HMAS Anzac (FFH 150) is the lead ship of the Anzac-class frigates in use with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). Entering Australian service in 1996, the frigate operated as part of the INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce in 1999. In 2003, she was involved in the Battle of Al Faw, and became the first RAN ship to fire in anger since the Vietnam War. The ship is operational as of 2021. Design and construction The Anzac class originated from RAN plans to replace the six s with a mid-capability patrol frigate. The Australian shipbuilding industry was thought to be incapable of warship design, so the RAN decided to take a proven foreign design and modify it. Around the same time, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) was looking to replace four frigates; a deterioration in New Zealand-United States relations, the need to improve alliances with nearby nations, and the commonalities between the RAN and RNZN ships' requirements led the two nations to begin collaborating on the acquisition in 1987. Tenders were requested by the Anzac Ship Project at the end of 1986, with 12 ship designs (including an airship) submitted. By August 1987, the tenders were narrowed down in October to Blohm + Voss's MEKO 200 design, the M class (later ) offered by Royal Schelde, and a scaled-down Type 23 frigate proposed by Yarrow Shipbuilders. In 1989, the Australian government announced that Melbourne-based shipbuilder AMECON (which became Tenix Defence) would build the modified MEKO 200 design. The Australians ordered eight ships, while New Zealand ordered two, with an unexercised option for two more. The Anzacs are based on Blohm + Voss' MEKO 200 PN (or ) frigates, modified to meet Australian and New Zealand specifications and maximise the use of locally built equipment. Each frigate has a full load displacement. The ships are long at the waterline, and long overall, with a beam of , and a full load draught of . A Combined Diesel or Gas (CODOG) propulsion machinery layout is used, with a single, General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbine and two MTU 12V1163 TB83 diesel engines driving the ship's two controllable-pitch propellers. Maximum speed is , and maximum range is over at ; about 50% greater than other MEKO 200 designs. The standard ship's company of an Anzac consists of 22 officers and 141 sailors. As designed, the main armament for the