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HMAS SYDNEY FFG-03. Seattle, Washington. Departed today from the United States, 24 February 1984

Date1984

Object number00026852

NamePhilatelic cover

MediumPaper, ink

DimensionsOverall: 91 x 166 mm

ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionA collectable envelope relating to the Royal Australian Navy's guided missile frigate HMAS SYDNEY (IV) FFG-03, featuring a stamped image of the ship over an outline of Australia which shows Sydney (the city) marked and SEATTLE, WASHINGTON stamped across the Great Australian Bight - referring to the deployment of the frigate from Australia to the USA where she underwent Phalanx weapons sysytem training and trials. As a collector's item it has been specially franked and features United States Postal Service stamps including a series of icons relating to Seattle and the north-west of the USA - totem pole, Douglas fir tree, ice-capped mountain, spawning salmon, an icebreaker, the Seattle Space Needle and a jumbo jet over a 20c USA flag stamp. Between the totem pole and the fir tree the envelope is cancelled with: COLLECTORS / CORNER / FEB / 24 / 1984 / Seattle / Washington / 98101.HistoryHMAS SYDNEY (IV) is an Adelaide class guided missile frigate of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The frigate is one of six modified Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates ordered in the USA. Laid down and launched in 1980, SYDNEY was named for three previous HMA ships named after the capital city of New South Wales; she was commissioned into the RAN in 1983. During her operational history, SYDNEY has been involved in Australian foreign policy responses, e.g. to the 1987 Fijian coups d'état and the Bougainville uprising, standing-by to evacuate Australian citizens if required. The frigate was deployed to the Persian Gulf on five occasions in support of US operations during the Gulf War in 1991, the War in Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and also completed at least two round-the-world voyages. On the morning of 13 March 2009, SYDNEY was one of seventeen warships involved in a fleet review in Sydney Harbour, the largest congregation of RAN ships since the Australian Bicentenary in 1988. The frigate led the line of ships involved in a ceremonial entry through Sydney Heads, and anchored in the harbour for the review. On 20 April 2009, SYDNEY and the Anzac class frigate HMAS BALLARAT departed as part of Operation Northern Trident, a six-month round-the-world voyage by the two vessels, with a schedule of numerous diplomatic visits and joint exercises with foreign navies. In May 2009, SYDNEY and BALLARAT provided aid to two merchant vessels in the Gulf of Aden, by driving off two separate groups of Somali pirates attacking the ships. SYDNEY remained in the area to report the incidents to Combined Task Force 151, while BALLARAT escorted to safety an impromptu convoy of eight ships, including the two that were attacked. The two warships visited ports in Western Europe, North America, the Pacific and northern Asia. HMAS SYDNEY is expected to remain in service until at least 2013, when this class of frigate will be replaced by a Hobart-class destroyer.SignificanceA collector's item relating to one of the first deployments of the Royal Australian Navy guided missile frigate HMAS SYDNEY (IV).