May 2012, Issue 166 - Royal New Zealand Navy

5-inch gun in action.
All dead on the bridge
after a missile hits.
SEAS
Te Kaha crew defending
the ship after the bridge is
put out of action.
TE KAHA’s DRE
breakfast and go through the tasks they will set
TE KAHA over the next furious 24 hours.
Says CDR Leef to his team: “Fatigue is one of
our biggest concerns. It’s going to be a long day.
Make sure we are all keeping an eye on ourselves.
The ship’s obviously up to the challenge, witness
the haka this morning. Let’s meet it.”
Says MOET member WOMED Mike Wiig: “In
the past, we’ve come on board and attacked the
Wardroom to take it over. This time we’ve just
been given it. That’s practical as it’s one of the
biggest spaces on this ship to accommodate 35
MOET personnel.” Echoing CDR Beadsmoore’s
earlier call to the crew, he adds: “We put the
war into warfare.”
The MOETs fan over the ship. In quick
succession, a TE KAHA crew member gets an
electric shock in the radar mast module and
needs evacuation by helicopter. A hydrogen
sulphide gas leak erupts from the ship’s
sewerage system and someone becomes
unconscious there. A huge bang is followed
by the announcement “flood, flood, flood” and
enemy aircraft are flying overhead.
“It’s one of the best I’ve seen,” one of the
MOETs says to another regarding the speedy
rescue from the sewerage plant.
A jackstay to haul emergency supplies from
NEWCASTLE is interrupted by a “man overboard”
and the launch of a RHIB to rescue Oscar, the
man-overboard dummy, then it’s “Hands to
Action Stations” as Avalonian forces attack
with missiles, that fortunately miss, just after the
“brace, brace, brace” call. TE KAHA’s 5-inch gun
fires round after round at the Seersucker battery.
The ratings’ galley catches fire (complete with
lots of clouds of ‘disco smoke’ from canisters
let off by the MOETs) making dinner a quick
barbeque “fast mess” affair in the junior ratings
dining room where the entire crew and MOETs
are pushed through with just a couple of minutes
each to dine. CDR Beadsmoore is barely seated
before a phone rings for him and he dashes to
the next emergency.
Despite the frantic action all day Thursday,
TE KAHA suffers no seriously damaging blow,
which might suggest the MOETs’ biggest test is
yet to come. A “man overboard” about 0100 is
followed by hours of quiet until… 0545. “Action
Stations!” sounds. A raid is coming in.
The Bridge is in almost total darkness, with
even the red lights out in the pre-dawn. The
officers of the watch look intensely at their
radar and other instruments. Suddenly a volley
of alarms erupts from many parts of the ship.
Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! Casualty! Casualty!
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