MV ''Sycamore'' is a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

built to support 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 ...

(RAN) by Netherlands shipbuilders Damen Group. The vessel was built in Damen's shipyard in Haiphong, Vietnam and launched in 2016. The ship is operated for the RAN by Teekay Australia and entered service in 2017.

Design and description

''Sycamore''s design is based on that of the Damen OPV 2400 design for a 2,400-tonne

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

. The ship is long with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of . has a standard displacement of and at full load. The ship is powered by two

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s driving two shafts. The vessel has a designed top speed of , with an actual max speed of and a range of at . The RAN classes ''Sycamore'' as a "multi-role aircraft training vessel", and the ship is equipped with a

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

and a flight deck, allowing a single helicopter to land. ''Sycamore'' is the first ship to support the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Commonwealth of Australia and its national interests. It consists of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army, Royal Australian Air Forc ...

(ADF) designed from the outset to be able to operate

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controller ...

s (UAVs). The vessel is fitted with the equipment necessary to operate Boeing Insitu ScanEagle fixed wing and

Schiebel Camcopter S-100 The Schiebel Camcopter S-100 is an Austrian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) using a rotorcraft design. Design and development Produced by the Austrian company Schiebel, it was developed from 2003 to 2005. With a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of ...

rotary wing UAVs. ''Sycamore'' is equipped with Terma Scanter

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

with a DBHG stabilized antenna and Terma C-Flex for support of the training mission of the vessel. She has a multi-use space, which can be configured to help cope with disasters. ''Sycamore'' will operate with two crews of 22 personnel who will maintain the vessel. The ship can accommodate up to 71 ADF personnel overnight.

Construction and career

A tender was submitted by the Australian government for the construction of an offshore patrol vessel. The Abbott government chose the Damen Group's proposal to build the vessel in Vietnam as they found that no Australian shipbuilder was capable of building the type of ship requested in the tender within the budget and time frame required. ''Sycamore'' was constructed by at the 189 shipyard in Haiphong, Vietnam and

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in 2014. The vessel was launched on 30 August 2016. The RAN does not own the vessel, it leases ''Sycamore'' from the Serco-owned firm DMS Maritime. The vessel has a civilian crew provided by Teekay Australia. Military personnel provide the actual training aboard the vessel. While ''Sycamore'' is used primarily as an aviation training ship, the vessel is also used for familiarisation training for new RAN officers,

mine warfare Mine warfare refers to the use of different types of explosive devices: *Land mine, a weight-triggered explosive device intended to maim or kill people or to disable or destroy vehicles *Minelaying, deployment of explosive mines at sea **Naval mine ...

and diving support training as well as recovering training torpedoes and missiles and serving as a consort. ''Sycamore'' is the RAN's first dedicated training ship since was decommissioned in 1994. ''Sycamore'' completed

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s in April 2017. She arrived at

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

on 26 June that year. ''Sycamore'' entered service with the RAN on 4 August 2017. In January 2020, ''Sycamore'' was deployed to the coast of Victoria in response to the bushfires in the region. In 2021 the RAN entered into negotiations with Damen to purchase a ship based on ''Sycamore''s design that could be used for humanitarian assistance in the Pacific. These negotiations ended in failure, and the RAN acquired a secondhand

offshore supply vessel A platform supply vessel (PSV) is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil and gas platforms. These ships range from in length and accomplish a variety of tasks. The primary function for most of these vessels is logistic support and tr ...

instead which entered service in 2022 as the ADV ''Reliant''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sycamore, MV 2016 ships Auxiliary ships of Australia Ships built in Vietnam Damen Group