Australian Naval History on 10 October 1987

The Bay class mine hunter inshore HMAS SHOALWATER, (LEUT J. R. Griffith, RAN), was commissioned. SHOALWATER was laid down in Carrington Shipyards, Newcastle, New South Wales, and launched on 20 June 1987. Mrs Hudson, (Wife of the Chief of Naval Staff), performed the launching ceremony. She, and her sister ship HMAS RUSHCUTTER, were a new design using a glass reinforced plastic catamaran hull. While the media gave them the nickname of ‘Plastic Fantastics’, the two ships were plagued with problems with the sonar, and as a result the two saw limited service and were placed in Reserve in 1999.