HMAS Archer
HMAS Archer was an of the Royal Australian Navy. Later it entered service with the Indonesian Navy as KRI Siliman .
Design and construction
The Attack class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boats, replacing a variety of old patrol, search-and-rescue, and general-purpose craft. The design was developed based on lessons learned from the use of s for patrol duties off Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation. Initially, nine boats were ordered for the RAN, with another five for Papua New Guinea's Australian-run coastal security force. Subsequently, another six ships were ordered which brought the class to 20 vessels. The class had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load, were in length overall, had a beam of, and draughts of at standard load, and at full load. Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied to the two propellers. The vessels could achieve a top speed of, and had a range of at. The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors. Main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, supplemented by two.50-calibre M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms. The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible: the class were to operate in remote regions of Australia and New Guinea, and needed to be able to utilise locally available mechanical components.Archer was built by Walkers Limited at Maryborough, Queensland, launched on 2 December 1967 and commissioned on 15 May 1968.
Operational history
Archer paid off on 21 October 1974. She was transferred to the Indonesian Navy and renamed KRI Siliman, and was listed in Jane's Fighting Ships as still operational in 2011.According to reports by Janes, Siliman sank due to engine fire while moored off the Port of Belawan, North Sumatra on the night of 28 September 2025. All 21 crew members were rescued.