Royal Australian Navy

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Her or His Majesty's Australian Ship (HMAS) is a ship prefix used for commissioned units of the Royal Australian Navy. This prefix is derived from HMS (Her/His Majesty's Ship), the prefix used by the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom and can be equally applied to warships and shore bases (as Australia follows the UK tradition of referring to naval establishments as ships or stone frigates). The prefix came into use in October 1911, when King George V of the United Kingdom fixed his signature to the approval for the Royal Australian Navy.

The prefix refers to the British monarch, who is also equally and separately the King or Queen of Australia. The first word of the prefix changes depending on the gender of the reigning British monarch.

It is gramatically incorrect to refer to a ship with this prefix as "the HMAS...".

References

• Various Department of Defence press releases. Retrieved 17/3/08 from http://www.defence.gov.au
• List of current Royal Australian Navy Ships