HMPNGS ''Rabaul'' (01) was the first
Pacific Forum patrol vessel
The Pacific class (also known as the Pacific Forum classToppan & Walsh, ''World Navies Today: Other Asia-Pacific Navies'' and the ASI 315 class) is a class of 22 patrol boats built by Australia and donated to twelve South Pacific countries. Th ...
to be
commissioned, in May 1987.
[ She is not the first vessel of the class to go out of service, because her ]sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
from Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
was wrecked in 2016.[ She arrived in Port Moresby, for disposal, on October 24, 2018.][ The vessel was named HMPNGS ''Tarangau''.][
Australia gave Papua New Guinea four vessels, and gave an additional eighteen vessels to neighboring countries in the Pacific Forum.][ Australia gave these vessels to her smaller neighbors after the United Nations Convention of the Laws of the Sea established that maritime nations had exclusive economic zone.][ Australia gave these vessels so its neighbours could police their own sovereignty.
]
Design
Australia designed the vessels using commercial off-the-shelf
Commercial off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged or canned (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of ...
technology, so small countries would find them easier to maintain, in small remote shipyards. Australia fully equipped the ships, prior to delivery, with the exception of providing armament, but they are capable of mounting an autocannon
An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...
on the foredeck.
Operational history
''Rabaul'' and her sister ships played a role in the Bougainville conflict
The Bougainville conflict, also known as the Bougainville Civil War, was a multi-layered armed conflict fought from 1988 to 1998 in the North Solomons Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) between PNG and the secessionist forces of the Bougainvill ...
.[
]
Replacement
Australia started building a new, larger, and more capable class of patrol vessels, to replace the Pacific Forum class.[ ''Rabaul'' was replaced by , in December 2018.
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabaul
Pacific Forum class patrol vessels
Patrol vessels of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force
1987 ships