NUSHIP Adelaide, one of two Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) ships being built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), left BAE Systems Williamstown (17 June) to begin sea trials. After some initial trials in Port Phillip Bay, HMAS Adelaide (L01) will spend ten days on the water travelling to Sydney.

The current testing precedes a second period of sea trials in August, ahead of delivery to the Royal Australian Navy later this year. The sea trials are conducted under a number of scenarios; some require the ship in certain conditions and/or water depths while others require the ship’s systems in specific configurations.

In Sydney, HMAS Adelaide (L01) will be dry docked so her hull and flight deck can be cleaned and painted. NUSHIP Adelaide will then set sail and undertake more sea trials on the return voyage to Williamstown, arriving in mid-July. The August sea trials will focus on communication and combat systems.

BAE Systems Director of Maritime, Bill Saltzer said: «We will undertake approximately 240 hours of testing over 20 days to ensure all systems perform to their capability. Some of the trials will run concurrently and cover everything from basic systems operations such as alarms, to the ship’s manoeuvrability while at sea. We are on track to deliver NUSHIP Adelaide at the end of September this year. The ship is even more ready than HMAS Canberra (L02) was for her first sea trials, reinforcing that we have implemented lessons learned from the first of class and we have continued to improve our productivity».

The LHDs are the largest warships ever to be built for the RAN. As the prime contractor, BAE Systems has worked closely with the Defence Materiel Organization to deliver the project with subcontractors Navantia, which constructed the hulls in Spain, SAAB and L3, which supplied the combat and communications systems respectively.

 

Platform Characteristics

Length Overall                                                                          757 feet/230.8 m

Length Waterline                                                                     680 feet/207.2 m

Beam                                                                                               105 feet/32 m

Design Draft                                                                                23.5 feet/7.18 m

Full Load Displacement                                                         27,831 tonnes

Crew and Embarked Forced Accommodation         1,403

 

Machinery

Propulsion                 2 × Siemens 11,000 kW PODs

Bowthruster             2 × 1,500 kW Brunvoll/Siemens motors

Stabilisers                   2 × Fincantieri

Generators                         1 × 22,000 kW GE LM2500 Gas Turbine and                                                      2 × 7,680 kW Diesel

Integrated Platform Management System              Navantia – Sistemas

Fresh Water              6 × Reverse Osmosis Plants (each 25 tonnes/day)

Sewage                         2 × Treatment Plants

 

Performance

Maximum Speed                                   20+ knots/23+ mph/37+ km/h

Economic Speed                                    15 knots/17 mph/28 km/h

Maximum Range                                   9,250 NM/10,644 miles/17,131 km

Endurance                                                45+ days

 

Capacity

Flight Deck                                                            4,750 m²/51,128.57 feet²

Dock (including ramp)                                    1,165 m²/12,540 feet²

Heavy Cargo Garage                                       1,410 m²/12,270.86 feet²

Light Cargo Garage                                          1,880 m²/20,236 feet²

Hangar                                                                      990 m²/10,656.27 feet²

Garages, Hangar and Well Dock               1,350 lane metre (2.9 m wide)

General Store Rooms                                       1,079 m²/11,614.26 feet²

Future Growth Margin                                    672 tonnes