HMAS Darwin was an Adelaide-class guided-missile frigate of the Royal Australian Navy, named after the capital city of the Northern Territory. Built at Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle, Washington, she was laid down in 1981, launched in 1982, and commissioned in 1984. Darwin was the fourth of six Adelaide-class ships acquired from the United States. Measuring 138 meters in length with a displacement of around 4,100 tons, she was powered by gas turbines, capable of speeds over 29 knots.
Throughout her service, Darwin was deployed extensively, including five operations to the Persian Gulf (1990, 1991, 1992, 2002, 2004), supporting maritime security and coalition efforts. Notably, she participated in the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce in East Timor in 1999 and deployments to the Solomon Islands region. The frigate received a significant upgrade and refit between 2007 and 2008.
Darwin was decommissioned in December 2017. She earned multiple battle honours for her service, including for East Timor (1999), Persian Gulf (2003), and Iraq (2003), reflecting a distinguished operational history as a flexible and capable sentinel of Australian maritime interests.
