HMAS Orion - Decommissioning and Fate

Decommissioning and Fate

Orion paid off into reserve at Garden Island, Western Australia in 1996. She remained there for several years, until she was marked for disposal as scrap in September 2003. Efforts to hand her over to a State Government for preservation as a museum ship or sinking as a dive wreck failed, and submissions for disposal companies were closed off on 6 August 2004. The submarine was sold off for scrapping, and was broken up by Tenix at Henderson, Western Australia in December 2006. The fin was given to the City of Rockingham and is now mounted as a permanent memorial at Rockingham Naval Memorial Park. The port propeller was donated to the Western Australia Maritime Museum.

In November 2011, authorisation was granted to establish a new Australian Naval Cadets unit in Jindabyne, New South Wales, named New Training Ship (NTS) Orion after the submarine. In addition to the name, the cadet unit will use Orion's badge and motto.