same time, was welded onto the hull. Construction of the class (including the two naval base upgrades) cost $150 million. All fifteen vessels were named after Bathurst-class corvettes. Operational history The first ship of the class, , arrived in Australia on 27 August 1980, after an 82-day voyage covering . NQEA completed three patrol boats in both 1981 and 1982, and four in both 1983 and 1984. By the end of 1984, four Fremantles were located at , , and Fleet Base East, two at , and one at HMAS Cerberus. Also by 1984, all of the Attack class had left active service, with many transferring to the RAN Reserve or the Indonesian Navy. On 31 May 1985, Wollongong grounded on rocks at Gabo Island, causing extensive damage to the vessel. It was repaired by the builder, and returned to service in late 1986. From May 2005 onwards, the Fremantles were replaced in service by the fourteen patrol boats. During late 2006, the decommissioned remained laid up alongside in Waverton, Sydney for use as the alongside set for the drama series Sea Patrol. The last two ships, and , decommissioned in a joint ceremony on 11 May 2007. During 2006 and 2007, most of the Fremantles were broken up for scrap in Darwin, at a cost of between $400,000 and $450,000 each to the Australian government. The exceptions were Wollongong (which was instead scrapped in Port Macquarie), Townsville (gifted to the Townsville Maritime Historical Society for preservation as a museum ship), and (gifted to the Gladstone Maritime Museum for preservation). Fremantle class in fiction The fictional HMAS Defiance, portrayed by HMA Ships , , , , and featured in the second season of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation television series Patrol Boat. The fictional HMAS Hammersley is the setting of the first season of Channel Nine's 2007 drama series Sea Patrol. This vessel was portrayed by HMA Ships Wollongong and . A second patrol boat, HMAS Kingston, also appears in the series. From the second season onwards, an Armidale-class boat is used. Ships Citations References Books Journal and news articles Websites Patrol boat classes