Royal Australian Navy Minehunter HMAS Gascoyne to be refitted for greater efficiency.

The Royal Australian Navy's HMAS Gascoyne is receiving renewed life through a five-yearly refit in the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island, Sydney. She remains ready to fight and live up to her motto “Return to the sea”.

HMAS Gascoyne undergoing refit in the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island, Sydney, following a recent deployment (Picture source: LSIS Ryan McKenzie/Royal Australian Navy)

The 52-metre long Huon Class Minehunter Coastal (MHC) is undergoing a refit in Sydney following her most recent overseas deployment.

Gascoyne’s refit saw her removed from the water in the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island where her propeller was removed and her hull repainted while all of her major systems also are being removed, refurbished and overhauled.

Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Sean Aitken, said the refit had left the ship looking almost brand new but would also improve how she sails.

The refit comes following busy previous 12 months with Gascoyne sailing more than 22,000 nautical miles in 2019 over two major deployments to the South West Pacific and North-East Asia.

Commissioned in 2001, HMAS Gascoyne is homeported at HMAS Waterhen in Sydney, with sister ships Diamantina, Huon and Yarra.

HMAS Gascoyne undergoing refit in the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island, Sydney, following a recent deployment (Picture source: LSIS Ryan McKenzie/Royal Australian Navy)