The Royal Australian Navy operated Grumman S-2 Tracker anti-submarine warfare aircraft from 1967 to 1984. The type flew from the aircraft carrier and shore bases. A total of 32 Trackers were purchased in two batches which were delivered in 1967 and 1977. An order for 14 S-2E Tracker operational aircraft and two S-2A ground trainers was placed in 1964 as part of a project to reinvigorate the Navy's aviation capability. The aircraft were delivered in 1967 and began to enter service the next year. They proved successful in their intended role, and were also used for land-based patrols. They did not see combat, but operated from Melbourne across the Pacific region during training exercises and patrols. All but three of the S-2Es were destroyed by a deliberately lit fire in December 1976, and 16 S-2G Trackers were rapidly acquired to replace them. These aircraft entered service in 1977 and undertook the same tasks as the S-2Es. After Melbourne was decommissioned without replacement in 1982 the Government decided to dispose of the Trackers, and most of the fleet was sold in 1984. Acquisition During the late 1950s the Australian Government and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) considered options to replace the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne, and her air group. While Melbourne had only been commissioned in 1955, the de Havilland Sea Venom fighters and Fairey Gannet maritime patrol aircraft operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) were becoming obsolete. It was believed that Melbourne was too small to operate more modern aircraft types, and the RAN investigated options to buy a larger carrier. The Government judged that the cost of a new aircraft carrier was too high, especially given the expense of the Australian Army and Royal Australian Air Force's (RAAF's) procurement programs at that time, and in November 1959 it was announced that the FAA would cease to operate fixed-wing aircraft in 1963. As a result of intervention by the Minister for the Navy, Senator John Gorton, the Government eventually agreed to purchase new fixed-wing aircraft. Gorton had served as a fighter pilot in World War II and had a strong interest in his portfolio. In 1961 Gorton convinced the Cabinet to fund a program to reinvigorate the FAA, starting with the purchase of 27 Westland Wessex anti-submarine helicopters. At this time it was planned to retain Melbourne as a helicopter carrier, but in mid-1963 the Government gave the Navy permission