operate on diesel fuel instead of furnace oil. The upgrade was finished in May, and during July, Perth was involved in a disaster relief exercise at Jervis Bay. On 8 September 1980, Perth joined five other RAN vessels to form the Australia Squadron. The Squadron, a carrier group formed around the RAN flagship , also included , , Supply, and , and spent two months in the Indian Ocean as part of a flag-showing cruise; the largest RAN deployment since World War II. At the start of 1981, after returning to Sydney for a five-week break, Perth returned to the Indian Ocean for another, four-and-a-half-month-long deployment. The cruise included numerous port visits and three crossing the line ceremonies. Later in the year, she participated in Exercise Kangaroo 81. In March 1982, the destroyer was deployed to the Indian Ocean for the third time, this time for five months. Perth was docked in Sydney for refit between April 1983 and July 1984, and spent the rest of the year on training exercises. In 1985, following the cancellation of ANZUS exercises after New Zealand withdrew from the treaty, Perth participated in their replacement, Exercise Flying Fish. Later in the year, she was deployed to South-east Asia, before returning to Sydney for maintenance and leave. In early 1986, Perth, along with several other ships, visited Hobart prior to participation in Exercise Tasman Sea as part of celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Australian Navy's foundation. On arriving in Hobart on the 7th of February, the destroyer accidentally rammed a wharf with her bow, damaging it and the two-storey waterfront building, while narrowly missing a "Welcome" sign. Damage to the ship was not so significant as to prevent participation in the exercise, after which, Perth visited Melbourne. This was the start of a series of port visits by the ship, up the western coast of Australia, to Darwin, then into South-east Asia and the Indian Ocean, before returning via Australia's eastern coast. She spent almost all of 1989 docked for maintenance and upgrades. 1990s In February 1990, after completing post-refit trials, the destroyer sailed to Hobart to act as flagship for the Royal Hobart Regatta. She then sailed to South-east Asia in May, participating in several naval exercises and making port visits throughout the region before returning to Sydney in October. During mid-1991, Perth sailed to the Mediterranean via South-east Asia and eastern