was one of seventeen warships involved in a ceremonial fleet entry and fleet review in Sydney Harbour, the largest collection of RAN ships since the Australian Bicentenary in 1988. The frigate was one of the thirteen ships involved in the ceremonial entry through Sydney Heads, and anchored in the harbour for the review. On 20 April 2009, Ballarat and the Adelaide-class frigate departed from Sydney as part of Operation Northern Trident, a six-month round-the-world voyage by the two vessels, with numerous diplomatic visits and joint exercises with foreign navies. During the night of 17 May, Ballarat and Sydney provided aid to two merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, driving off two separate groups of Somali pirates attacking the ships. Ballarat escorted an impromptu convoy of eight ships, including the two that were attacked, to safety, while Sydney remained in the area to report the incidents to Combined Task Force 151. Ballarat completed the Anti-Ship Missile Defence (ASMD) upgrade in September 2015. The upgrade included the fitting of CEA Technologies' CEAFAR and CEAMOUNT phased array radars on new masts, a Vampir NG Infrared Search and Track system, and Sharpeye Navigational Radar Systems, along with improvements to the operations room equipment and layout. In September 2018, Ballarat sailed at short notice to participate in the rescue of two round-the-world sailors in the southern Indian Ocean. The ship transported one of them back to Australia from Île Amsterdam after he was rescued by a French fishing boat. In April 2021, "Ballarat" took part in the search for the missing Indonesian Navy submarine KRI Nanggala (402). The next month the ship participated in efforts to enforce sanctions against North Korea as part of Operation Argos. Citations References Books Journal articles News articles Websites External links Anzac-class frigates of the Royal Australian Navy Naval ships of Australia 2002 ships Fleet Base East Military Units in Western Australia