HMAS Perth (D 38) was the lead ship of the Perth-class guided missile destroyers operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

Built in the United States to a modified version of the Charles F. Adams design, Perth entered service with the RAN in 1965.

The destroyer made three deployments to the Vietnam War, earning a RAN battle honour and two United States Navy commendations for her service.

[1] During the month leading up to the commissioning, the ship's company volunteered to help create hiking trails in the forests of Rhode Island's George Washington Management Area.

[3] The destroyer spent eight months in American waters on trials and exercises before sailing for her namesake city, via Pearl Harbor and Suva, on 12 February 1966.

[1] During the mid-1960s, the United States government pressured Australia to increase the resources it was committing to the Vietnam War; one of the requests was for a combat vessel to help the USN meet the demand for naval gunfire support operations.

[23] The ship was specifically tasked with providing gunfire support for the 1st Cavalry Division of the United States Army, which was involved in Operation Pershing.

[26] The gun turret captain was later awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for his actions in response to the attack, while the officer of the watch was mentioned in despatches for courage and calmness under fire.

[28] This gunline deployment lasted until 20 December, with Perth coming under shore battery fire on two occasions, but receiving no hits or damage.

[34] En route, a training exercise with RAAF aircraft revealed that one of the radars and both identification-friend-or-foe units had defects, which were repaired in Subic.

[35] On 21 October, a day after rejoining the northern Sea Dragon unit, the destroyer observed the return of 14 North Vietnamese prisoners-of-war.

[36] Two days later, a failure of the counter-recoil mechanism in the forward turret forced Perth to withdraw from Sea Dragon and sail south to less-demanding gunline duties of Danang.

[1] An appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, two Mentions in Despatches, and 25 Naval Board commendations recognised the achievements of individual personnel during the tour of duty.

[43] After relieving Hobart and completing work-up trials, the destroyer arrived off Danang on 3 October and took up gunline duties in Military Region 1.

[43] On 23 October, the ship supported a United States Navy SEALs; although two commando teams were able to infiltrate the Cua Viet River, the operation was inconclusive.

[44] The Australian warship returned to duties on 10 January with a five-day stint at Yankee Station, escorting the carrier USS Hancock during Rolling Thunder operations.

[44] The forward gun turret became unusable again during the latter part of January, and the destroyer sailed to Bangkok for leave on 2 February, then Subic for maintenance and repairs.

[44] There was minimal activity when operating off Military Region 3, as the presence of a gunfire support vessel was unexpected, thus no pre-planned fire missions had been made.

[45] Personnel awards for the deployment included one appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire, two instances of Mentioned in Despatches, and 26 Naval Board commendations.

[48] From late September to early October, Perth was involved in Tuvalu's independence celebrations, before sailing to Hawaii for naval exercises.

[48] In early 1986, Perth, along with several other ships, visited Hobart prior to participation in Exercise Tasman Sea as part of celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the Australian Navy's foundation.

[50] On arriving in Hobart on 7 February, the destroyer accidentally rammed a wharf with her bow, damaging it and the two-storey waterfront building, while narrowly missing a "Welcome" sign.

[50] She then sailed to South-east Asia in May, participating in several naval exercises and making port visits throughout the region before returning to Sydney in October.

[50] The ship spent the early part of 1994 making port visits to western Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand before docking for refit in June.

[51] 1999 was spent primarily on exercises,[51] along with a deployment to South East Asia, including port visits to Vietnam (for the first time since the war), Guam, Manila, Hong Kong and Singapore.