The

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

has deployed ships to the Middle East over 57 times since 1990. These ships have participated in the

1991 Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases ...

, enforced

sanctions against Iraq The sanctions against Iraq were a comprehensive financial and trade embargo imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Iraq. They began August 6, 1990, four days after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, stayed largely in force until May 22 ...

, taken part in the

2003 Invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

and provided security for Iraq's oil exports. Since 2009 Australian ships have also been involved in counter piracy operations. The dates provided are the dates the ship arrived and departed from the Middle East Area of Operations. Please see the Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations 1990–2005 for the dates the ships arrived and departed from Australia. Except where otherwise noted, all ships mainly operated in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

Deployments

Notes

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References

* Vanessa Bendle (Principal author), David Griffin, Peter Laurence, Richard McMillan, Brett Mitchell, Greg Nash, John Perryman, David Stevens, Nial Wheate Database of Royal Australian Navy Operations 1990–2005. Seapower Centre – Australia. * Greg Nash and David Stevens (2006) ''Australia's Navy in the Gulf. From Countenance to Catalyst, 1941–2006''. Topmill, Sydney. Middle East warships Warship deployments to the Middle East