See main article: article and Fremantle-class patrol boat. Starting in the late 1960s, planning began for a new class of patrol boat to replace the, with designs calling for improved seakeeping capability, and updated weapons and equipment.[1] The Fremantles had a full load displacement of, were long overall, had a beam of, and a maximum draught of .[2] Main propulsion machinery consisted of two MTU series 538 diesel engines, which supplied to the two propeller shafts.[2] 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, and had a maximum range of at .[2] The ship's company consisted of 22 personnel.[2] Each patrol boat was armed with a single Bofors 40mm gun as main armament, supplemented by two .50 cal Browning machineguns and an 81 mm mortar,[2] 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.[3] [4]
Ipswich was laid down by NQEA in Cairns, Queensland on 29 October 1980, launched on 25 September 1982, and commissioned into the RAN on 13 November 1982.[5]
During October and November 2006, Ipswich was the primary ship used for filming the 13-episode Australian television drama series Sea Patrol.[6] Ipswich was rebadged as the fictional HMAS Hammersley (pennant number 202), and spent six weeks operating off Dunk Island with both the show's cast and her normal crew aboard.[6] Footage of Ipswich at sea was mixed with scenes shot on and around sister ship while the latter was docked in Sydney.[6]
Ipswich was decommissioned on 11 May 2007, in a joint ceremony with .[7] The two patrol boats were the last of the class in active service.[7] The patrol boat was broken up for scrap in Darwin during 2007, at a cost of $450,000 to the Australian government. The patrol boat's Bofors gun was incorporated into a naval memorial cairn shaped like Ipswichs bow in Queens Park, Ipswich.[8]