The Navy Vol_64_Part1 2002 - Navy League of Australia

HMAS BRISBANE heading tor sea from her homeport in Sydney
Harbour BRISBANE served the RAN extremely well for 34 years,
serving in two wars. (John Mortimer)
A Final Hurrah for Australia's
Last Destroyer
By Raveena Carroll. Defence Public Affair.',
With a tremendous sense of pride and camaraderie,
members of the HMAS BRISBANE Association marched
along the wharf and stopped before their beloved Steel
Cat', where they gave her a heartfelt hurrah.
That informal tribute marked the start of the ceremony
on Friday. 19 October 2001. during which the last of the
Royal Australian Navy's DDGs. HMAS BRISBANE, was
decommissioned at Fleet Base East in Sydney.
BRISBANE'S 300 crew stood proud aboard the ship as
official guests, the Governor General, His Excellency the
Reverend Dr Peter Hollingworth. the Honourable Minister
for Defence. Peter Reith MP and Chief of Navy. Vice
Admiral David Shackleton. spoke about her history and
achievements.
During her 34 years of service. BRISBANE won
numerous awards including the Australian Meritorious
Unit Citation for service in the 1991 Gulf War and the
Duke of Gloucester Cup in 1971. 1980 and 1996.
Dr Hollingworth acknowledged the contribution of the
guided missile destroyer to the nation and the Navy, but
said people were her greatest asset.
'While I speak in terms of the ship and its life, in reality
it is ail the people involved with BRISBANE who imbued
her with the spirit for which she became well known." Dr
Hollingworth said.
Commissioned in 1967. BRISBANE was the last of
three DDGs built for the RAN in Michigan. USA. The
others. PERTH and HOB ART. were decommissioned in
1999 and 2000 respectively.
The last Commanding Officer of BRISBANE. Captain
Campbell Darby, said it was an honour and privilege to be
the last Commanding Officer of a DDG.
"A large number of people, both service and civilian,
have imbued in BRISBANE a strong and positive spirit
that has never waned." CAPT Darby said.
"It has contributed to shaping attitudes in the region
and nationally, and shaped the lives of many thousands of
young Australians by instilling in them skills, confidence
and leadership ability to make their way both inside the
ADF and in the broader Australian community.
"I am sure the spirit of this great ship will live on and
VOL. 64 NO. I
continue to reflect the spirit and ethos of the Navy."
BRISBANE was the last RAN ship in commission to
have served in two wars. Vietnam and the Gulf War. and
was the last ship to have fired her guns in anger. She was
also the last steam powered ship in the RAN
CAPT Darby said the crew of BRISBANE had
demonstrated great professionalism and loyalty during his
22 months as CO and that they, and the previous crew,
would never forget the ship's many quirks.
"The continuous and sickly 35 degree plus rolls as a
way of checking securing arrangements.
"The harmonic vibration at speeds of 17-18 knots
which were always an excuse to go faster, and the standing
start drag races which successfully saw olf all the new gas
turbine ships.
"I am sure the stories will expand exponentially with
time." he said.
During the ceremony, a lantern holding the last flame
from BRISBANE'S boilers was presented to the launching
lady of the ship. Lady Mavis Mary Chaney. by the ship's
youngest crew member. Seaman Paul Smith. Then, in an
emotional moment. Lady Chaney extinguished the last
flame ever from a DDG.
Moments later, the Australian White Ensign was hauled
down and placed in the hands of Captain Darby. He
marched off BRISBANE for the last time as four
RNZAF A-4K Skyhawks paid tribute in a fly-past over
the ship.
And then, with the White Ensign handed into the safe
custody of the Maritime Commander, under the gaze of the
Chief of the Defence Force, the parade marched past and
BRISBANE'S service to the Royal Australian Navy was
complete.
Message from the Bridge
Chief of Navy. Vice Admiral Shackleton. a former
Commanding Officer of HMAS BRISBANE {1991 -
1992). gave an address at the decommissioning of HMAS
BRISBANE which is reproduced below.
'To those of you who want to drive a Ferrari. This (looking
at the DDG BRISBANE) is a grey Ferrari. In 1991 this was
my grey Ferrari. 75.000 shaft horsepower, four boilers on
line and humming - a truly unforgettable experience - the
magnificent stokers.
But the real heart of every ship is the people. None
more so than DDG people and the DDG family.
Today we arc decommissioning a ship - not just any
ship. But. we are certainly not decommissioning the spirit
of these magnificent ships that have been such a beacon to
showing the way to the Navy of the future. One that is
modern and capable. To be a good friend or a terrible foe.
One that always puts us in the position of being a Navy to
be reckoned with. Any time, anywhere.
BRISBANE is one of the longest serving ships in this
Navy's proud history. With her decommissioning we
celebrate 34 years of her meritorious service. And in so
doing reunite generations of DDG people and mark the
transition point to a Navy which has greatly benefited from
the opportunities our far-sighted forefathers gave us.
The DDG's fundamentally changed the RAN. They
were the first, post Second World War ships that the Navy
bought that had real grunt. They had a missile system that
worked; they had guns that were accurate and hit the target,
they had sonar that worried submariners. And they
travelled at a real destroyer speed.
And their men were made of the same high tensile steel
as their hulls. Real ships by any measure.
The DDG's have operated throughout Australian waters
and oceans of the world. And on occasion also had the
good fortune to visit many other locations. Some exotic,
some not so exotic. Personally. I always wanted to run out
of fuel in Tahiti - sadly this didn't happen.
BRISBANE always served the Navy well. Be it war or
peace. When cyclone Tracey hit Darwin, both HMAS
BRISBANE and HOBART participated in the clean up.
BRISBANE'S ship's company laboured for thousands of
hours: clearing, cleaning, repairing and rebuilding the
flattened city. Often working themselves to complete
exhaustion. But probably the biggest highlight of that event
was HMAS BETANO returning in early January. 1975
with 500.000 cans of beer!
Twenty years after Vietnam, and in a different
hemisphere. BRISBANE went to war again when she
participated in the UN sponsored liberation of Kuwait. The
Gulf War.
In doing so. she forged her own place in the annals of
Australia's history, earning a meritorious unit citation and
the battle honour 'Kuwait'. Her Commanding Officer at
that time was Rear Admiral Chris Ritchie: I took over from
him on her later return to Australia.
As those who have served in BRISBANE can attest, she
is a special ship. The Maritime Commander, Rear Admiral
Geoff Smith is also a graduate of HMAS BRISBANE
school for flag officer training and development. And there
are many other graduates. Admiral Barrie. our present
Chief of the Defence Force, is amongst them.
But. it is her ship's company that has always set
BRISBANE apart. It says something for us all. that the
sailors of this ship have been led by 28 commanding
officers. But. more to the point, should I say that the sailors
The White Ensign is lowered for the last time aboard HMAS
BRISBANE. (Brian Morrison. Warships & Marine Corps Museum Int)
VOL. 63 NO. 4
that trained them have produced no less than 13 officers of
flag rank. To those sailors. I thank you for the way in which
you have helped me and my predecessors, and many
successors to come, be worthy of the extraordinary
privilege of leading some of the finest people in this
country, the people of the Royal Australian Navy. The
Navy is forever in your debt.
I offer my humble thanks to all those who have served
in. or been associated with the Guided Missile Destroyers,
especially the Steel Cat'.
Minister - can 1 please have another garage full of grey
Ferraris?"
HMAS BRISBANE at sea. She was the last steam powered ship in RAN
service and was affectionately known as the 'The Steel Cat'. (RANI
Why did we buy the DDGs?
By Captain Peter Jones, RAN
With the decommissioning of HMAS BRISBANE, the
RAN's last Charles F. Adams (Perth) class destroyer.
THE NAVY looks hack at why the RAN chose this class of
ship and the options it was faced with. The DDGs were a
first for the RAN in many ways. They were first major
units of the RAN to he built in the US - Bay City
Michigan, the first RAN ships to be built IS2 metres
above sea level and the first to he launched sideways.
They also started their careers in fresh water.
The acquisition by the RAN of three Charles F. Adams
class guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) from the United
States in the 1960s has been seen by many as one of the
most successful acquisitions in post-war RAN history.
These ships introduced into the RAN new technologies that
had a significant impact both on operations and capability.
This subject may be approached from a number of
levels and the pioneering work on the DDG acquisition
was undertaken by Dr Roy Wallace with his 1980 PhD
thesis entitled The Australian Purchase of Three United
States Guided Missile Destroyers: A Study of the Defence
Aspect of Australian-American Relations'. As the title of
this work suggests, it examined primarily the implications
of the sale on Australia-US relations. This paper will
concentrate on the effect these ships had on the RAN. In
researching this paper I had access to the Naval Board