See main article: 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 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. Initially, nine were ordered for the RAN, with another five for Papua New Guinea's Australian-run coastal security force, although another six ships were ordered to bring the class to twenty vessels. The patrol boats had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load, were in length overall, had a beam of 20feet, and draughts of at standard load, and 7.3feet at full load.[1] [2] Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied to the two propellers.[1] [2] The vessels could achieve a top speed of, and had a range of at .[1] [2] The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors.[2] Main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, supplemented by two .50-calibre M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms.[1] [2] The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible: the Attacks 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.[3]
Aware was laid down by Evans Deakin and Company at Brisbane in Queensland[4] in July 1967, launched on 7 October 1967 and commissioned on 21 June 1968.[4]
Aware was transferred to the Adelaide Port Division of the Royal Australian Navy Reserve in November 1982.[4]
On November the 24th 1970 while with HMAS Adroit on SAR duties HMAS Aware assisted in an attempt to salvage a ditched helicopter from HMAS Albatross after a Westland Wessex crashed.[4] [5]
HMAS Aware was the last of her class to be withdrawn from service, decommissioned on 17 July 1993.[6] She was sold to a private owner sometime before 1998, and after modification in Melbourne (including an extension of the superstructure to cover the quarterdeck), was used as a diving and salvage ship.[7] [8]
In 2006, Aware was acquired by a group of investors, and sailed to Bundaberg, Queensland by a former crewmember.[8] The investors withdrew support shortly after, and the former crew member took over ownership of the vessel.[8] Aware fell into disrepair, and in 2010, the Bundaberg Magistrates Court fined the owner for failing to have the ship insured.[8] According to the owner, the lack of facilities capable of handling the former patrol boat has made insurance inspections almost impossible.[8] A buyer for the vessel could not be found and in December 2011 the vessel was scrapped.[9]