The dedication is a collaboration between Shoalhaven City Council and the Veterans from the HMAS Shoalhaven Association.

The day’s proceedings will begin with a street march at 10am, from the Bomaderry RSL Club and heading towards Walsh Park, led by the RAN band.

The ceremony is to represent the past endeavours of HMAS Shoalhaven, the present and the legacy she holds today, and the future her name holds for the Royal Australian Navy.

Council’s history with HMAS Shoalhaven dates back to its origins, which can be seen on the badge of the ship, which features a lyrebird.

In memory of this relationship and of her service, council and the HMAS Shoalhaven Association have provided Walsh Park with an 18-tonne stone monument complete with plaque for the memorial ceremony.

HMAS Shoalhaven, a river class frigate, was the flotilla leader of the First Frigate Flotilla from 1946 to 1956.

She was ordered as part

of Australia’s shipbuilding

program during the Second World War.

Shoalhaven was commissioned at Urangan Jetty, Hervey Bay, Queensland, on May 2, 1946 under the command of Commander Rodney Rhoades DSC RAN.

She saw active service in Papua New Guinea from 1946 to 1948, Shanghai in 1949, the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces in Japan 1949 to 1950, Korea in 1950, Monte Bello 1952 and Korea 1954 to 1955.

Shoalhaven paid off into Reserve at Sydney on 19 December 1955.

She had steamed over 226,000 miles since commissioning. A year later, on 20 December 1956, the ship was accepted into extended Reserve.

Shoalhaven was sold in January 1962 to H.C. Sleigh & Company, acting on behalf of Mitsubishi (Australia) Pty Ltd.