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HMAS Air Faith (909)
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. DesignThe 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 historyAir 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
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