All four of the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) Paluma-class hydrographic survey motor launches are now gone, following the decommissioning of HMA Ships Benalla and Shepparton on 16 June 2023.

The RAN plans to replace the ships with remotely controlled uncrewed vessels with autopilot capabilities, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence to form a new ‘optimised hydrographic survey capability’.

The Paluma-class vessels, which were based at HMAS Cairns, operated as pairs and spent more than 30 years collecting data to help chart Australia’s northern coastline and the South Pacific Ocean.

Commanding Officer Benalla Lieutenant Commander Michael Casey said the ships had sailed the same distance it would take to go to the Moon and back four times.

“Old stuff is built to last. I treated Benalla with the respect I would with an old car,” Lieutenant Commander Casey said.

“Surveying is exploring what we can’t see underneath, we would find things never seen before, such as wrecks, shoals and subsurface obstructions.

“It’s sad to see them go; these ships have served for over 33 years with distinction and have been home to hundreds of sailors,” he added.

The vessels operated with a maximum of 22 personnel and minimum of 14, all of whom will now be assigned to ‘deployable survey teams’ to operate autonomous and robotic systems.

HMAS Shepparton had been the oldest commissioned ship in service, an honour now taken on by HMAS Anzac.

“Having a small crew was difficult and required everyone to do their job with minimal supervision. It doesn’t leave much redundancy, it’s like a rugby team, everyone has to work together to win,” said Commanding Officer Shepparton, Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Stevenson.

The plan now is for the next Navy survey vessel to be built in Henderson, Western Australia, later this decade.