During her RAN career, Tarakan (named after the Australian landing at Tarakan during World War II) was deployed post-Cyclone Tracy as part of Operation Navy Help Darwin, undertook various surveying operations, was placed in reserve between 1985 and 1988, relocated an overpopulation of Tridacna gigas clams, was part of the INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce, and participated in a Pacific Partnership humanitarian deployment.

Detroit 6–71 diesel motors, providing 675 brake horsepower to the two propeller shafts, allowing the vessels to reach 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph).

[2] The LCHs have a maximum payload of 180 tons; equivalent to 3 Leopard 1 tanks, 13 M113 armoured personnel carriers, 23 quarter-tonne trucks, or four LARC-V amphibious cargo vehicles.

[2] The flat, box-like keel causes the ships to roll considerably in other-than-calm conditions, limiting their ability to make long voyages.

[3] The ship was laid down by Walkers Limited at Maryborough, Queensland on 12 December 1971, launched on 16 March 1972 and commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Tarakan on 15 June 1973.

[12] During June and July 2012, Tarakan was used to move personnel and stores to remote communities to facilitate the 2012 Papua New Guinea election.

[13] After participating in Exercise Croix Du Sud off New Caledonia, Labuan and Tarakan delivered humanitarian supplies to remote coastal settlements in the Solomon Islands in September 2014 as part of Australian support efforts in the region.

[19] The two landing craft sailed that day for the Philippines, with a formal christening ceremony to be held following their arrival in early August.