Posted on 11/28/2014 6:17:38 PM PST by naturalman1975
Australia has officially welcomed its largest ever warship to the Naval fleet in a ceremony at Sydney's Garden Island.
Before a cheering crowd of more than 1500 on Friday, NUSHIP Canberra became the HMAS Canberra, entitled to fly the historical white ensign in the name of the nation.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Navy Chief Vice-Admiral Tim Barrett attended the ceremony, together with family members of the ship's 400-strong crew.
PM Tony Abbott said it marked a proud day for the Navy and for Australia.
'We are a nation girt by sea. So it is the Royal Australian Navy that guarantees the security of this continent, the free passage of our trade and the safety of our citizens,' he said.
Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove said commissioning is one of the most important ceremonies in the life of a warship.
'From the date of commissioning, a warship is recognised under domestic and international law as a sovereign representative of its nation,' he told the crowd.
'From today, wherever she may travel in the world, Canberra is all-Australian. The ship and her crew are a part of our nation.'
'This is now your opportunity to proudly write a new chapter consistent with the finest traditions of the Royal Australian Navy and the wider Australian Defence Force,' he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
“I was “Owned” by the US Navy at the age of 16”
Me too. Joined at 16, my Dad signed a parental release so I could join, he knew the opportunity would not pass again.
Served two tours in the Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club and was out as a Petty Officer Second before I turned 21. Went on to college with the GI bill and became an engineer.
~Bear in mind, junior sailors really are still kids (18 before they go to sea, nowadays - legal adults, yeah, but still kids).~
One of my granddads joined Navy as 13 or 14 y.o. in WWII.
HMAS Melbourne (R21) was a Majestic-class light aircraft carrier of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Operating from 1955 until 1982, she was the third and final conventional aircraft carrier[a] to serve in the RAN. Melbourne was the only British Commonwealth naval vessel to sink two friendly warships in peacetime collisions.[1]I expect money (capital and/or operating cost) considerations put the kibosh on the possibility of a Wasp-class LHD (40,000 tons instead of 27,000).
Ain't technology grand?
Would have been nice to see how some of the up to 2000 fully armed personnel are going to bunk, instead of junior sailors.
Neither of the collisions were Melbourne's fault. Both had very similar causes (escort destroyers not keeping station as they should). Lessons were learned and the mission continues.
I expect money (capital and/or operating cost) considerations put the kibosh on the possibility of a Wasp-class LHD (40,000 tons instead of 27,000).
Size of the crew is the big killer. With a population only a little over 20 million, getting people into the Navy who stay in the Navy is a big problem (especially when the mining boom was meaning people with the skills Naval training gave them could earn a lot more money at the mines).
Canberra only needs 300. Wasp and similar, three times that.
Wherever they can.
It would be rare that that would be done - the capability is there if it's needed but it won't be routine. And they'd be crammed in everywhere.
~Ain’t technology grand?~
I would like to see them doing damage control in battle.
I always have a positive feeling whenever I see Australia spend money on defense, no matter the relative size or capability.
Good partners are a force multiplier...
It's a real issue. Reduced crew complement does make damage control harder, and increases the risk of a loss to damage.
But reality is, if we say we need a thousand people to run the ship, we'll never get the ship in the first place.
It's a trade off we have to make in the modern world.
I lived in Subic Bay as a naval dependent when the Melbourne cut the Frank Evans in half when she cut in front of her.
They towed the after section of the ship in and tied it up near a main road. I always thought she looked gruesome, kind of like a body that had been cut in two.
Unnatural looking, pieces of jagged pipes and metal, an empty hatch that looked like a black, empty eye socket.
In the Falklands war, the UK ship that got hit and sunk by the "dud" Exocet, the kinetic impact alone fatally damaged the fire suppression water main.
It's pretty amazing that this number is smaller than the crew complement of USS Frank Evans, the 2200 ton destroyer sunk by the Melbourne.
They towed the after section of the ship in and tied it up near a main road. I always thought she looked gruesome, kind of like a body that had been cut in two.
Unnatural looking, pieces of jagged pipes and metal, an empty hatch that looked like a black, empty eye socket.
I can't imagine what it must have been like for the men trapped in the chunk of the ship that went to the bottom.
As a kid that was what I thought of a lot every time I saw it.
I always wondered what it was like in that pitch black with water coming in, when you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there wasn’t going to be an escape, and that your body was going to be entombed forever in this piece of metal.
Ugh. When I was in the USN on a carrier, I did have one nightmare about being on a sinking carrier.
It was a starlit night, and I was treading water in a black ocean. In front of me, I could see the stern of the ship sinking, and the black flight deck, blotting out the stars, went higher and higher into the sky.
It seemed like it just hung there, then slowly began to fall directly on top of me...and then I immediately woke up.
You ever have one of those nightmares that you didn’t really want to go back to sleep after you woke from it? That was one of those...boy, did it ever feel real to me.
When I first joined the Royal Australian Navy one of the first things we were taught about was the heroism of Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Rogers GC DSM who earned his posthumous George Cross (which ranks alongside the Victoria Cross - the difference is that the VC is awarded for heroism in combat, while the GC is awarded for an equal level of heroism in non-combat situations) during the sinking of HMAS Voyager in a collision with HMAS Melbourne that was very similar in many ways to the later sinking of the USS Frank E. Evans.
The QUEEN has been graciously pleased, on the advice of Her Majesty's Australian Ministers, to approve the award of the George Cross to:
Chief Petty Officer Jonathan ROGERS, D.S.M., R. 40859 (Deceased).
In recognition of his outstanding gallantry and devotion to duty in saving life at sea when H.M.A.S. Voyager was sunk after collision on 10th February 1964, for maintaining the morale of junior ratings in great adversity, for organising the escape of as many as possible, and for supporting the spirits of those who could not escape and encouraging them to meet death alongside himself with dignity and honour.
He upheld the highest traditions of service at sea and of his rating of Chief Petty Officer (Coxswain).
What happened in that case was, more or less, that the only available escape route was extremely small - only the smallest (generally the youngest) sailors could get out through it. CPO Rogers had the typical build of a Chief with over twenty years service and didn't have a hope. He knew he was dead - and set about to save as many as he could and give comfort to those who he could not.
He was heard leading those still with him in prayer and a hymn at the end.
How many prisoners can it hold to carry back to England?
“I can’t imagine what it must have been like for the men trapped in the chunk of the ship that went to the bottom”
A classmate of my brother’s was on that ship. He repeatedly boasted of how he was joining the navy because it would be a “safe” place to do his military obligation(instead of being drafted and being sent as a ground-pounder to Vietnam). But
I guess if your number is up, it’s up...
When I read things like this, I am singularly impressed with the capability of the human spirit in the face of tragedy. It does give me hope.
I am going to find out a little more about the collision with the Voyager...
USS Ronald Reagan
Complement:
Ship's company: 3,200
Air wing: 2,480
Piker. :)
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