HMAS Air Faith (909) was a Miami-class 63-foot Air-Sea Rescue Boat that was operated by the Royal Australian Navy during World War II, and later by the Royal Australian Air Force.
| History | |
|---|---|
 Australia | |
| Name | HMAS Air Faith |
| Operator | Royal Australian Navy |
| Ordered | 4 March 1944 |
| Builder | South Coast Company, Newport Beach, California |
| Commissioned | 8 February 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 20 August 1946 |
| Fate | Transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1949 |
| Status | Returned to Royal Australian Navy in 1965, sold 1968. |
.svg){kind=small} Australia | |
| Name | 02-101 |
| Operator | Royal Australian Air Force |
| Acquired | 1949 |
| Fate | Returned to Royal Australian Navy in 1965 |
 Australia | |
| Name | Air Faith |
| Operator | Quayside Charters |
| Homeport | Sydney |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type | Miami-class air-sea rescue boat |
| Displacement | 23 long tons (23 t) |
| Length | 63 ft (19 m) o/a |
| Beam | 15 ft 4 in (4.67 m) |
| Draught | 4 ft (1.2 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × 630 hp (470 kW) Hall-Scott Defender V12 petrol engines |
| Speed | 31.5 knots (58.3 km/h; 36.2 mph) |
| Endurance | 14.5 hours |
| Complement | 7 or 8 |
| Armament | 2 × twin .50 cal. M2 Browning machine guns |
Design
editThe Miami class rescue boats were wooden-hulled, and powered by two 630 hp (470 kW) Hall-Scott Defender petrol engines giving a top speed of 31.5 knots. They were armed with two twin .50 calibre M2 Browning machine guns mounted either side of the bridge. The crew comprised one officer in command, a coxswain, two engineers, two seamen and one or two radio operators.[2]
Service history
editAir Faith was one of a class of twenty boats ordered on 4 March 1944.[1] They were all Model 314 boats, designed by the Miami Shipbuilding Corporation, of Miami, Florida, but built at a number of shipyards in California.[3] Air Faith was built by South Coast Company in Newport Beach, California, as hull C-26647[4] and arrived at Sydney aboard the Cecil G. Sellars and was commissioned on 8 February 1945.[1]
Air Faith was placed into reserve on 20 August 1946, and in 1949 she was one of thirteen RAN rescue boats transferred to the Royal Australian Air Force,[1] and renamed 02-101.
The boat was returned to the RAN in 1965, and sold to private interests on 3 July 1968. The boat was sold again in 1972 and has been with the current owner ever since. The boat is moored in Sydney Harbour and has been operating as a charter vessel since 1998.[5] The boat has had major modifications, but the hull is clearly visible as its former air sea rescue style. A superstructure was fitted as a saloon area in the 1980s. The Hall Scott petrol engines were replaced in the 1970s with GM's, and recently with Fiat diesels.
References
edit- ^ a b c d Dunn, Peter (2008). "Air-Sea Rescue Boats, RAN, during WW2". Australia at War. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ^ Thompson, R.H.J. (November 2011). "Fairmile class patrol boats and kin ships: a brief history" (PDF). The Fairmile Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ^ Buhler, Jean E. (July–October 2008). "Development of the Miami 63-foot Aircraft Rescue Boat" (PDF). The Northern Mariner. XVIII (3–4). Picton, Ontario: Canadian Nautical Research Society: 173–184. doi:10.25071/2561-5467.337. S2CID 247330840. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ^ Colton, Tim (2013). "South Coast Shipbuilding". shipbuildinghistory.com. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ^ "Sydney Harbour Cruise Air Faith". quaysidecharters.com.au. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.