Ex-HMAS Brisbane

The ship

HMAS Brisbane was a 133 m Charles F Adams class destroyer, commissioned in 1967. She served two tours in the Vietnam War, was one of the Australian warships in the 1990–91 Gulf War, and was the first navy ship to reach Darwin after Cyclone Tracy. She was decommissioned in 2001.

The Queensland Government took the ship to sink as a dive site. She was stripped of contaminants, large openings were cut to let in light and give divers safe access, and some entrances were sealed. On 31 July 2005 she was scuttled with explosive charges and settled upright, keel bedded into the sand, in a little over two minutes.

The dive

Open Water divers can explore the outside and the upper decks, with the top deck at roughly 15–16 metres. Going down to the base of the wreck at 28 metres is for Advanced divers. Penetration needs wreck training or matching experience, and the lower levels need more. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service recommends at least 10 open-water dives before diving here, and a guide if you are inexperienced.

Visibility is usually 12–15 metres. Water ranges from about 18–19°C in winter to 27°C in summer, and most divers wear a 5 mm wetsuit. All diving here is in open sea, so pick a good weather day.

Permits and rules

The wreck is the centre of the Ex-HMAS Brisbane Conservation Park, and the park is a restricted access area. Every diver, snorkeller and vessel needs a QPWS permit or written authority to enter, either through a licensed dive tour or a QPWS permit for private and club divers using the public mooring. Permits are issued in timeslots, with group size limits. On-the-spot fines apply for entering without a permit.

Check the park alerts before you plan a trip. In October 2026 QPWS listed the public mooring as closed after Cyclone Alfred and public access as closed until 31 January 2027.