HMAS Barbette (P 97)

HMAS Barbette (P 97) was an Attack-class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Design and construction
The Attack class was ordered in 1964 to operate in Australian waters as patrol boats (based on lessons learned through using the Ton-class minesweepers on patrols of Borneo during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and to replace a variety of old patrol, search-and-rescue, and general-purpose craft. Initially, nine were ordered for the RAN, with another five for Papua New Guinea's Australian-run coastal security force, although another six ships were ordered to bring the class to twenty vessels. The patrol boats had a displacement of 100 tons at standard load and 146 tons at full load, were 107.6 ft in length overall, had a beam of 20 ft, and draughts of 6.4 ft at standard load, and 7.3 ft at full load. Propulsion machinery consisted of two 16-cylinder Paxman YJCM diesel engines, which supplied 3460 shp to the two propellers. The vessels could achieve a top speed of 24 kn, and had a range of 1200 nmi at 13 kn. The ship's company consisted of three officers and sixteen sailors. Main armament was a bow-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun, supplemented by two .50-calibre (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns and various small arms. The ships were designed with as many commercial components as possible: the Attacks were to operate in remote regions of Australia and New Guinea, and a town's hardware store would be more accessible than home base in a mechanical emergency.

Barbette was built by Walkers Limited at Maryborough, Queensland, launched on 10 April 1968, and commissioned on 16 August 1968.

Operational history
Barbette paid off on 15 June 1984. She was transferred to the Indonesian Navy on 22 February 1985 and renamed KRI Siada (862). The patrol boat was listed in Jane's Fighting Ships as still operational in 2011.