HMAS Cape Pillar
Cape-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy
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HMAS Cape Pillar, formerly the Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Pillar, named after Cape Pillar in Tasmania, is an evolved Cape-class patrol boat under construction for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).[1][2]
ADV Cape Pillar at Austal shipyards in Henderson, Western Australia in July 2023 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Australia | |
| Namesake | Cape Pillar |
| Builder | Austal, Henderson, Western Australia |
| Launched | June 2023 |
| Commissioned | 12 December 2024 |
| In service | 13 October 2023 |
| Home port | HMAS Coonawarra |
| Identification |
|
| Motto | Look forward |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Cape-class patrol boat |
| Length | 58.1 m (190 ft 7 in) |
| Beam | 10.6 m (34 ft 9 in) |
| Draught | 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 x Caterpillar 3516C diesels 6,770 horsepower (5,050 kW) 2 shafts, 1 bow thruster |
| Speed | 26 knots (48 km/h; 30 mph) |
| Range | 4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | 25 standard, 32 maximum |
| Armament | 2 × 12.7 mm (0.5 in) machine guns |
The ship will be the sixth of ten evolved Cape-class patrol boats to be delivered to the Royal Australian Navy. Prior to Cape Pillar, the RAN already operated the Cape-class patrol boats Cape Fourcroy and Cape Inscription as well as the evolved Cape-class patrol boats Cape Otway, Cape Peron, Cape Naturaliste, Cape Capricorn and Cape Woolamai.[1][2]
The ship is the last of the original six evolved Cape-class patrol boats the RAN ordered in April 2020 to replace the Armidale-class patrol boats in this role, at a projected cost of A$324 million. This order was subsequently expanded by another two boats in April 2022, at an additional projected cost of $124 million.[3] In November 2023, the RAN ordered a further two evolved Cape-class patrols, at a cost of A$157.1 million.[4]
The ship is being built by Austal in Henderson, Western Australia and was launched in June 2023.[1][2]
She was accepted on 13 October 2023 and is to be based at HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin, Northern Territory[5] The ship was officially welcomed at HMAS Coonawarra on 8 February 2024.[6]
On 12 December 2024, four of the Cape-class vessels were commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy, one of them the Cape Pillar.[7]