 2009, the redevelopment has been suspended due to the global financial crisis, but not cancelled completely. Between 2007 and 2009, the patrol boat was stored at the Gladstone Marina, and in late 2009, plans were announced to move Gladstone to a more prominent location, before mounting the vessel out of the water on a plinth when the museum upgrade is complete.