Kanimbla-class HMAS Manoora (L 52) 80cm

Key Features of the HMAS Manoora (L 52) model

• A masterfully handcrafted replica of the Kanimbla-class landing platform amphibious, capturing its precision and detail.
• Designed from original naval drawings and meticulously built by skilled artisans over 12 weeks, dedicating hundreds of hours to perfection.
• Expertly constructed from individually cut and shaped wooden planks, ensuring unmatched craftsmanship and accuracy.
• Built with on-frame construction and hand-painted to replicate the authentic colors and tones of the real vessel.
• Fully assembled and display-ready, complete with a custom nameplate and an informative history sheet.
• Size specifications: 80cmL x 14cmW x 31cmH, scale 1:200.

History of the HMAS Manoora (L 52)

HMAS Manoora (L 52) was an amphibious transport ship of the Royal Australian Navy, originally built as the United States Navy’s USS Fairfax County (LST-1193), a Newport-class tank landing ship commissioned in 1971. After more than two decades of American service, the vessel was purchased by Australia in 1994 as part of a broader effort to modernise the RAN’s amphibious capability. Following an extensive refit and conversion to transform her from a tank landing ship into a versatile amphibious transport ship capable of carrying troops, vehicles, landing craft, and helicopters, she was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Manoora in 1994.

Throughout her Australian service, Manoora became an important asset for regional operations, humanitarian missions, and peacekeeping deployments. She played a key role in INTERFET, the multinational force sent to East Timor in 1999, delivering troops, equipment, and crucial logistic support during the stabilisation effort. Manoora also participated in a wide range of operations across the Pacific, including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions in countries affected by cyclones, tsunamis, and civil unrest. Her flexibility and carrying capacity made her one of the RAN’s most valuable amphibious platforms during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

By the late 2000s, age and mechanical issues began to reduce Manoora’s reliability, and she was formally decommissioned in May 2011. Her retirement, along with that of her sister ship HMAS Kanimbla, marked the end of an era in Australia’s amphibious fleet and paved the way for the introduction of the larger and more capable Canberra-class LHDs. Despite her challenges in later years, HMAS Manoora is remembered for her significant contribution to Australian naval operations and humanitarian efforts throughout the Asia–Pacific region.