Thread: For the Mil enthusiasts. Navy Cerberus

RAN hull numbers:

26ft Fast Utility Boat

2603 , built 1968, 5 ton, speed 15kts, Crew 2, based HMAS Cresswell

26ft Harbour Personnel Boat

2620, built 1968, 5 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 1, based HMAS Stirling
2621, built 1968, 5 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 1, based HMAS Cresswell
2622, built 1968, 5 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 1, based Garden Island
2623, built 1968, 5 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 1, based Garden Island
2624, built 1968, 5 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 1, based Garden Island
2625, built 1968, 5 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 1, based HMAS Encounter
2626, built 1968, 5 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 1, based HMAS Cerberus

30ft Harbour Personnel Boat

30102, built 1964, 5 ton, speed 11kts, Crew 1, based Codock

33ft Fast Utility Boat

3310, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 3, based HMAS Stirling
3311, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 3, based HMAS Platypus
3313, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 3, based HMAS Waterhen
3314, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 3, based HMAS Leeuwin
3316, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 3, based HMAS Cerberus
3317, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 3, based HMAS Penguin
3318, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 3, based HMAS Waterhen
3319, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 3, based HMAS Stirling

33ft Harbour Personnel Boat

3350, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 2, based HMAS Lonsdale
3351, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 2, based HMAS Cresswell
3352, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 2, based HMAS Garden Island
3353, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 2, based HMAS Garden Island
3354, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 2, based HMAS Garden Island
3355, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 2, based HMAS Coonawarra
3356, built ??, 7 ton, speed 14kts, Crew 2, based HMAS Leeuwin

an enigma in "fast" .....I used to dive off Fairmiles....one had GM671's and did 12 knots, the other had GM8V71's and did 16knots, we are talking 100' here not 26 or 30. Were the GM's detuned in these utility boats or just incorrectly set up?

Hey thanks 303gunner.

I did go and have another sticky

It has the number F 3316 on the stern and inside has a plate with the date
14 11 73 which might suggest a build date.

I have had a response from RAN historical society and their response is

We can confirm that the boat in the photograph is one of a large number of Swift boats which were bought by the Navy in the 1960s, one of which was allocated to HMAS CERBERUS.

To those listed you also need to add those carried by ships.

Garry

Was it wood or glass construction, did you get a peek at the engines, Regards Frank.

I reckon it was glass Frank.

I didn't get a look at the engines.

I did not feel comfortable climbing aboard someone elses boat without permission.

Pete

Originally Posted by bob10

And what a great sea boat they were.! One of my first jobs when I left RANATE was stoker on one of those sea boats, hunched down next to the engine, listening for the signals from the Coxswain, relayed by whistle , can't remember exactly what the signals meant, one ,two, or three blasts from a rugby whistle, to say ahead, astern, or stop. those clinker built boats were the the direct descendants from Captain Bligh's whaler that he sailed from the mutiny to Batavia. Bob

Bob

So you were a fellow Muppet

When were you there? What division?

Skuilnaam

Originally Posted by skuilnaam

Bob

So you were a fellow Muppet

When were you there? What division?

Skuilnaam

Joined in 1964, Dampier Div., lived in the old WW2 huts, I remember the winters were cold, water used to freeze in the pipes, PT at 5.30 am, you went everywhere at the double. Boy, we were fit, we were called MOBIES, guess you know what it means.... Bob