Bay-class minehunter
The Bay-class Minehunter Inshores were a class of catamaran-hull mine warfare vessels operating with the Royal Australian Navy from 1986. Also referred to as the MHCAT, the class was an attempt to produce a locally designed inshore mine warfare vessel. Two prototype ships were ordered in 1981, with the first ship, Rushcutter, commissioned in November 1986. The two ships experienced delays in construction, and the RAN resorted to acquiring six minesweeper auxiliaries under the Craft of Opportunity Program to provide an interim mine-warfare capability, while also keeping minesweeper in service until 1990, well beyond her intended decommissioning date. The ships did not enter service until 1993, due to problems with the sonar.
Design and construction
One of the identifying features of this class is that vessels have a fibreglass hull constructed with a multi-layer foam sandwich core. No metal is contained in the hull.The ships were built by Ramsay Fibreglass, a subsidiary of Carrington Slipways located in Tomago, New South Wales, Australia. They were constructed in a purpose-built facility and then carried by crane a short distance south to a small man-made launching basin off the Hunter River. Work on a third hull commenced before the project's cancellation, but was never completed and remained at the rear of the facility until the early 2000s.
Although completed and commissioned in November 1986 and October 1987, the two minehunters were not formally accepted into naval service until June 1994.