naval officers club newsletter
TRANSCRIPT
1
Naval Officers Club
NEWSLETTER ISSN 1445-6206 Number 122, 7 September 2020
The RAN and the RNZN have a rich and still evolv-
ing history of working together in war and exercis-
ing together in peace. The history of the White En-
sign in Australasian waters dates back to the middle
decades of the nineteenth century when the naval
bases in Sydney and Auckland were both part of the
Royal Navy’s Australian Station.
But the naval story of both nations goes back further
to 1769-70 when Lieutenant James Cook, RN, charted
both islands of New Zealand and the East Coast of Aus-
tralia and brought these new lands to the world’s atten-
tion and consciousness. The fragmentary chart of part of
New Zealand’s east coast, drawn by Abel Tasman in
1642, was completed in painstaking detail by Cook as
he circumnavigated both Islands and discovered the
Strait which separates them. New Holland’s East Coast
was charted for the first time by Cook. ‘Terra Australia
Incognita’ was much less unknown when Cook had
made his mark on both sides of the Tasman Sea.
Cook’s 1769-70 voyage is the historic fault line be-
tween the isolated pre European Pacific, as it was, and
the connected world we still know. But had Cook lost
his ship and his life when Endeavour struck the Great
Barrier Reef in 1770 his detailed and accurate charts of
both islands of New Zealand would have gone to the
bottom with him. Cook’s voyage would be a footnote in
a quite different version of the history of the two coun-
tries. He would have been remembered among the Mao-
ri tribes of New Zealand that he had met but then his
fate, like that of La Perouse in 1788, would have been
unknown for many decades. It might have taken another
generation and another cartographer before New Zea-
land’s true geography was known to the world. Like-
wise, it is doubtful that a convict settlement at in New
South Wales would have been established if Sir Joseph
Banks, who proposed the idea, had drowned with Cook.
Although it took the next 17 years for the proposal to
receive the necessary political impetus, the idea was
finally approved in 1787 and the settlement established
the following year under Governor Arthur Phillip.
Cook’s saving of his ship and his precious charts had a
Continued Page 5
A Shared Naval Heritage By Desmond Woods
Australian Squadron flagship HMS Orpheus aground at Manukau Harbour 1863
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 2
Naval Officers Club Newsletter
is published by
The Naval Officers Club
of Australia Incorporated
State and Territory Divisional contacts, and
details of forthcoming social events around the
country, will be found on the Page 4 Notice
Board in this issue.
Contents
A Shared Naval Heritage 1
Members’ Page 3
Notice Board 4
NOCN President’s Report 10
H C Sleigh in Vietnam Part 2 12
RANC and HMAS Creswell in 2020 14
Cadet Training: Blood at High Water 15
Your Say 16
Ian MacDougall Remembered 18
Andrew Robertson Remembered 19
Nuship Supply 20
South China Sea Developments 21
Taking A Stand 21
Logistics Then and Now 22
Caribbean Interlude 24
Diego Garcia—Sovereignty Fight 26
Last Rum Issue in the Canadian Navy 27
Jim Speed Remembered 28
Brian Read Remembered 29
RAN Divers and The Snowy Mountain Scheme 30
USS Theodore Roosevelt Covid 19 Diary contd 32
The US Navy and Its Beach Storming Submarines 33
South Korea Defence News 34
World War ll Naval Induction and Training 35
Book Review: Right Man, Right Place ,Worst Time 39
Application for Membership of the Naval Officers’ Club 40
Naval Officers Club Newsletter
ISSN 1445-6206
Number 122, 7 September 2020
Editors: Doug Stevens
John Thornton
Rick Bayley
David Olivant
Email: [email protected]
Naval Officers Club
PO Box 648
Pennant Hills NSW 1715
www.navalofficer.com.au
Email: [email protected]
Electronic Funds Transfer:
Westpac - Naval Officers Club account:
BSB 032-087 Account No. 17-4666
Patron:
Vice Admiral M Noonan AO RAN
President:
RADM Simon Cullen AM CSC RAN Ret
Vice President: Rick Bayley
Committee Members:
David Blazey (Membership Sec.)
Geoff Cole (Webmaster)
John Ellis (Hon. Treasurer)
Kingsley Perry (Hon Secretary)
Jim Warren (Social functions)
John Hodges (Social Functions)
John Vandyke
Divisional Chairmen:
Andy Craig (QLD)
Bob Pritchard (SA) Bob Mummery (WA) Warwick Gately (VIC) Graham MacKinnell (ACT) Calvin Johnson (TAS) Chairman…*@navalofficer.com.au * Insert state/territory abbreviation - eg [email protected]
Membership: Total: 595
NSW: 237, VIC: 93, ACT: 99,
QLD: 56, SA: 24, WA: 41, TAS: 28
NT: 3, UK: 3, USA: 3, France: 1
Canada: 1, New Zealand: 2, Spain: 1
3
NEW MEMBERS
CMDR A. BURNETT RAN TOORAK GARDENS, SA
SBLT P.J.D. DAVIS RAN Rtd SOUTH COOGEE, NSW
LEUT R.T.J. MINGRAMM RAN SUCCESS. WA
LEUT L.P.P. POIER CD ,RCN, RAN Rtd ST IVES, NSW
CMDR D.M. ZANKER RAN BAXTER, VIC
LAST POSTS
LCDR T.J. BROOKER RAN Rtd WAHROONGA, NSW
LCDR S.B. COURTIER RAN Rtd FLOREY.ACT
*MRS SIRENE GOULD ST IVES, NSW
*CAPT D.T. HUNT RAN Rtd HAMILTON, VIC
VADM I D.G. MCDOUGAL AC AFSM RAN Rtd MARRAWAH, TAS
*CMDR K. RAILTON RAN Rtd DUTTON PARK, QLD
CAPT B.J. READ RAN Rtd ANNANDALE, NSW
*CMDR C REX MD RAN Rtd WA
RADM A.J. ROBERTSON AO DSC RAN Rtd CLIFTON GARDENS, NSW
CMDR J.H. SPEED DSC RAN Rtd WHEELER, VIC
(*(Not a Member)
RETIREMENTS RADM C.L. WOOD CB WAHROONGA, NSW
HONOURS & AWARDS
MR MIKE CARLTON AM CLAREVILLE, NSW
Naval Officer Club Name Tags
Naval Officer Club of Australia ‘Name Tags’
are available for purchase at $ 20.50ea. White
Background, Gold Crown and Black Letters
measuring 78 x 26 mm—First and Surname
Contact Mike Taylor (02) 6288-3393
HARRY
SMITH
South Australia Division For family reasons, Stephen Jeisman has decid-
ed to relinquish his role as Chairman of the
South Australia division of the NOC. In that
role he has built up the member numbers and
introduced a range of functions to attract mem-
bers. On behalf of all in the SA division, we
wish him good fortune.
Bob Pritchard has agreed to take on the Chair-
man SA role and will be communicating direct-
ly with SA Members in the near future. Bob’s
contact details are available on the NOC web-
site Directory or he can be contacted at
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 4
NSW
Contacts details at end of each notice: John Hodges 0402 244 001 (JH)
[email protected] (JH); Kingsley Perry 0422 169 860 (KP);
[email protected] Jim Warren 0409 227 869 (JW)
Harbour Cruise aboard MV MAGISTIC Saturday 17 October 12.00 (JW)
Dress – Smart Casual Cost $105 pp includes buffet lunch and all drinks.
Parliament House Christmas Lunch Thursday 12 December 12.00 (JH)
Macquarie St, Sydney Guests welcome.
TASMANIA
Calvin Johnson [email protected]
Monthly Drinks Friday 4 September 16.30 - 18.00
Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania Drinks at bar prices.
Monthly Drinks
Friday 2 October 16.30 - 18.00 Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania
Drinks at bar prices.
QUEENSLAND
Informal Lunch
Venue & Details TBA
Wednesday 7 October 12.00
ACT
Members’ Lunch
Orion Room, Southern Cross Club
Monday 7 Septembers - 12.00
Cost: $30 pp, pay on day
General Meeting & Lunch
Orion Room, Southern Cross Club
Monday 2 November - 11.30
Cost: $30 pp, pay on day
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Bob Mummery, O8 9528 2779
Bi -monthly Luncheon
Fremantle Sailing Club,
Thursday 10 September 11.45
General Meeting & Bistro Dinner
Fremantle Sailing Club,
Thursday 8 October 17.45
Bi -monthly Luncheon
Fremantle Sailing Club,
Thursday 12 November 11.45
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Bob Pritchard
Future events to be advised by email.
Notice Board This page carries club announcements, details of forthcoming social events, and other information.
Division Social Functions
Changes of Contact Details: Please advise [email protected].
Remittance of Funds to the Club: Money for dues, or merchandise can be sent to the club by either
cheque or EFT. Make the cheque out to “Naval Officers Club” and accompany it with written advice of
both the sender and what the funds are for. If using EFT, the account details are on page 2. Advise the
Hon Treasurer by email ([email protected]) of payments made.
Notices for all Club Members
All functions are provisional and are subject to COVID-19 restrictions relevant in the
lead up period to the event. Organisers will email constituents to confirm when events
are proceeding.
5
profound impact on what happened next to Australia and
New Zealand.
The next naval officer after Cook who intervened in
New Zealand’s history in a major way was the wise and
humane Captain William Hobson, RN. He was faced
with barbarity in an ungoverned land where whalers and
sealers were preying on the Maori tribes in the Bay of
Islands with impunity. Hobson encouraged the Maori
chiefs of both islands of New Zealand to sign a volun-
tary treaty with the British Crown which, in theory,
made it possible for a peaceful passage of sovereignty to
Queen Victoria without changing life as the Maori lived
it on their own ancestral lands. His intentions were hon-
ourable. His aim was to protect both Maori and British
residents from growing violence and the depredations of
many nationalities arriving by sea intent on plunder,
lawlessness and exploitation of the Maori tribes they
met.
In 1840 at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands, Hobson
exercised a level of governmental responsibility on be-
half of the British Colonial Office which no modern
‘four ring’ Captain will ever be given in modern times.
In this age of instant communications from senior lead-
ership, both military and political, such scope for inde-
pendent action is unimaginable. Hobson was not specifi-
cally instructed from Whitehall to make a Treaty with
the tribes he met. He was told to solve the problem of
internecine tribal warfare and violence against resident
British subjects. As a sensible naval officer he did what
he thought needed to be done, which was to bring Brit-
ish law through treaty making to the chaos he saw
around him. In the process New Zealand became, with-
out much forethought, a colony of Queen Victoria’s ever
- expanding British Empire.
Other colonial powers sought new territories in the
South Pacific. Importantly for the future unity and sov-
ereignty of the new British colony, Hobson had made
clear to a ship load of French settlers who arrived in the
Bay of Islands (and had bought land in the South Island
from a Maori tribe living there) that they could make
their settlement but would be living under British sover-
eignty with a magistrate enforcing the English common
law. Hobson assisted the French settlers ashore in the
Bay of Islands, cared for their needs, while sending his
fast frigate HMS Herald with a resident magistrate on
board to where the French owned land at Akaroa, near
modern day Christchurch. When the French arrived they
found that they were British subjects. That was the end
of French settlement plans for ‘Nouvelle Zélande’ and
the possibility that the two islands might belong to Lon-
don and Paris respectively. Both islands of New Zealand
became a single crown colony, which was no longer to
be administered from New South Wales but had its own
Governor and elected legislative assembly. New Zealand
owed its new found colonial existence and its territorial
integrity to the Royal Navy and this dedicated officer.
Hobson’s years in the tropics and the strain of his
duties as New Zealand’s first Governor caused him to
have two strokes, the second of which proved fatal. By
the time of his death in September 1842 a start had been
made on settlements in Auckland and Wellington. Like
Arthur Phillip in Sydney William, Hobson adapted his
naval training and experience to the challenges he faced
and succeeded where others would have failed.
When Hobson’s plan for a peaceful future between
Maori and Pakeha broke down irretrievably in the 1860s
the British government moved its nearest military and
naval assets to New Zealand from Australia to engage
the Maori tribes resisting encroachment by land-hungry
settlers on the Waikato river south of Auckland.
The flagship of the Australian Squadron, HMS Or-
pheus based in Sydney, was to be used as a trans-
Tasman troop transport. The heavily laden corvette
struck the sandbar at the entrance to the west coast port
of Manukau Harbour on February 7, 1863. Over the next
day she was slowly beaten to pieces by the incoming
tide and heavy surf. The tragedy cost the lives of 189
British and Australian sailors and Royal Marines out of
a complement of 259 on board. The loss of Orpheus re-
mains the worst maritime tragedy in New Zealand’s his-
tory. Some of those who drowned were very young and
agile Australian born midshipmen who were last seen
clinging to topmasts as the ship rolled over in the break-
(continued from page 1)
Captain William Hobson, RN
HMS Orpheus strikes sandbar
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 6
ers. They drowned as their ship was broken up under
them within sight of land. This was a very preventable
tragedy caused by the failure of the Flag Officer of the
Squadron, Commodore Sir William Burnett, RN to heed
urgent semaphore signals from the shore warning him
that Orpheus was standing into danger by attempting to
sail around the wrong end of the ever-shifting Manukau
sandbar.
Notwithstanding this disaster the Royal Navy contin-
ued to provide the British Army with riverine transport,
supplies and artillery for attacking fortified and defend-
ed Maori positions. It is doubtful if Maori resistance to
the invasion in the Waikato area could have been over-
come without what we would now call amphibious ca-
pability. Many locally recruited Australians served in
RN ships during this campaign.
In the 1880s, when Britain and Russia once again
came close to war over Afghanistan, Australians and
New Zealanders living in coastal cities felt threatened by
the Russian fleet and installed heavy shore artillery to
defend their cities from an unexpected early morning
bombardment. There is no evidence that the Russians
were ever a real threat. As one British naval historian,
Andrew Lambert, has pointed out, if the Russian Navy
had ever shelled Sydney or Auckland the Royal Navy
would in return have levelled St Petersburg, and the
Czar knew it.
But the legacy of this fear of attack from the sea is
that HMAS Watson, on the South Head of Sydney har-
bour still has its 8-inch ‘disappearing rampart’ guns, and
in Devonport on the North Head of Auckland harbour
and at Tairoa Head near Dunedin identical guns are also
still in place, still waiting for the Russian Pacific Fleet.
They are mementos of an era when a blue water ap-
proach to defence of Australia and New Zealand was
impractical due to the lack of capital ships on station
capable of defending the coastal cities of Australia or
New Zealand. However, none of these expensive guns
ever fired a shot in anger.
In the first decade of the twentieth century both na-
tions bought a capital ship. The New Zealand people
agitated for the government to borrow the money to buy
the Royal Navy an Indefatigable-class battle cruiser,
named for their country. This was partly for general Im-
perial defence and also in the forlorn hope that she
would be employed on the China Station and available if
New Zealand was ever threatened. The school children
of New Zealand put their pocket money together to buy
the ship’s bell and the government borrowed the money
in London to make the purchase. It was not paid off till
after the Second World War. Like HMAS Australia this
battle cruiser was a source of great patriotic pride. She
visited New Zealand on a tour of the Dominions in 1913
-1914. She was at sea in the Pacific the same year that
HMAS Australia steamed into Sydney harbour to pro-
vide the Australian Commonwealth with some much
needed 12-inch fire power of its own.
In August 1914, while the RAN’s bluejackets were
yet to deal with Germans in New Guinea, New Zealand
troops occupied German Samoa and its wireless station.
It was the first German territory taken anywhere in
World War One. The troops were escorted by HMAS
Australia, the only available battle cruiser in the Pacific
capable of defeating Admiral Graf von Spee and his
powerful East Asia Squadron had they decided to defend
the Kaiser’s colony against the New Zealand landing.
HMS New Zealand and HMAS Australia collided on
22 April 1916 in a North Sea fog off Rosyth. Owing to
her absence from the North Sea while under repair Aus-
tralia just missed the Battle of Jutland fought 31 May - 1
June. Her place as flagship of the 2nd Battle Cruiser
Squadron was taken by New Zealand under the com-
mand of Admiral David Beatty. The RN battlecruisers
took on Admiral Hipper’s ships and lost three ships to
internal magazine explosions caused by impressively
accurate German shelling and poor ammunition han-
dling. This disaster famously provoked Beatty to remark
‘there appears to be something wrong with our bloody
ships today’. Had it not been for the collision in April,
the equally vulnerable HMAS Australia would have
been at Jutland. These lightly armoured battlecruisers
with 12 inch guns were later described by Churchill as
‘egg shells armed with ham-
mers’. What would have been
the consequence for the young
RAN if the flagship Australia
had come under a fire from
German shells? Would it have
meant her destruction and that
of her RAN and RN ship's
company of 1000 men and
boys?
HMS New Zealand was in
action at the Battles of Heligo-
land Bight, Dogger Bank and
Jutland, the three fleet actions
in the North Sea. She was sub-
jected to German shellfire
without erupting in flames.
Sailors on board attributed her HMS New Zealand
7
good fortune during these actions to the protection af-
forded by the Maori flax piupiu (skirt) and greenstone
tiki given to her commanding officer, Captain Lionel
Halsey, RN, when the ship was in New Zealand on her
tour of the Dominions. The prophesy by the cloak’s
Maori donor was that the ship would be in action within
a year and she would be hit, but would suffer no casual-
ties provided that Halsey wore the tiki and piupiu into
action.
With one small exception the Maori prophesy came
true. Under Captain Halsey New Zealand had survived
the first two battles unscathed. In the Battle of Jutland,
with a new captain (John Green) in command she was
hit on one turret, but sustained no casualties. Captain
Green, a portly man, wore the tiki but, unable to wear
the piupiu, had it hanging near to him in his conning po-
sition. Without such prophetic protection Australia
might not have been so lucky had she been at Jutland!
In the years between the wars RAN ships called regu-
larly at New Zealand ports to show the flag and to enjoy
New Zealand hospitality. New Zealand largely manned
its own division of the RN with assistance from British
officers and key ratings. When war returned in 1939
HMS Achilles' running fight with the Graf Spee at the
Battle of the River Plate gave rise to the same swelling
of national pride in New Zealand as Sydney's sinking of
the Italian cruiser Bartollomeo Colleoni was to provoke
a year later. The enduring mental image we have is of
the light cruisers Ajax and Achilles racing in under fire
from Graf Spee’s 11-inch guns to fire 6 -inch broadsides
at the pocket battleship and draw German fire away from
the crippled and burning heavy cruiser HMS Exeter.
This is one of those epic moments in naval history which
will live forever in the minds of those who admire raw
courage at sea. Not surprisingly, after this brilliant and
successful action, and as an acknowledgement of the
growing capability of New Zealand to man warships of
its own, the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy
was reborn as the Royal New Zealand Navy in October
1941.
The RAN and Australia’s tragedy when Sydney was
lost to the German raider Kormoran in November 1941
is echoed in the tragedy of HMS Neptune, the Leander
class cruiser, sunk in a minefield in the Mediterrane-
an. On the night of 19 December 1941 Neptune ran into
a newly laid Italian minefield off Tripoli, and sank with
the loss of Captain Rory O’Connor and more than 750 of
his officers and men. One hundred and fifty of these sail-
ors were New Zealanders training to take the ship into
the RNZN. Just one man was rescued by an Italian tor-
pedo boat, after five days in the water. This was a devas-
tating blow to the young RNZN and to the whole nation.
The RNZN memorial just inside the gates of the naval
base at HMNZS Philomel recalls the tragedy. It reads:
This memorial commemorates 352 officers
and men of the Royal New Zealand Navy,
Royal New Zealand Naval Reserve and the
Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Re-
serve who died in all parts of the world dur-
ing the Second World War and who have no
known grave; the greater part lost their lives
at sea, but some died in captivity at the
hands of the Japanese. Nearly half of those
commemorated went down with H.M.S. Nep-
tune in 1941.
In the war in the South West Pacific there were many
acts of endurance and gallantry by RNZN warships. Like
HMAS Hobart, HMNZS Leander was torpedoed during
the battle for the Solomon Islands; 28 ratings were
killed. As with Hobart it was only superb damage con-
trol, leadership and courage which saved Leander from
flooding and foundering. In 1943, New Zealand naval
trawlers, Kiwi and Moa, rammed and sank a Japanese I-
class submarine after a surface battle off Guadalcanal.
By the end of the war there were over sixty RNZN
ships in commission. The three cruisers HMNZ Ships
Gambia, Leander and Achilles fought in the British Pa-
cific Fleet with HMA Ships Shropshire, Hobart and
Australia. When the cease fire signal arrived on board
Gambia, announcing the end of the war with Japan and
the cessation of hostilities, the cruiser was engaged in
defending herself against die-hard Japanese kamikaze
aircraft with the help of RN Fleet Air Arm Seafires. Not
surprisingly Gambia ignored the signal she had just re-
ceived and kept firing until she was safe. Consequently,
she is credited with firing the last shells of the whole
war!
The RAN/RNZN cooperation at sea continued after
1945. New Zealand’s six ex RN Loch class frigates all
deployed to Japan and the Far East on a regular basis. In
1951 RNZN frigates fired their 4-inch guns at North Ko-
rean targets ashore with considerable success, just as
HMAS Murchison did.
The RNZN also played a part in the long-running
Malayan Emergency in support of the RN and RAN's
blockade preventing weapons getting to the communist
terrorists ashore from the sea. It was a thankless task but
eventually a successful one.
New Zealand continued to operate cruisers on per-
Torpedo Damage to HMNZS Leander
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 8
manent loan from the RN until 1963. In succession the
three Dido class cruisers, Black Prince, Bellona and Roy-
alist regularly exercised with the RAN’s aircraft carriers
and destroyers ‘up top’ in the Commonwealth Strategic
reserve. But these fine-looking World War II gun plat-
forms were never designed for the steamy heat of the
tropics and lacked the means to make them comfortable
for their large ship’s companies. Their aging engineering
plant meant that as time went by they spent more time
alongside than at sea. It was rumoured at the time, that
Royalist’s longevity was not improved by the determina-
tion of her captain to cross the Tasman at high speed in a
ferocious gale so that he could be back in Auckland in
time to see an All Black test match.
In 1948 the RAN first loaned and then gave the River
class frigate HMAS Lachlan to the RNZN. Four Bathurst
class minesweepers followed three years later and two of
them Inverell and Kiama, together with Lachlan, sus-
tained the RNZN’s training and inshore hydrographic
surveying roles for a generation. Lachlan surveyed the
waters that Cook had first sounded in Fiordland and the
Marlborough Sounds, confirming that his 1769 charts
were substantially accurate.
In 1973 the New Zealand (but not the Australian)
government decided to protest publicly about the contin-
uation of French nuclear weapon testing in the atmos-
phere over Muroroa atoll. The decision was made to
send two RNZN frigates as witnesses to the tests and to
collect evidence of the radiation released. The RNZN did
not have the ‘legs’ for the vast distances of the Pacific
unaided and depended on an RAN tanker, HMAS Sup-
ply, to allow the frigates Otago and Canterbury to wait
off Muroroa to make their protest when the bombs were
detonated. It was Supply’s fuel which kept the frigates on
station. This gave a whole new meaning to ‘passing the
ANZAC spirit’! The French gave up atmospheric testing
shortly afterwards and eventually ceased testing nuclear
weapons under the porous coral atoll as well.
During the Falklands War in 1982 it was an RNZN
frigate which relieved an RN frigate on patrol in the Per-
sian Gulf allowing it to head back to Gibraltar and then
south to the area of operations. The RNZN relayed UK
Ministry of Defence signals for the South Atlantic Task
Force through HMNZS Irirangi on the high volcanic
plateau of the North Island.
The RNZN made a significant contri-
bution to the security of the Gulf at regu-
lar intervals since Gulf War One in 1991.
The black kiwi funnel badge on an RNZN
frigate has been a welcome sight whenev-
er it has appeared assisting in these con-
stabulary, anti-piracy and counter-
narcotics operations in the Middle East
and the Horn of Africa.
In 1990 at Bougainville aboard
HMNZS Endeavour the first Peace Ac-
cord was signed between the warring par-
ties. The frigates Waikato and Wellington
waited nearby. During the INTERFET Op-
eration in 1999-2000 the RNZN deployed the frigates
Canterbury and Te Kaha and the tanker Endeavour off
East Timor. They made a significant and useful contribu-
tion as did the whole of the New Zealand Defence Force.
New Zealand deployed both to INTERFET and to
RAMSI in the Solomon Islands a larger proportion of its
total uniformed manpower than did the Australian De-
fence Force. As a diplomatic tool in the Pacific the
NZDF in general, and the RNZN in particular, has
demonstrated that New Zealand sailors and soldiers,
many of whom are Maori, have considerable skill in
making themselves first acceptable, then welcome and
useful in Pacific Polynesian and Melanesian Island
states.
In the new decade, just commenced, the two navies
will continue to share responsibility for the vast maritime
domain that surrounds both countries. New Zealand
probably has more nautical miles of Exclusive Economic
Zone (EEZ) per head of population than any other nation
with a navy. The protection of remaining Southern
Ocean fish stocks is becoming a strategic imperative of
great international significance. Simultaneously both
countries must face up to significant challenges in the
Pacific where good governance cannot be assumed and
where China's commercial and strategic interest in the
region grows more apparent every year.
The ever-present threat from sea level change and
devastating hurricanes in the Pacific makes it vital that
the Australian Defence Force and New Zealand Defence
Force remain interoperable and ready and able to bring
relief, and if necessary evacuation, to the scattered, low-
lying islands of the water hemisphere where Pacific Is-
land friends rely on external assistance at times of cri-
sis.
Shared maritime doctrine, training and exchange of
personnel and political will to keep modernising the
fleets are the keys to keeping the relationship at sea mu-
tually beneficial. Regular exercising together is essential
if short notice operations are to be successful. For that
reason RNZN sailors and junior officers were embarked
in RAN frigates for Middle East deployments from 2012
onwards. RNZN staff officers have worked with RAN
counterparts in Combined Task Force 150 conducting
Maritime Security Operations outside the Arabian Gulf
HMNZS Gambia
9
for the last two decades.
After a long period when Australian Defence Force
operations were mainly focussed on the Middle East, the
RAN has now re-engaged with the Pacific and South
East Asia. In 2019 a group of 15 RNZN officers and
sailors embarked in the LHD HMAS Canberra for three
months as part of Exercise Indo-Pacific Endeavour.
They visited Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vi-
etnam and Singapore.
The RAN’s three amphibious ship, Canberra, Ade-
laide and Choules, with the RAN’s three new Hobart
Class Air Warfare Destroyers, have transformed the
ability of both navies to engage in significant operations
for combat or humanitarian purposes, or any combina-
tion, both in our neighbourhood, and out of area. Large
helicopter carriers are national assets with an interna-
tional reach well suited to the vastness of the Pacific.
The RNZN will undoubtedly continue to exercise and
operate with these large amphibious ships in pursuit of
common aims in the decades ahead. The RNZN’s contri-
bution of an ANZAC Class frigate to the RIMPAC exer-
cises continues to be a high point of New Zealand’s en-
gagement with the USN and the region. The integration
in 2017 of a frigate to a USN Carrier Strike Group is
testament to the RNZN’s growing interoperability with
the USN.
Just where, when and under what circumstances the
RNZN and RAN will operate together again to achieve
their governments’ strategic intentions is unknowable.
But given the political and climatic volatility of the re-
gion we live in that they will be so used is not much in
doubt. Both governments understand that in the water
hemisphere a modern, flexible maritime projection capa-
bility is not optional but central to national security and
prosperity. The two nations’ navies are bound together
by far more than shared naval history, important though
that is. They work, exercise and plan together because
they are more capable of shaping the strategic geography
of this part of the world together than either could do
unaided by the other.
The RNZN is completing a period of rebuilding and
restoration after a period of lean years. Both its ANZAC
class frigates Te Mana and Te Kaha, built in Australia,
are being refitted, upgraded and given a midlife exten-
sion which will see them serve for another decade. The
RNZN has been appropriately equipped with Offshore
Patrol Vessels for both blue water Pacific operations and
its vital EEZ resource protection role. New Zealand
maritime zone contains some of the largest and best
stocked remaining fisheries on the planet. Many are far
from the coast and need to be patrolled and defended
against increasingly bold deep sea poachers. That is a
task for the RNZN’s OPVs that has no time limit.
As the RNZN prepares to celebrate it 80th birthday in
2021 it is rebuilding so that it can continue to live up to
its vision statement, The Best Small Navy in the World.
The RAN is fortunate to have this force multiplier avail-
able to enhance its larger capability. The RNZN is fortu-
nate to have the RAN available to provide scale and op-
portunity for multi ship joint maritime exercises and op-
erations just a short distance away across Tasman Sea,
known to both navies as ‘the ditch’.
The ongoing story of the Black Kiwi and the Red
Kangaroo has solid foundations in the shared history of
the two nations and navies in peace and war. It is im-
portant for both the RAN and the RNZN, and their Aus-
tralian Defence Force and New Zealand Defence Force
sister services, that joint maritime interoperability is
maintained and enhanced in peacetime so that whatever
hostile entity comes at either country over the sea or un-
der it in the decades ahead can be detected and if neces-
sary engaged and defeated. The RAN and the RNZN,
even combined, will never be the largest navy in this
region. That fact requires that the two navies must be
able to demonstrate continuing cutting-edge lethality.
The shared history of naval endeavour from 1769 to
the present shows that in peace we shape our shared re-
gional strategic geography and, if required, in war we
must be able to ‘Fight and Win at Sea’.
Protector Class Offshore Patrol Vessel HMNZS Wellington
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 10
I have the honour to report the proceedings of
the Naval Officers Club of Australia for the period
1 March 2019 to 29 February 2020.
To begin, I would like to acknowledge the sup-
port the club has received over the year from our
Patron, the Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Michael
Noonan, AO, RAN and his senior leadership team.
The relationship with CN’s office’ has strength-
ened during the period, and I regularly receive cop-
ies of CN Vale signals and senior officer promotion
and posting signals, which I routinely circulate to
the membership. Vice Admiral Noonan was also
the Guest of Honour at the NSW Divisions inaugu-
ral Australian White Ensign dinner held on Navy’s
birthday, 1 March 2019.
Throughout this period the national cycle of
Club activities has continued along historical lines
with outcomes similar to previous reporting peri-
ods. However, the advent of a Covid-19 Pandemic
late in reporting period began to impact activity in
February 2020 and has led to the delay in the con-
duct of this Annual General Meeting. While your
National Committee considered that the AGM
could have been delayed further, it was thought
that it was in all our interests that the AGM be
completed as soon as practicable and that the club
move on. I hope that the conduct of this AGM via
the Zoom video conferencing system is viewed as
an innovative approach in a difficult period, noting
it does have the advantage of providing an oppor-
tunity for our national membership to more active-
ly participate in proceedings.
Membership
Club membership numbers have remained rela-
tively constant during the reporting period at
around 600. Those members who have crossed the
bar have been replaced by a roughly equal number
of new recruits, many of whom have joined via the
new website. Word of mouth supported by enjoya-
ble functions is another key method for recruit-
ment.
A key event during the year was the establish-
ment of a Tasmanian Division with their own so-
cial program. Membership of the Division numbers
around 40 under the able leadership of the Execu-
tive Officer, Naval Headquarters Tasmania, Lieu-
tenant Commander Calvin Johnson. I attended their
inaugural function in Hobart in late 2019 and was
able to brief them on the operation of the club na-
tionally and welcome them into our organisation.
I would like to acknowledge the outstanding
work of our Membership Secretary David Blazey
who has done much to ensure the integrity of our
membership records during the year. Members us-
ing the new website are encouraged to update their
personal details on logging in and this has proven
an effective and easy way to maintain the member-
ship directory. This directory is available online to
all members and is an excellent way for members
to obtain an email address or phone number of an-
other member. Unfortunately, a few members were
taken off the books during the year due to failing to
pay their subscriptions over several years.
The provision in the club's accounts for life
members into the future remains adequate, noting
this membership option is no longer offered.
I am pleased to advise that a digital membership
at a cost of $20.00 per annum is an increasingly
attractive option for members as we seek to reduce
costs associated with publishing a paper copy of
our Newsletter. Notwithstanding, a traditional
membership remains available at $30.00 per annum
for those who still prefer to read a hard copy.
Each of the State and Territory Divisions contin-
ue to run activities that are designed to satisfy the
needs of their members and encourage new mem-
bers to join. NSW and ACT functions continue to
be advertised to each other, as does the social cal-
endar of the Naval Warfare Officers Association,
the XRAN Alumni (Sydney) and the Lower Deck
Club (Sydney) to enable members to attend a range
of functions without being a member of the hosting
organisation.
The Naval Officers’s Club of Australia Incorporated
President’s Report
Annual General Meeting 23 July 2020
11
Financial
The club’s financial position continues to be
sound and club accounts continue to be managed
via a cloud-based online platform called Wave.
Copies of the annual Financial Statements for
the year have been provided separately and will be
briefed by the Treasurer once I have finished my
report. When approved, they will be published on
the website, together with my report.
I would like to thank our Treasurer John Ellis
and his assistants for the often under-appreciated
task of maintaining our accounts during the period.
Newsletter
The shared editorial model for the club’s News-
letter has continued to work extremely well under
the leadership of Rick Bayley. His fellow Sub-
Editors are located across several States and I’m
sure you would agree with me that they continue to
produce an excellent Newsletter. The Newsletter
remains totally dependent on contributions from
members, together with State and Territory Divi-
sion function reports and photographs. A mix of
current and historical content remains highly desira-
ble and I encourage every member to submit a con-
tribution when they see something suitable.
Website
Our new website was launched during the period
and I would like to particularly thank Geoff Cole
and Rick Bayley for their outstanding efforts to
bring this significant project to fruition. I encourage
all members to use the website which is the face of
our club to the public. Currently we are working to
improve the content of the news section to include
more items that may be of interest to members.
Functions
The functions held in each State and Territory
Division remain a primary focus for the club. Each
Division arranges its own program to meet the
needs of its membership. All members are encour-
aged to take advantage of the range of social func-
tions which facilitate the camaraderie of which we
are justly proud.
REOC Program
The club continues to support the Reserve Offic-
ers Entry Course (REOC) at HMAS Creswell
through sponsorship of the prize awarded to the
outstanding REOC student in each of the two cours-
es which conclude during the year. The contribu-
tions by the club to the REOC program each year
are highly valued by the Royal Australian Naval
College and are presented in person by your Presi-
dent or another member of the Committee.
During this reporting period an award compris-
ing a high-quality naval book was presented in June
2019. However, the award recipient in November
2019 received a crash posting to sea and will re-
ceive his award at a later date (post Covid-19).
Organisation
I am pleased to report that your national commit-
tee has functioned well during the period.
Long standing committee member John Hazell
has advised that he wishes to step down from the
committee at this AGM. John has made an invalua-
ble contribution to the work of the committee since
2008 and has been the lead organiser for Sydney
functions over many years. Highlights include the
Battle of the Coral Sea Commemorative functions
at the Australian National Maritime Museum,
Christmas luncheons at New South Wales Parlia-
ment House, mid-winter luncheons in Sydney and
creation of the Australian White Ensign Dinner on
Navy’s birthday.
In recognition of John’s efforts, I have signed a
Certificate of Appreciation for his efforts. Unfortu-
nately, due to the virtual nature of this AGM, I am
unable to present this to John in person. However, it
will be handed to John at a suitable time in the fu-
ture.
In conclusion, the structure of the club continues
to support its objectives and members continue to
actively participate in State and Territory Division
activities. I would particularly like to thank all
members of the national committee for their hard
work during the year and for being supportive of
me in my first year in the President’s role. Your
Committee is here to serve our membership and I
would welcome any feedback that you may have.
Simon Cullen
President
23 July 2020
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 12
Part 1 of this story
revealed the author
joining tanker M.T.
Harold Sleigh as a
cadet. Harold
Sleigh was one of
the two founding
partners of the
Golden Fleece pe-
troleum company.
He introduced the ship and some of the qualities of life
onboard and commenced his description of his first trip
to Vietnam. Part 1 ended as M.T. Harold Sleigh pro-
ceeded up the Saigon River as part of a small convoy.
The distance up the river to Saigon is about 40 miles
and took about 5 hours. I recall it being about 2 miles
wide where we were. We were treated to US army, ma-
chine-gun mounted, open speed boats, that would hurtle
towards us and try to get airborne on our bow wave.
Nha Be. That first trip up the river was uneventful,
and we arrived at the oil base of Nha Be at the southern
outskirts of Saigon. It was hot, sticky, tropical, with lush
vegetation growing around the fences. The oil base man-
ager had a classic French colonial house on the site, and
his rather bored, lovely French wife invited the officers
to come and swim in their pool. Malcolm (the 2nd Mate)
& I decided that was a great idea, but when we got there,
the garden was dusty and run-down, and the pool was
green. We swam nevertheless, and of course had to bet
some beers on the race we had to have. Malcolm must
have been a school champion or something - he thrashed
me!
We did 4-hour cargo watches through the day and
night, so there wasn’t much time to see Saigon, although
we did get a “Tuk Tuk” for a quick look around. Saigon
was very busy and exciting, soldiers everywhere and all
noise, smells and colour you’d expect. There were
French colonial style buildings, and even Parisian boule-
vards, but my first view of Saigon seemed more run-
down and haphazard than Hong Kong, or even Manila.
It took us about 3 days to discharge the cargo, and I
watched as the ship slowly settled by the stern, and the
bow came high out of the water. It looked all wrong to
me, but that was how empty tankers sailed - with some
seawater ballast pumped in to the forward tanks to give
enough stability.
With cargo discharged, we joined the outbound con-
voy and headed out to sea. This time, with the ship emp-
ty, the passage was a little less comfortable, and the ship
rolled around a lot more. The routine was different too.
We had to clear out the highly dangerous fumes in the
empty tanks, and this was done by washing the tanks
with seawater and pumping it over the side - we didn’t
know about anti-pollution measures in those days. This
was standard practice for all tankers once they were at
sea away from the coast. Think of the tons of sludge
from thousands of ships every time they sailed empty.
We would also rig “windsocks” - big sails with canvas
funnels down into the tanks to blow fresh air inside each
of the 27 tanks.
This time after we rounded the Horsburgh Light and
entered the Singapore Straits, we changed course to In-
donesia - a village called Tanjung Uban on the Island of
Pulau Bintan. There we tied up using double mooring
lines - as the tide runs strongly down the channel - at the
end of a two kilometre jetty.
I settled down into this routine on the ship, loading in
Singapore or Tanjung Uban, and most often, discharging
in Saigon. Occasionally, we’d be diverted up the coast to
Nha Trang and Da Nang, or into the Mekong Delta at
Vinh Long. I tried, fairly unsuccessfully, to complete my
theory assignments from Newcastle Tech; there was
much too much interesting stuff going on!
In Singapore we’d pick up the pilot who would bring
us to anchor in the Roads - an anchorage in the Straits
with hundreds of ships. There we’d wait for a day or two
for our orders to load cargo, sometimes alongside, some-
times from the “mother ship”. My job during close quar-
ter manoeuvring was on the Bridge keeping the Move-
ment Log of every order given, and to work the engine
telegraph. On one occasion the pilot - an American - said
“What’s her top speed Cap’n?” Bluey James proudly
said “8.5 knots pilot.” The pilot spun his baseball cap
around on his head, gripped the dodger with both hands,
and said “Let her rip Cap’n!”
For ships in the Roads, the “bumboats” would run a
liberty boat shuttle in to Collyer Quay. Those of us off-
watch would pile into these boats, and head first to the
Cellar Bar, next to Change Alley Market, where you
could buy watches, cameras, tape decks, and the usual
junk that sailors loved! (In 2005 I went back to Collyer
Quay for the first time since those days. People laughed
when I said “Where’s the harbour?” Singapore’s huge
land reclamation now has Collyer Quay 5 kms inland,
and there’s a little creek near where we used to come
ashore. The Cellar Bar is no more, and Change Alley is
now an upstairs walkway of homogenised, pasteurised,
sterilised steel and chromium.)
We had our share of excitement in the Saigon River.
On one occasion, there was a firefight running as we
sailed past. The Hueys were lining up firing their mini-
guns into the jungle at the river bank, and the Phantoms
H C Sleigh Ltd in Vietnam Part 2 By Pat Milwright
13
appeared as a tiny dot high in the sky, before screaming
down with an ear-shattering vertical dive-bomb. As the
jungle erupted in a blast of flame and smoke, a squadron
of the speed-boats raked the shore line with their ma-
chine guns. We sailed past, sipping our gin & tonics,
saying “Jolly good shot, chaps.” It was only much later
that we learned the Viet Cong had intended to attack the
convoy!
The lack of any attacks on our ship had us telling
ourselves that the Company was paying bribes to the
Viet Cong. It was all complete nonsense of course. We
later heard that the SS Buchanan had been hit with some
19 recoilless rifle rounds!
Then we were attacked at Nha Be. Most of the
rounds missed, and no real damage was caused, although
one landed near the ship but didn’t explode. One South
Vietnamese customs man was seen hurtling out on his
bicycle, overtaking cars to get away!
On another
occasion, in De-
cember 1967 we
were first ship
behind the mine-
sweeper, and be-
hind us was a
steamship (I think
the SS “Seatrain
Texas”). We un-
derstood that the
Viet Cong had
come up with a
way of letting the
minesweeper go
past, and let the
mine float up be-
hind. With all our
petrol and JP4, I
think they would have liked to watch us go “bang”, but
the mine came up too slowly and got the ship behind us
as she was coming to anchor at Nha Be. Because she
was a dry cargo, logistics support ship, she wasn’t badly
damaged, and I think they beached her without any loss
of life.
At the age of 20, you’re quite invulnerable. None of
this was frightening to us, just all rather exciting! It was
not until we had left Vietnam and headed to India, I
found out about the former HC Sleigh ship - the
“Dampier” had been sunk by a mine the previous year.
As we learned our way around, our runs ashore be-
came more frequent. The harbour was busy and chaotic
with ships - often we had a day or two of waiting to dis-
charge, which gave us more time ashore. Saigon took on
a flavour we loved to taste.
One night, Malcolm & I missed the last minibus
back to Nha Be, so we thought we’d hitch a ride from
the guard post at Camp Davies. The sentry said “We
own the road during the day. At night, it’s the Viet Con-
g’s. We ain’t going anywhere, bud.” We’d had quite a
few sherbets, and Malcolm said “B***** you all. We’ll
walk!” The sentry said “If we hear any gunfire, we’ll be
sure to come and pick you up in the morning.”
The two of us strode off into the darkness. Once
we’d walked a kilometre or so we were starting to sober
up. We were walking rather more quietly, and I remem-
ber looking at Malcolm with his highly visible white
shirt. He said later he’d thought my white shorts were
like a beacon!
There was a splash in the paddy field nearby, and the
two of us hit the deck! Then, splash, splash, splash as a
duck took off. We sheepishly got to our feet, and now
thinking this really wasn’t a good idea. We could see the
lights of the oil base, and there was only the last steel
road bridge to cross. We’re half way across, when out of
the darkness appeared a man in black pyjamas and coni-
cal hat, and a huge gun. (It certainly looked huge when it
was pointing our
way!)
“American?”
“Non, non,
m’sieur. Fran-
cais.” (We
thought a non-
combatant nation-
ality would sound
better.)
“Cigarette?”
“Mais, cer-
tainement.” As
we both fumbled
to give him a cig-
arette, Malcolm
dropped his. With
hands shaking, I
just handed over
the whole packet and we hurried away into the lights.
“Bonsoir.” “Bonsoir.”
We have no idea who he was. He was certainly
dressed in the usual Viet Cong outfit, but he could also
have been the ARVN sentry dressed in his after dark kit
(if they had one). Either way, we couldn’t get away
quickly enough and trotted towards the sandbagged
gatepost of the base.
It turned out this wasn’t a clever idea either. The
ARVN sentries at the oil base assumed running figures
at night was the start of an attack. Once we got to the
gate, they told us that it was only Malcolm’s white shirt
that made them hold their fire until they could see us
properly! I don’t think we broke the curfew after that.
End of Part 2—Part 3 will be in the December edition.
Nha Be Navy base Vietnam 1969—photo by Mike Gilmore—Flickr
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 14
RANC graduates might be interested in a number of
major changes that have taken place recently at HMAS
Creswell and by extension at the RANC. There have
been changes in the command structure, the organiza-
tion and also in the infrastructure.
Command and Training Structure
The Commanding Officer of HMAS Creswell has
also been the Captain of the College since the RANC
moved back to Jervis Bay in 1958, but from the begin-
ning of 2020 this has changed. For the past several
years, the CO Creswell has also been the Director Train-
ing Authority - Initial Training, Leadership and Manage-
ment (DTA-ITLM) nation-wide, which has meant re-
sponsibility for Creswell, initial training at Cerberus,
and the leadership management schools on the East and
West coasts. In those roles he has reporting responsibili-
ties to the Deputy Chief of Navy through Commodore
Training, while separately as CO HMAS Creswell, he
reports to the Fleet Commander.
At Creswell he has been supported by a commander
as XO, a Training Commander, a Head of Initial Train-
ing Faculty (HOITF) at LCDR level, and the traditional
divisional staff, including gunnery staff and PTI’s. The
structure has served the RAN well for many years, but
the huge increase in recruiting has led to a requirement
for restructuring. Aside from new entry officers, the
RANC also conducts training courses for laterals,
changeovers and reserves. In 2019 the RANC graduated
nearly 300 new entry officers from two intakes and re-
cruiting has not slowed – there are now seven divisions
with an eighth soon to be formed.
The solution, as far as Creswell is concerned, has
been to separate the establishment from the College.
From the beginning of 2020 RANC has become a resi-
dent unit within Creswell, with a commander as its com-
manding officer and its own XO, previously the HOITF.
The Commanding Officer of the RANC reports to the
DTA-ITLM, who of course is dual-hatted as the CO
HMAS Creswell. The CO Creswell remains a captain
and retains overall responsibility for the nation-wide
training activities outlined above. The former Training
Commander position now reports to the CO Creswell
and has no direct link to RANC.
Infrastructure
A far cry from that day in the 1980’s when Geelong
Block was bulldozed, the RAN now takes its heritage
responsibilities very seriously and it is reported that
$25m is currently being spent on upgrading and modern-
izing many of the old buildings within HMAS Creswell.
The buildings in the Study Block (Admin Block after
1986) have been basically stripped back to skeletons,
steel struts have been installed to support them, and they
have been reassembled with all asbestos and assorted
architectural detritus removed. The old gym will become
an auditorium and has been similarly upgraded, includ-
ing the installation of adjustable piers to support it.
The visually appalling late 1960’s science block near
the ensign staff has been demolished and replaced by a
new Maritime and Strategic Studies Faculty (MSSF) for
junior officers’ leadership and promotion courses, archi-
tecturally very similar to the other Study Block build-
ings. A second dining hall, smaller but architecturally
identical to the old one, has been constructed behind and
connected to the latter on the site of the former galley,
which has been rebuilt further back again where the
Cooks and Stewards block once stood. Senior and junior
sailors messes are also being refurbished. Finally, a new
junior sailors’ accommodation block is being construct-
ed just inside the main gate, and preliminary plans are
being discussed to construct the infrastructure necessary
to house and train even more officer trainees in the fu-
ture.
It’s gratifying to see the growth in the RAN and the
fact that officer training is being treated as such a serious
business.
RANC and HMAS CRESWELL in 2020
15
For most of the 1990s I worked as master on small bulk
carriers operating under charter to Ok Tedi Mining Limited.
We carried copper concentrates down river from OTML's
river terminal at Kiunga, 458 nautical miles up the Fly River
in PNG, and discharged into a 75,000 tonne "silo ship" se-
curely anchored off the river mouth. The silo ship was
equipped with crane-operated clamshell grabs, which unload-
ed our full cargo in about five hours.
Running the river was quite a challenge, for the channel
changed continuously. Regular groundings were a fact of life,
the contact was usually soft mud. Our company operated six
river bulkers, 75 metres long, 15 metres beam, and drawing
around 3.8 metres at full load in fresh water, at which draught
they displaced around 3,800 tonnes. They were twin-screw,
twin-rudder designs, with 2 x 1,200 HP engines, and were
generally excellent to handle and very suitable for the trade —
as they should have been, they were purpose-built and spe-
cially strengthened to take the bumps and sudden stops.
The Masters and Chief Engineers were generally Australi-
ans, New Zealanders, Indians and Sri Lankans; the mates,
engineers and other crew were Papua New Guinea nationals.
Many of those were Fly River men, and virtually all the others
were coastal people, and natural seafarers.
We usually sailed with a crew of about a dozen: Master,
Mate, Second Mate; and three or four ABs as helmsmen;
Chief Engineer, Second and Third Engineers, and usually a
Fourth Engineer. There was one cook. Crew accommodation
was pretty good, and for the Master and Chief Engineer was
of excellent quality.
The ships usually also carried one or two cadets among the
crew. These young people had already undergone basic train-
ing at the PNG Maritime College in Madang, and needed to
achieve a specified period of sea-time before their college
training progressed to the next level, as preparation for a mari-
time career as a deck or engineer officer.
Most masters tended to regard the cadets simply as work-
ing members of the crew, and gave them nothing special in
the way of instruction or experience. I preferred to devote
some time to furthering their training, and one way of achiev-
ing this was to arrange for the cadets to keep some bridge
watches with me; that way I could explain what I was doing
and why, giving them useful on-the-job experience.
There was one young cadet I'll call Daniel ToBaba who
had a particularly interesting background. He told me that he
had been a medical student at the University of PNG in Port
Moresby. In his second year he was introduced to surgery,
which proved disastrous. He fainted at the sight of blood. No
amount of exposure to the gory procedures of the operating
theatre de-
sensitised him. He accepted that he’d never be able to com-
plete his training, and abandoned the idea of becoming a doc-
tor.
For a new career, he joined the police force. He completed
Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary basic training, and
was assigned to a metropolitan police station. On his first day
at work, two wanted criminals phoned in and offered to give
themselves up. A police detachment of four police officers,
Daniel among them, went to meet the men to bring them in
for processing and charging. At the rendezvous, said Daniel,
something went badly awry; a routine pick-up turned into a
shoot-out. The two wanted men ended up dead. Needless to
say, there was copious blood around, and Daniel fainted yet
again. When he revived, he realised that he would be unsuited
for police work. He resigned.
Daniel was an intelligent and well-educated lad, and had
no trouble qualifying for entry to the PNG Maritime College.
And so, to the Fly River, and the good ship MV Western En-
terprise, under my command. Daniel told me he enjoyed
working in the safe and non-violent atmosphere of the river
boats, where he felt he was making a productive contribution
to the nation’s export earnings.
In the early morning of 14 August 1998, Western Enter-
prise was about to anchor at Kiunga. Daniel was with me on
the bridge; I was steering; the Chief Mate, Jack Apelis, was
on the forecastle ready to operate the anchor windlass. Out-
side, it was still dark with a hint of dawn lightening the east-
ern horizon. The ship was light, empty, and ready to load.
The river level was 10.1 metres - extreme flood conditions. In
Kiunga village, on the eastern bank, river water was flowing
underneath the thatched houses, built on stilts for precisely
that contingency.
I explained to Daniel that the choice of anchorage position
was pretty important. We needed to be close to the bank, to
leave maximum room for downstream loaded ships to get
past. But also, we must anchor before we reached the village;
the villagers didn’t like crude and licentious seafarers oversee-
ing their riverside ablutions from a few metres away. Finally,
we wanted to be as far upriver as possible, to save running
time in the dinghy to and from our shore office. Today, the
anchorage was empty of other ships. We could take the plum
spot, closest to the office, marked precisely by a large bread-
fruit tree; when it was level with the ship’s bridge, it was time
to anchor.
Daniel took all this in, then looked out the bridge window
to starboard. "There’s a breadfruit tree", he said.
I looked; he was dead right, its distinctive leaves were
silhouetted against the dawn sky; it was already abeam, we
were almost off the village. With all my talking I had overshot
the mark, and we were still moving upstream. I moved the
engine controls to half astern to stop the ship; it would take 50
metres or so to get the way off her, then we would have to
back down the river to get to the anchoring position.
Continued on Page 17
CADET TRAINING: BLOOD AT HIGH WATER By Jerry Lattin
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 16
Dear Editors,
Thankyou for sending me the latest Newsletter.
I found the leading article on Operation Navy Help Dar-
win most interesting. On Christmas Day 1974 I was in
Sydney where I was serving as the Commanding Officer
of HMS/M Odin attached to the 1st Australian Subma-
rine Squadron and berthed alongside at HMAS Platypus
Together with my technical officers we were called in to
a meeting to discuss the possibility of Odin proceeding
to Darwin with the primary aim of providing electrical
power.
As my relief was due to arrive from the UK early in
January plans were quickly drawn up for him to join the
submarine in Townsville to enable the turnover to take
place during the final leg to Darwin.
In the event none of this happened and Odin re-
mained in Sydney. My understanding was that addition-
al machinery would have had to be found and flown in
to Darwin, and without which our generators would
have been ineffective. I cannot recall exactly why that
could not be done, but it was obviously too difficult and
we stayed put.
The article on the honeymoon cruise for Princess
Anne also caught my eye due to an apparent error in the
date of Mountbatten’s death. His assassination was in
August 1979 and not in 1974 as suggested by the article.
Tim Swales
(CMDR G T Swales RN)
By Editor—the error in NOCN121 relating to the assas-
sination date of Lord Mountbatten is acknowledged.
FURTHER MEMORIES OF ‘ON THE BEACH’.
Reading the NOC June newsletter brings to mind my
reasons to remember that momentous event of
‘ANOTHER ROLE FOR THE NAVY’.
Ava Gardner and the team were attending a cocktail
party with the Brass on the Quarterdeck. I was OOW on
the After Brow. The Bosun’s Mate and I spotted a bloke
wearing chinos, boat shoes and a striped T-shirt starting
up the gangway. I suggested that the Mate should stop
this incursion and find out what he wanted. It turned out
SAY YOUR
With the ship light and empty, our bow was virtually
out of the water. In this condition, the ship tended to
handle unpredictably. The astern power being applied
meant she could no longer be steered, and temporarily
gave the vessel a mind of her own. The bow started to
swing to starboard. We were already very close to the
bank on that side, maybe five metres off. I began to cor-
rect the swing with the engines. Suddenly I saw Jack, on
the forecastle, spring to the intercom. "There’s a house
there", he yelled. "We’re going to hit it".
With the river at flood level, the river bank would not
protect the house, as the bow would float right over it. I
struggled with the engines to stop the swing; meanwhile
I could see Jack on the forecastle, yelling to warn the
house occupants.
In 15 seconds their flimsy home—and possibly their
bodies—could be demolished by 1100 tonnes of ship.
Gradually the engine power halted and reversed the
swing. But then there was more drama on the forecastle:
I saw Jack suddenly drop down to the deck behind a bul
wark. He stayed low, holding his head. I still couldn’t
see the house. Jack came on the intercom again. "We
missed it", he said, "but close the bridge door. He’s
shooting arrows at us." Beside me, I heard Daniel gasp.
A few minutes later we were in position; the anchor
was dropped, and shortly afterwards I shut down the
engines. Jack came up to the bridge, still holding his
head near the eye. When he took his hand away, there
was blood everywhere. "The arrows missed", he said; "I
hit the bulwark when I ducked. Maybe the cadet can
give me a hand to get this cleaned up a bit."
Daniel sighed; his knees folded, he sank slowly to
deck level. A soft landing left him OK.
" I’ll do it Jack", I said. "Later, we’d better send that
village fellow some gifts by way of apology. Some
chickens, tinned fish, rice perhaps. Tell the cook to or-
ganise it."
The food, and my apology, were gratefully accepted
by the family who had received such a rude awakening.
A few days later, Daniel came to my cabin. "I’m not
sure I want to make my career at sea", he said. " I might
be better as an airline pilot". I wished him the best of
luck. Somewhere out there in the wide world, a blood-
free niche is waiting for Daniel.
Cadet Training: Blood at High Water Continued from Page 15
17
Letter to ‘Your Say’ on matters of interest to read-
ers will be considered for publication and may be
edited. Letters no longer than 250 words are pre-
ferred.
that he said his name was Walter Chiari, that he was
Ava’s boyfriend, had come from Italy and wanted to
see Ava. I suggested that the Mate should proceed to
the Quarterdeck and attempt to give Ava the message.
He returned with Ava’s immediate response: “Tell him
to F***Off”. We did. And so did he.
Later (I think), while a group of us flyboys were
sharing G&Ts with Ava in the Wardroom, I was ap-
proached by Gregory Peck with a view to his obtaining
an option for film rights to ‘They’re a Weird Mob’ and
requested contact details for my father. Over a couple
of beers we got that organised. Unfortunately for him
he could not get finance from the US and his Option
eventually lapsed. Years later my wife and I attended
the Premiere of the ‘Weird Mob’ movie. After the
screening my father asked me to meet the star of the
show. We shook hands and I said how nice it was to
meet him again. He looked puzzled and wondered
where that may have occurred. So I reminded him of
our Hobart incident. He seemed to be a tad embar-
rassed. Can’t think why.
Frank O’Grady
LEUT (P) Retd
Dear Editors
The international strategic situation has deteriorated
markedly in recent years and there is now a developing
confrontation between totalitarian China and Russia and
the USA and its democratic allies. A state of hostilities
could break out from maybe an unexpected event and
we could be dragged in.
Our current conventional submarine construction
program is almost irrelevant to our defence for maybe
20 or more years, noting that there will be teething
problems in a new unproven submarine. While Collins
Class can be updated at much time and cost, no matter
how thorough the engineering involved they will be
very old boats by the time new submarines replace
them. This does not auger well for retention and recruit-
ment of submarine crews. It may prove difficult to man
the new boats.
As well known, with our oceanic environment and
huge distances, who would benefit more than would
Australia in possessing Nuclear-Power boats. Indeed,
their high speed of deployment and endurance (limited
only by that of their crews), would be of great value to
our slow-acting democracy. They would provide our
Government with a major deterrent to any aggressor,
more options in time of threat, a more powerful voice in
Indo/Pacific affairs, and make us a more valuable ally.
Looking to the longer term it is always possible that the
US may decide it to be in their interest to adopt the atti-
tude of 1919 and withdraw into isolation. We might
then be alone to defend ourselves.
These factors would seem to indicate that we should
be going for Nuclear-powered submarines as soon as
possible. we should not forget the great importance of
having nuclears here to ensure that all our anti-
submarine resources are well trained to meet possible
challenges in coming years from the growing number of
nuclears operated by other nations in the Indo/Pacific.
One way might be to purchase or lease 2 or 3 built
in the US (preferably), UK or France. Maintenance
could be by creating a joint Maintenance Facility in
WA or SA and sending the boats to a major foreign
base for any problem beyond its capability, as any US
boats must already face if operating from even further
away in the Indian Ocean. Meanwhile a nuclear indus-
try could be developed maybe in SA, future boats con-
structed there complete except for the nuclear and may-
be other elements, boats being transported to country of
origin for such installation (the reverse of our LHDs
construction). There may be better ways of achieving
nuclear powered boats while maintaining our naval
construction industry.
While costly, this could be less than the present
conventional program noting the announced cost of
USS Virginia Class and that we would only need about
6 or 8 boats instead of 12 conventionals. Of course
there are many problems to be faced including negotia-
tions, re-organisation of the current program, legislative
changes, technology transfer etc, but with determination
and drive these can be faced as we did from scratch
with our first naval fleet at the second level of naval
power in 1909, the introduction of aircraft carriers in
1948, and submarines and American DDGs in 1964/7.
Attitudes in our country are gradually changing and
if, with bipartisan agreement, our leaders put before the
people the advantages to the nation of such a course
there could well be considerable public support. As I
am sure many of our members and the general public
would agree we must not send our submariners to sea in
anything but the most proven, reliable, effective and
survivable boats and that means nuclear-powered boats
from the US, UK or France.
A J Robertson
Rear Admiral RAN Rtd
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 18
Loyal NOC member and Australia’s most senior sub-mariner and former Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Ian MacDougall AC AFSM RAN, passed away on 1 July at age 82 in Tasmania.
Ian MacDougall joined the Naval College as an Intermediate entry Cadet in 1954, graduating in 1955 before training in UK then sea training in Anzac, Cerber-us and Swan, joining Albatross in late 1958 for Supply Branch training. As Deputy Supply Officer in Vampire’s commis-sioning crew from mid-1958 he gained a Bridge Watch-keeping Certificate before a posting to Supply School at Cerberus in 1961 then sea posting in 1962 to Melbourne.
The decision to acquire Oberon Class subma-rines in early 1963, led Ian to transfer to the Seaman Branch and become a submariner. After three years shore and sea submarine training in the UK, in January 1966 Ian was appointed as Executive Officer of the new-ly launched Oxley, Australia’s first Oberon Class Sub-marine. Lieutenant Commander MacDougall passed “Perisher”, the Commanding Officers’ Qualification Course in 1968, and completed a two-year RN exchange in command of HMS Otter based at Faslane in Scotland. Ian returned to Australia to command Onslow in December 1971. He was promoted Commander in De-cember 1973 and joined Watson as OIC of the Subma-rine Command Team Trainer in 1974. A posting to Na-vy Office followed in 1977 before he returned to sea in mid-1978 as Executive Officer Hobart. After the US Naval War College in 1979, he was promoted to Captain and, in 1980 took command of Sup-ply, in which he had Indian Ocean and SE Asia deploy-ments. In January 1982 he commenced three years as Director of Submarine Policy followed by appointment in mid-1985 as the Commander Australian Submarine Squadron; he was the first Australian born naval officer to do so.
Ian was instrumental in nearly all the changes that took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s as the Oberons developed from a provider of ASW training
vehicles to a modern submarine force. These included being party to the Submarine Weapons Upgrade Pro-gram and the heavy lifting to achieve the Collins pro-ject’s initial approval. One could say that Ian led the maturation of Australia’s submarine capability.
Ian was a remarkably effective leader. He al-ways encouraged his subordinates to be accountable, and to “own the problem”, invariably supporting their execu-tion. This culture of “ownership” defines Australian sub-mariners today, and it has got the submarine force through most of the challenges it has faced in the past 25 years.
Promoted to Commodore in late 1985, he was posted as Director General Joint Operations & Plans for ADF. Promoted to flag rank, he was appointed Maritime Commander Australia in January 1989; Deputy Chief of Naval Staff in July 1990; then, as Vice Admiral, Chief of Naval Staff from 1991 for the next three years, thereby becoming the first Submariner and the first Supply Of-ficer to command the RAN. Ian was made an Officer in the Military Division of the Order of Australia in the 1991 Australia Day Honours List in recognition of his service as Maritime Commander. Among many reforms initiated during his leader-ship, he was a strong proponent of women serving at sea, including in submarines, and put in place many of the reforms needed to make this workforce change a suc-cess. His 40 years of service to the RAN was further honoured in 1993, when Ian was appointed as a Com-panion in the Military Division of the Order of Australia. Remaining committed to public service, Vice Ad-miral MacDougall accepted the role as the Commission-er New South Wales Fire Brigades in 1994, a post he retained until 2003, when he was decorated for his ser-vices with the Australian Fire Service Medal.
Vice Admiral MacDougall was the Patron of the Submarines Association Australia and took a great inter-est in the welfare of former submariners. RIP Ian.
Ian MacDougall Remembered
19
Committed NOC member Rear Admiral Andrew John Robertson AO DSC RAN – reportedly Navy’s most ac-complished Gunnery Officer – crossed the bar at age
95 on 5 July.
Having joined the RAN College as a 13 year old entry in 1939, Andrew excelled academically and on the sports field and was awarded the King’s Medal on grad-uation in 1942. His initial sea-time was served in HMAS Australia and HMAS Warramunga, conducting patrols and convoy escort duties in the Coral Sea, around New Guinea and off the east coast of Australia. In 1944, then Midshipman Robertson went to UK for Sub Lieutenant's courses, on completion of which he was posted to HMS Kimberley in the Aegean Sea, where the destroyer played a leading role in enforcing the sur-render of German forces in the Dodecanese Islands in May 1945. Returning to Australia later that year, Lieutenant Robertson joined the destroyer HMAS Bataan which was later deployed to Japan as part of the British Com-monwealth Occupation Force. During this time he walked over the nuclear bomb site at Hiroshima, shortly after the bomb was dropped. In August 1947, Andrew joined HMAS Swan which was leading the 20th Minesweeping Flotilla and conducting mine clearance operations in Australia and New Guinea. The following year, Lieutenant Robertson undertook the long gunnery course at HMS Excellent , after which he was posted to HMAS Cerberus in Victo-ria as an instructor at the Gunnery School. A posting to Anzac followed and the ship deployed in 1951 to Korean waters, in response to the North Korean invasion of South Korea, where the ship undertook escort duties and naval gunfire support. Returning to Australia for a refit later that year the ship then returned to Korea in 1952. Among numerous engagements with enemy forces, the most notable oc-
curred on 16 November 1952. Anzac was at anchor pro-tecting the garrison on Cho Do when fired on by four 76mm guns hidden in caves over 10 kilometres away. With rounds falling around her Anzac slipped her anchor and successfully returned fire for 23 minutes despatching 174 rounds. Andrew was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his part in this action. Following the Korean War, he posted to Sydney as Gunnery Officer and for the deployment to the coro-nation Spithead review. In 1954 he joined ANRUK staff and from there undertook the RN Staff Course in 1956. After a stint in Navy Office he took command of Quick-match and operated in SE Asian waters, after which he worked on the UK Joint Staff in Singapore A 1962 ap-pointment as Fleet Operations Officer was followed by promotion to Captain in 1964 and a further period in Na-vy Office. Thereafter, 18 months as Commander First Frigate Squadron in Yarra was followed by a Defence posting, a year at the Royal Defence College in London in 1972 and a posting back to sea in Sydney. On promotion to Commodore in 1974 he took command of Albatross, where he was instrumental in establishing the Fleet Air Arm Museum. Another short posting to Navy Office was followed by promotion to Rear Admiral and appointment as Head of Australian Defence Staff in London. After three years in UK he returned to Australia to his final posting as Flag Officer Naval Support Command. It was during this time that he was made a Freeman of the City of Sydney for enhanc-ing the bond between Navy and the City. He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birth-day Honours List 1980. He retired from the RAN in early 1982 after 43 years of service. Maintaining a devotion to public service, he be-came Vice President of the Navy League of Australia, Councillor, Order of Australia Association and Chair-man of Old Sydney Town Pty Ltd amongst many other activities. He was also a driving force behind the crea-tion of the Australian National Maritime Museum. At age 91, Andrew donated the Windjammer Sailors statue in Darling Harbour and, at the time of his death, was a member of 18 organisations or associations, including as Patron of the HMAS Sydney Association and Training Ship Sydney for naval cadets. RIP Andrew.
Andrew Robertson Remembered
One of many ways we remember him!
At 2019 Parliament House Lunch with Staff Lowe,
wife Pat and Ralph Derbidge
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 20
The next next major fleet unit to be commissioned
into the RAN, NUSHIP Supply (II), has undertaken
Sea Acceptance Trials in Spain.
It is the lead ship of two Supply Class Auxiliary
Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ships currently being built
for the Royal Australian Navy by Spanish shipbuilder,
Navantia. The Australian Supply Class ships are based
on the Spanish Navy’s Cantabria Class design. The
new AORs will replace the Durance class HMA Ships
Success and Sirius.
The two Supply Class AORs will be named HMA
Ships Supply (II) and Stalwart (III) once commis-
sioned. The lead ship, Supply, was laid down on 18
November 2017 and then launched at the Navantia
Shipyards in Ferrol, Spain, on 24 November 2018. The
day following the launch of Supply, in accordance with
ship building tradition, the Chief of Navy, Vice Admi-
ral Michael Noonan, positioned a coin under where the
hull will be constructed for Stalwart.
In mid-August Supply undertook a Dry-hookup
alongside Ferrol with Cantabria. Supply is due to sail
from Ferrol 23 August and arrive Fleet Base West 28
September. The Australian fit-out period, which in-
cludes fitting Close In Weapon System, the Communi-
cations suite, Typhoon and Combat Systems will take
place between October and December
The ships are intended to carry fuel, dry cargo, wa-
ter, food, ammunition, equipment and spare parts to
provide operational support for the deployed naval or
combat forces operating far from the port on the high
seas for longer periods.
In addition to replenishment, the vessels can be
used to combat environmental pollution at sea, provide
logistics support for the armed forces and to support
humanitarian and disaster relief operations following a
natural disaster.
Subject to COVID-19 developments and other fac-
tors, the Ship’s company of 174 is planned to
join Supply in WA about 11 January 2021 to com-
mence the pathway to MSE and First of Class Trials,
followed by workups. The Commissioning Ceremony
is scheduled for April 2021. Source: Defence Connect
Nuship Supply
From page 21. tablished in the ‘long course of histori-
cal practice’ in the South China Sea.” Referring
to the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitra-
tion, Australia said, “There is no legal basis for China
to draw straight baselines connecting the outermost
points of maritime features or ‘island groups’ in the
South China Sea.” It asserted that it did not accept
Beijing’s claim that its sovereignty over the Paracel
Islands and Spratly Islands was “widely recognised by
the international community,” citing objections from
Vietnam and the Philippines.
Over the past decade, China has built bases on arti-
ficial islands in the South China Sea region, saying its
rights go back centuries. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philip-
pines, Taiwan and Vietnam contest China’s claims.
Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s biggest nation, has also
taken umbrage to Chinese attempts to encroach into its
territorial waters. Source: Indian Defence News
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21
As Jakarta Trims Defence, Beijing Makes Waves in
the South China Sea
The Covid-19 outbreak has hit hard for Southeast
Asian economies. Anticipating more shocks to come,
several countries have already moved to cut defence
spending, seeing the military as a budget line that can be
readily reduced. Indonesia, for example, has announced
it will slash its defence budget this year by nearly $588
million. Thailand has likewise reduced its defence allo-
cation by $555 million. Malaysia, Vietnam, and the
Philippines all face similar pressure.
All these countries are key maritime powers in the
region. Less defence spending will invariably mean less
patrols at sea. The Philippines has decided to cancel the
annual Baltikatan 2020 exercise, which would have in-
volved drills with the US and Australian navies. Yet
these cuts come at a time of growing maritime security
threats in the region. If anything, the pandemic has made
dangers even more urgent.
In recent months amid the coronavirus outbreak,
China’s naval forces are reported to have carried out
intense manoeuvres in the South China Sea, the scene
for several overlapping and disputed territorial claims.
The Haiyang Dizhi 8, a Chinese government research
ship, conducted a survey near the Malaysia’s Petronas-
operated West Capella, creating tension with the Malay-
sian government. In another incident, a Vietnamese fish-
ing vessel was sunk by a Chinese maritime surveillance
vessel in disputed waters.
It is not only the disputes with China that remain a
risk in these heavily transited waters of Southeast Asia.
Piracy is another enduring threat. China has also sought
to instigate sweeping new administrative units over the
South China Sea, seemingly to take advantage of the
weakened position of the other claimant countries in an
effort to bolster its own “nine dash line” claim.
Although Indonesia and China have not had any re-
cent maritime dispute, Indonesia did have a sharp ex-
change with China in December and January over pa-
trols in the North Natuna Sea, before the scale of the
coronavirus outbreak became clear. The Chinese Coast
Guard had escorted Chinese vessels while fishing ille-
gally inside the Indonesian exclusive economic zone.
Jakarta responded with a diplomatic protest to Beijing,
and in a signal of Indonesia’s seriousness, President
Joko Widodo personally led a meeting with the navy
and coast guard in the North Natuna Sea, ordering more
intense patrols.
None of these issues are resolved between Jakarta
and Beijing. China still considers the North Natuna Sea
as part of its nine dash line, while Indonesia has a firm
policy of not recognizing such a claim. So while mari-
time patrols remain necessary for Indonesia to ensure
China does not encroach in its waters, cutting the de-
fence budget will pose challenges for such surveillance.
But it is not only the disputes with China that remain
a risk in these heavily transited waters of Southeast
Asia. Piracy is another enduring threat that may increase
as the economies of the region sour, putting pressure on
legitimate business enterprises and creating an incentive
for illicit activity.
Waters in and around Indonesia have long been re-
garded as one of the most dangerous zones for piracy.
More than 60% of all maritime piracy incidents between
1993 and 2015 occurred in Southeast Asia, with more
than 20% of those incidents taking place in Indonesia
alone.
Research following the Asian financial crisis in the
late 1990s found a ten-fold increase in the number of
piracy cases in Indonesian waters compared with the
decade before, with 115 cases reported in 2001 com-
pared to only 10 in 1993. Similarly, in the two years
following the 2008 global financial crisis, the Regional
Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and
Armed Robbery (ReCAAP) reported a 25% increase in
piracy rates in Southeast Asia.
None of this should be taken to downplay the im-
portance of responding to the Covid-19 threat or the
challenge in addressing the economic fallout. But the
priorities for spending should be carefully considered,
so as not to cut back on an area such as defence, only to
make matters worse.
Source: Maritime Executive / The Lowy Interpreter
South China Seas Developments
Australia has become the first country outside the South
China Sea region to approach the United Nations over
China’s territorial claims and development of artificial
islands in the area – a gateway for global trade including
India. In its petition to the UN, Australia said it rejected
China’s “historical claims” in the South China Sea re-
gion because they violate international law and the UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea. This comes after the
US lambasted Chinese claims in the region, which is the
world’s busiest shipping route.
Australia has emerged as one of the sharpest critics
of China since the coronavirus outbreak, notwithstand-
ing strong, bilateral trade ties. It called for a global in-
vestigation into the origins of coronavirus, which first
emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan last year.
Australia’s declaration to the UN, submitted on
Thursday, reads: “Australia rejects China’s claim to
‘historic rights’ or ‘maritime rights and interests’ as es-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taking a Stand
Continued Previous Page
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 22
Sailors in hammocks, circa World War I or be-
fore
I re-engaged in 2017 after a small hiatus of 30 years
in the corporate market and how the Navy has changed!
I thought maybe a slight whimsical insight from a crusty
old Lieutenant Pusser (that’s what we used to call
MLOs) on overall changes I have observed from when
the ML Branch was Supply & Secretariat. (sorry Writers
you also aren’t part of our future but certainly were part
of our history)
My father was an ABCK in the 1930-40’s. He used
to lament that we were so soft compared to his
day…”we had hammocks, used to butcher our own
meat, ate nails and spat out rust” (never really under-
stood what this meant) and now I look back at his sto-
ries, compare them to my early experiences and nowa-
days, and wow what a transformation our branch has
had.
On 6 March 2017 I posted into Patrol Boat Group
Darwin at Larrakeyah Barracks HMAS Coonawarra on
11 months CFTS contract as Staff Officer Personnel &
Training (what I would have called a Secretarial billet) -
just 4 days short of 37 years since I marched into SL
1/80 as a Midshipman at RANC.
One thing that hasn’t changed is our ability to
‘simplify’ something by applying complex acronyms
and terminologies, so I thought it would be interesting
to throw out some old acronyms and terms that may
mean nothing to our newer logisticians and may rekin-
dle some memories for those who remember long white
stockings as part of summer rig of the day with a brief
tongue in cheek explanation:
Supply Department – this was a mystical place inhab-
ited by victuallers, starvos, scribes, beagles, storbies,
chefos, pussers and baby pussers. This place was all
powerful; it held the authority to clothe, feed, pay, and
provision and to manage both official and unofficial
rabbits. It was respected yet feared, as crossing the Sup-
ply Department could mean that your pay documents
would end up in Diego Garcia.
Captain’s Secretary – this was a powerful creature
who was guardian to the Commanding Officer, often
located in an ante room adjacent to the all-powerful. As
a Sub Lieutenant or Lieutenant he/she acted as gate-
keeper to the all-powerful, provided minutes, briefs,
managed diaries, drafted Monthly Reports of Proceed-
ings (a whimsical tome provided by the all-powerful to
the even more all-powerful, ended with the health and
welfare of the ships company and I have the honour to
be….) and the Sec was said to speak with the authority
of the Commanding Officer – woe betide anyone except
the all-mighty or the Pusser who crossed this creature.
Pay Office – a compartment where Scrooge like crea-
tures counted money behind closed doors, drank coffee,
smoked and prioritised who they liked and was to be
paid what allowances when. These Scribes were well
respected as they fed, nurtured and trained the Golden
Eagle. Their Brew Points were often the most well-
appointed with International Roast (not Pablo), cream
biscuits and they used the most modern gel pens not Bic
never writes; furniture was well maintained as were
fans, air conditioning, heaters as it was only the brave
that upset the masters of the Golden Eagle.
Ship’s Office – an area akin to the Pay Office but often
seen as the poorer cousin; but due to the transience be-
tween Pay and Ships Office staff it was a brave man/
woman who crossed these myrmidons, as they were
well connected. This area was a focal point for the tech-
nically inquisitive as greenies having eventually woken
from their slumber and storbies having completed
counting nuts and bolts would assist in the removal of
typewriters and installation of word processors ~ sailors
came from near and far to see this marvel of innovation,
of course we would never take them to sea and they
probably would never catch on.
Clothing Store – a magical place where victuallers
emerged often from freezers, dry stores or clothing
racks to admonish those who dared to want to swap out
uniforms or be fitted with a different size. The bulk-
heads echoed with the grating noise of the paragon ma-
chine as 3 copies were spewed from this advanced piece
of accounting equipment allowing the chastened sailor
to walk away with his/her perfectly fitting (maybe)
LOGISTICS THEN & NOW
By Ric Mingham
23
piece of kit. The store was often inhabited by a baby
pusser and a starvo Chief or Warrant Officer (who had
successfully had a humour by-pass). The main role of
the senior starvo was to scare off other rates wanting
help and to supervise the counting of shoes and rate
badges; and of course, to coordinate the transfer of rab-
bits between the storbies and stokers.
Galley – the home of the catering branch where well
trained and enthusiastic chefos used the less than $2 per
day per person to feed the ship’s company, with 3
meals a day and multiple selections. ** on a side note I
apologise to any sailor who ate out of the main galley at
HMAS CERBERUS in early 1980’s. I know the meals
would have been good but on posting or going home
your sloppy meals would never ever have tasted the
same as at CERBERUS. Reason is for quite a few
months all sloppy meals had asparagus soup as the gra-
vy base due to a victualling order error** (to this day I
reckon it was LCDR Steve Alchin but he denies this)
Naval Stores – The Navy’s equivalent to Pandoras
Box, a place where goodies of all sorts were randomly
stored so no one could find them. Where else could a
pen, a wigwam for a goose’s bridle and a tyre lever co-
exist on the same shelf? Much of the time of storbies
was spent protecting stock from being issued, because
if we issued it we wouldn’t have one to issue if some-
one else needed it! And of course, the down time was
counting stores and trying to work out where things
were or negotiating rabbit transfers with starvos and
stokers.
DSRMS – akin to the launch of the Commodore 64 or
Atari, this was the Defence Retail Mini Computer Sys-
tem. A mini computer system that took up a small
room and had data disks the size of 78 vinyl records
(ask your grandparents about these). This system along
with the dot matrix wide sheet printer revolutionised the
Stores Branch; of course computers would never be
used at sea…it just won’t catch on.
Pay Day Parade – apart from Ceremonial Divisions
this was the gathering that matelots got most excited
about. Pussers gathered like the great Wilderbeest mi-
gration in Africa, wandering to a focal point where box-
es were aligned on desks with calculators, staplers,
thimblettes, Italplast sponges and they all awaited the
arrival of the Armaguard van loaded with cash (yes,
paper money). The Pay Bob would brief all the puss-
ers, hand out pay sheets and the pussers would sign for
their apportionment of the cash, then they would retreat
to their desk, count the paper money and commence
stuffing and stapling envelopes. When all envelopes
were full, and no cash was left, the Pay Bob would
bless the group and the atoned would meander under
armed guard to the pay point. (Well we say armed the
QMG did have a pistol belt, 9mm Browning, lanyard,
magazine - just no ammunition).
Upon arrival at the pay point the Pussers would posi-
tion themselves behind the desk, the very enthusiastic
matelot would step forward salute, recite their name
and the last 3 numbers of their official number, take
their pay envelope salute, turn and march off. Running
the gauntlet between coxswains and QMG who checked
hair length, uniform and drill….and so the ceremony
was completed.
Wardroom – an aspirational fiefdom where Executive
Officers ruled with the imprimatur of the senior pusser;
where the best chefs gained experience under the
watchful eye of the Chief Beagle. The respite area for
officers of all flavours but unashamedly the home of the
pusser’s world. Wardroom Mess Managers coordinated
the many functions, maintained the wine cellar (often
more exclusive and extensive that any bottle shop), en-
sured the accommodation was acceptable all under the
tutorage of the Chief Beagle, who as the Concierge of
the Mess oversaw the beagles and chefos who main-
tained the decorum and traditions of the Naval Officers
Mess. Well - have things changed in the ML Branch?
Much like when I talk to dibbies about paper charts
and sextants and they look quizzically, the same can be
said of the Supply Branch; we have moved, it is im-
portant to remember the past, honour those that set the
foundations yet look to the future as to how we better
serve the fleet and ensure that we are enablers not
brakes.
My interactions with the new ML is that there is still
a great underlying spirit of service, devotion and desire
to do all those things (although much less in many in-
stances than we used to do) that enable Navy to main-
tain its capabilities. I am excited and pleased to be back
on the job.
No matter how good the platform, how quick it
goes, how well armed it is; without pay, fuel, food, am-
munition and quality administrative support it is noth-
ing more than a physical example of the Archimedes
principle (although now painted in a nice new grey col-
our).
Ric Mingramm joined the RAN in 1980 at RANC
SL1/80 as a SLSU and served in a number of logistics
appointments for about 10 years before following a ca-
reer in industry and commerce. He is is now back serv-
ing full time in WA as Maritime Logistics Officer.
Commissioning wardroom of Vendetta in Karachi 1958 - Photo from Tony Reid. Who do you recognise?
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 24
CARIBBEAN INTERLUDE by
Jonathan Brett Young On Sunday, 18 April 1965 a cricket match was
played between HMS Rothesay and the Queen's
Own Buffs The Royal Kent Regiment, at the Gov-
ernment Training College ground in Georgetown,
British Guiana. The scores were army 156, navy 4
for 164. The navy therefore won by six wickets.
These were the basic facts of the match. But behind
these bare statistics there are many unan-
swered questions and many more very interesting facts
and figures. Why was a British frigate in the
West Indies? Why was a British regiment deployed to a
British colony? What was the situation in the Caribbean
at this time? And who played in the match?
We must go back to the previous year, when a for-
ward-thinking captain was preparing his ship for an 11-
month deployment in the Caribbean as part of the Royal
Navy presence. He arranged that the three midshipmen
due to join the ship would all be recently graduat-
ed former members of the Britannia Royal Naval Col-
lege (Dartmouth) First XI. He knew the ship would
need a very good cricket team to take on Island, Police
and Fire Brigade cricket teams who usually made short
work of teams from any visiting British ship.
In the mid 1960s, Royal Navy ships had three duties
whilst on deployment in the West Indies: Firstly, it was
to act as hurricane guard ship during the hurricane sea-
son from July to October to be ready to provide assis-
tance to any islands devastated by hurricanes. (In Au-
gust 1964 hurricane Cleo had swept through Cay Sal
with winds up to 120 mph).
Secondly, it was to take part in the Bahamas patrol.
Early in 1963, it was realised that exiled Cuban activists
were using the Bahamas as a stepping stone to Cuba. In
one instance our Royal Marine detachment discovered
an anti-tank gun and two 30 mm cannon with over
1,000 rounds of machine-gun ammunition. On another
island a cache of 500 gallons of petrol was found and
the landing party remained and apprehended four Cu-
ban activists. The Bahamas were also a place where
refugees fleeing Cuba would seek safety. It was the job
of the Royal Navy to maintain the integrity of Bahami-
an territorial waters.
And finally the Royal Navy had showing-the-flag
duties. A visit by a British frigate to small Caribbean
islands was a highlight for the locals. Sports fixtures,
tours, shooting matches against the police,
and receptions were given. This is the reason we were
visiting Georgetown British Guiana.
To add to the occasion, during our visit the third test
match between the West Indies and Australia was being
played at the Bourda ground.
The Queens Own Buffs had been deployed as an aid
to civil power and to support the local police, and had
been in the colony for just three months. Between 1962
and 1964 there had been riots, strikes and other disturb-
ances stemming from racial, social and economic con-
flicts between the main ethnic groups of African and
South Asian origin. The ship’s medical officer, David
Wright, had been sent on ahead as a liaison officer to
finalise arrangements. These included tickets for the
ship's company to the test match, tours of places of in-
terest, and a reception to be held on the forecastle
of Rothesay on the Saturday night. David also ensured
that the West Indies and the Australian cricket teams
were invited to the reception, Sunday being a rest day
in the test match.
The test match started in a bad way. The umpires
went on strike. This could only happen in the
West Indies and as a temporary measure the much re-
spected former West Indies test player Gerry
Gomez and another administrator stepped in and this
was accepted by both teams.
On the Friday, whilst I was watching the test cricket,
I was invited to go to the West Indies dressing room to
talk to Gary Sobers, the West Indies captain. He asked
about the cocktail party and I asked tentatively how
many of his players might come. They will all come he
said. You just arrange the taxis. As promised, all the
West Indians came; no Australians did.
Rothesay's forecastle was spick and span for the re-
ception. The awning was spread and decorated by flags
of all colours. But more than that we had a West Indian
steel band. Several members of the ship's company
were musical, and we had inherited all the instruments
necessary to make that wonderful West Indian steel
band sound. They were a great hit. I collected the West
Indian team as arranged and all my heroes came - Gary
Sobers, Wes Hall, Charlie Griffiths, Lance Gibbs, and
Joe Solomon, the man who had thrown down
Ian Meckiff’s wicket for a run-out, to create the first-
ever tied test match in Brisbane in 1960. (Joe had made
HMS Rothesay F107
25
a guest appearance for the ship's team some months be-
fore.)
As a public relations exercise, and as a social occa-
sion, the party was a huge success.
Thus challenged, the army pulled out all the stops
and ensured a fine presentation for our cricket match the
following day. There was a huge marquee with seating
for the spectators. Tables were groaning with food and
drink. The centrepiece was the regimental silver laid out
in all its splendour.
The army team contained Sir Frank Worrell and
Phil Tressider, an Australian journalist covering the test
series and a more-than-useful grade player in Syd-
ney. For balance, in the ship’s team, we had Richie
Benaud and Bob Christiani, a well-known West Indian
test player from the 1950s. Richie had retired from test
cricket and was following the test series as a journalist
and commentator. He was astonished to find he was be-
ing captained by an Australian serving in a British ship
in the West Indies. But we soon got chatting
and discovered a naval mate of mine who captained the
RAN cricket team, lived next door to him in Sydney.
Small world.
Worrell was the current manager of the West Indies
cricket team and this was the first time he and Benaud
had played against each other since that famous test se-
ries in Australia in 1960-61. There was a reasonable
crowd, and lurking among them was the Australian test
wicket keeper Wally Grout, enjoying his ‘rest day’ from
the test match.
The army team batted first and after a steady start the
score was mounting. Shortly before lunch when Sir
Frank Worrell came in, I asked Richie to bowl. His first
ball went straight past the bat and through the wicket
keeper for four byes. Our keeper was Ordinary Seaman
Smith, age 17. At lunch Richie took him to one side and
said 'Right Smithy, place your feet like this and your
gloves like this and if the ball doesn't hit you in the
gloves it's my fault. Okay?' The advice was taken. I re-
member Smithy even took a catch off Richie's bowl-
ing; something he would remember for the rest of his
life.
After lunch I settled back in my position at mid
off to watch at close quarters a world-class leg
spin bowler bowling to a world-class and elegant right-
hand batsmen. There were some delightful cover drives
and a few leg glances and for forty or so minutes the
score mounted slowly. And then came one of those mo-
ments in a cricket match, which is so unexpected that it
almost takes your breath away. Britain’s Navy News in
its report of the match said 'Rothesay's Australian gun-
nery officer Lieutenant Jonathan Brett Young took a
notable scalp. He clean-bowled Worrell.'
In later years I reflected upon the story about W G
Grace, who when he was bowled in a minor
match, calmly picked up the bails and replaced
them, looked down the wicket and said to the bowler
'The crowd came to watch me bat, not to watch you
bowl' and carried on with his innings.
In many ways I wish that might have happened, but
it was not to be and one of the most delightful and ele-
gant West Indian batsmen returned slowly to the mar-
quee.
The army was all out for 156. In our innings, Worrell
and Tressider did most of the bowling and we slowly
accumulated runs. I managed to make a few but towards
the end some big hitting by our First Lieutenant David
Chapman and Richie Benaud brought the match to a
satisfactory conclusion, HMS Rothesay winning by six
wickets. Two of our three Dartmouth First XI imports
played in the matchhad worthy roles in the victory. (Our
final score, 164, does seem somewhat incongruous, giv-
en that we only needed 157 to win. With five decades
between then and now the reason for that is hidden in
the mists of time. Perhaps the scorer took an urgent toi-
let break and came back as soon as he could. Other ex-
planations are possible.)
We sailed from Georgetown in the middle of the
week and carried on with our Bahamas patrol, rescuing
refugees in trouble in the Florida Strait. We even went
on a high speed 500 mile dash to rescue an around-the-
world yachtsman, Hans Haas, who had been marooned
on a cay for a month. The ship was required to play
a minor part in the James Bond film Thunderball, under-
going location shooting in the area. That was followed
memorably by a trip up the Potomac River to Washing-
ton DC. We were following
in historic footsteps there: the Royal Navy sailed up the
river in 1812 and sacked the White House!
Rothesay returned to the United Kingdom on 11 June
1965 having sailed over 60,000 miles during the 1l
months in the West Indies. On 26 May 1966, British
Guiana gained independence from the United Kingdom
and the new state’s name became Guyana.
HMS Rothesay and the British Army teams, Georgetown, British Guiana; April, 1965.
Centre row: Phil Tressider 2nd from left. Sir Frank Worrell 3rd from left. Richie Benaud 6th from left. Bob Christiani 2nd from right. Wally Grout, extreme right standing.
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 26
Diego Garcia—Sovereignty Fight
Diego Garcia is the United States’ major geostrategic
and logistics support base in the Indian Ocean. Sover-
eignty over the island is increasingly being challenged
by Mauritius, but it seems unlikely that Washington
would be interested in a deal that would facilitate its
transfer.
The base has its origins in the 1960s, as decolonisa-
tion swept over the region and Soviet influence grew in
many of the newly independent countries. But it was
China, not the Soviet Union that spurred Washington to
focus on acquiring a base. The policy trigger was the
1962 Sino-Indian war, when Indian Prime Minister Ja-
waharlal Nehru had pressed Washington for military
assistance to India. President John F. Kennedy dis-
patched the US aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk to pro-
vide air support if China drove south to Calcutta – but a
ceasefire was reached before it arrived.
By 1964, a regional survey judged that Diego Gar-
cia, an atoll in the Chagos Archipelago that was an ad-
ministrative dependency of the distant British colony of
Mauritius, some 1,160 nautical miles (nm) of open
ocean away, was best suited. It had a lagoon and land
that could support an airfield and other infrastructure,
and its remoteness satisfied Washington’s desire to
make itself immune from the nationalist pressures of the
day.
To insulate Diego Garcia from passing into the
hands of a non-aligned government, London detached
Chagos from Mauritius’ colonial administration and cre-
ated a new entity known as the British Indian Ocean
Territory (BIOT). In 1966, London agreed to make Die-
go Garcia available to the US for defence purposes for
50 years.
As they say in the real estate business, the three most
important considerations when valuing property are lo-
cation, location, and location. Diego Garcia more than
satisfies the criteria. It is situated near the centre of the
Indian Ocean, within striking distance of virtually all
maritime choke points, vital sea lines of communication,
and potential Chinese naval bases in the region: Djibouti
and the Bab al Mandeb (2170 nm), Strait of Hormuz
(2240 nm), Gwadar, Pakistan (2030 nm), the Eight De-
gree Channel between India and the Maldives (895 nm),
Hambantota, Sri Lanka (1550 nm), Kyaukphyu, Myan-
mar (2030 nm), Strait of Malacca (1770 nm), and Lom-
bok Strait (2625 nm).
It is a perfect base for US Navy maritime patrol air-
craft and especially US Air Force heavy bombers. All
the locations mentioned above are within unrefuelled
combat range of B-1B and B-52H bombers. (B-52s,
with an advertised combat range of 6000 nm, are gener-
ally deployed from the US, but have been deployed to
Diego Garcia in the past.) USAF bombers and tankers
have conducted combat missions in support of US com-
bat operations throughout Southwest Asia since the
1991.
Since the mid-1980s, the base has boasted a wharf
and facilities suitable for an aircraft carrier, and the la-
goon provides anchorages for other warships and ships
loaded with prepositioned equipment. The US Navy of-
ten stations a submarine tender and a repair and logistics
ship to support deployed attack submarines.
It was China’s actions in 1962 that led to the base,
and it is now China’s Indian Ocean military footprint
that increases its value beyond its role in supporting US
military operations in the Persian Gulf region. The PLA
Navy has maintained a modest presence in the western
Indian Ocean for more than 10 years, and China’s re-
cently established base in Djibouti is judged by the US
Department of Defense to be only the first of several.
China’s most important sea lines of communication
traverse the Indian Ocean and play a key role Beijing’s
prime strategic and economic program, the Belt and
Road Initiative.
But while in the 1960s Diego Garcia seemed a tidy
solution to Washington’s desire for a base isolated from
the uncertainties of potentially fickle newly independent
states, it appears less so now.
Mauritius has long chaffed at what it considers the ille-
gal detachment of the Chagos Archipelago. In 2019,
after decades of legal manoeuvring, the International
Court of Justice (ICJ) concluded that that Britain should
return Chagos to Mauritius. The UN General Assembly
echoed this finding, concluding that the UK’s decoloni-
sation of Mauritius was “incomplete”, a seemingly con-
trived finding, and adopted a non-binding resolution that
demanded the UK unconditionally withdraw its
“colonial” administration with six months.
London responded that it had “no doubt as to our
sovereignty over BIOT, which has been under continu-
27
ous British sovereignty since 1814. Mauritius has never
held sovereignty over the BIOT, and the UK does not
recognize the claim”.
The Mauritius government has been relatively self-
effacing in its public comments, suggesting it has no
intention to demand the dismantling of the base. Offi-
cials have said that Mauritius accepts the future of the
base and would be willing to enter into a long-term
agreement. The fact that the US pays US$63 million
annually for rights to a more modest facility in Djibouti
has undoubtedly not been lost on officials in Port Louis.
A deal with Mauritius seems possible, but would
Washington be interested in such an outcome? Probably
not – putting sovereignty into the hands of a landlord
who could order Washington overnight to vacate intro-
duces too much uncertainty. Mauritius would have all
the leverage, and could turn to at least two other possi-
ble tenants, India or China, if the US were to leave or be
evicted. Washington has been silent since the UN vote
in May 2019.
But its silence makes the US position clear. A March
2018 statement to the ICJ contains a revealing footnote:
When it was established in 1910, the Royal Canadian
Navy inherited the daily rum issue from the Royal Na-
vy. The rum issue would have been welcomed by sailors
working in cold and wet conditions in the North Atlan-
tic, and especially in the WWII corvettes where hot
meals had to be carried across the open deck and mess
decks could be running with sea water.
In the decades after the War the daily issue of two
and a half fluid ounces (71ml) of over-proof rum be-
came increasingly anomalous in a more abstemious so-
ciety. Ships were also more comfortable with enclosed
bridges, air conditioning, and messing in a C & POs’
cafeteria and a main cafeteria rather than in mess decks.
In 1972 VADM Douglas Seaman Boyle, the Command-
er Maritime Command acted, and the last rum issue
took place on 31 March. I did not keep a copy of the
general messages announcing this change, but I assume
his reasons would have been pretty much as I have de-
scribed. The integration and then the unification of the
armed forces in 1968 would have had no effect on the
rum issue as, although we regretted many of the chang-
es, we simply carried on.
The sailors elected to either receive the daily tot, in
which case their records were marked ‘G’ (for grog) or
to receive a small additional payment in lieu, in which
case their records were marked ‘T’ (for temperance).
The rum issue was a monumental waste of time: the
cox’n worked out the number of tots to be issued; the
issuing officer, assisting petty officer and a storesman
went down ladders through two hatches and drew the
appropriate number of bottles of ‘Black Death’ from the
spirit locker. At the pipe “Hands to Muster for Grog”
sailors formed a queue in the Burma Road and as the
supervising petty officer checked off his name, a tot of
rum was poured into his tot glass and coca cola from an
opened can was added. The coca cola was added so that
the tot would not keep and could not be stored in a lock-
er for future consumption. Perhaps this was the origin of
the WWII term ‘Coca Cola Navy’ supposedly applied
by the RN. The rum for the C and POs’ enclosed messes
was collected, in bulk and neat, by their messmen. It
was usual for all C and POs to be ‘G’, even if they did
not drink rum, so that their messes would receive the
maximum amount. After rum issue, the supervising of-
ficer would, depending on the amount, either return any
remaining rum to the spirit locker or pour it away in
front of the petty officer.
I never saw any ill effects from the rum issue, alt-
hough it would be surprising if there were none, but the
system was clearly capable of irregularities and the ef-
fect of a tot a day for 30 years must have established a
habit difficult to control in retirement. Clearly a custom
that had outlived its usefulness.
When the rum issue was abolished, the rules for the
consumption of alcohol at sea were reformed. Only beer
and wine were permitted and the rum issue was replaced
by a locked beer machine in the main cafeteria that was
unlocked, under supervision, during approved bar hours.
In December 2014, after an internal review, Com-
mander RCN VADM Mark Norman tightened the rules
still further and the consumption of alcohol at sea was
banned except in special circumstances at the discretion
of the commanding officer.
The Last Rum Issue in the Canadian Navy Roger Buxton
I was the weapons of HMCS Nipigon and took this photo of the captain, Commander Al Brookbank, issuing one of the last ‘tots’ on 31 March 1972. The coxswain is checking the sailor’s name off his list
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 28
Commander Jim Speed DSC RAN Retd passed away
in May at the age of 96. Jim had given a lifetime of service to two navies, the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. He is survived by his wife Natalie
and three children.
James Henry Speed was born near Southampton on 1924 and was educated in the area. He wanted to follow his father into architecture, but instead joined the Navy in 1942, aged 18 years and four days. He volunteered for hazardous duties because it would double his pay as a midshipman. Jim was selected for training in Scotland as a combined operations commando preparing for D-Day, but had little idea where he was going to land until briefed on the eve of D-Day.
He was part of “Roger” Royal Navy Commando, the specially trained beach commandos whose task on D-Day was to be to hurry men, vehicles and supplies off the landing beaches. The scope of their role was an outcome of D-Day planning and was considered crucial to mini-mising projected troop losses from enemy fire, and sup-ply and reinforcement bottlenecks.
Before dawn on June 6 1944, leading a two-man “underwater clearance marking party”, Jim landed on Sword Beach. He was 19 and a newly-promoted Sub-Lieutenant RNVR, and was one of the first men to set foot on red sector. Jim ran forward across a quarter of a mile of exposed sand to the dunes, where he lay on his belly to dig a slit-trench. His every attempt to hold up a signal flag on a 9ft pole was greeted by a rattle of ma-chine-gun bullets fired from a pillbox, which killed or wounded many of his section of the commando.
In a pause between bursts of fire, Jim ran forward and, as he later recalled, “popped a hand grenade through the slit”, which enabled him to resume his task of marking safe passages through the mined, German obstacles. Planting large signs amid a hail of mortar fire made him an obvious target, and when the beach-master arrived lat-er, “he was a little surprised to see that Jim was still there.” Under intense fire Jim Speed’s actions ensured a steady flow of men, vehicles and supplies off Sword Beach.
On the second night, after little sleep or food, “R” Commando had to dig in to fight off a German counterat-tack, though this was thought to be less difficult than dealing with the congestion on the beaches. The first days passed in a blur of activity – Jim mostly remembered missing his lunch – amid persistent fire from a hidden German howitzer “which made things a little bit unpleas-ant”.
As the landings progressed, Jim’s task changed, to clearing the beaches of damaged ships, bodies and unex-ploded munitions, and scavenging the wrecks for valua-ble equipment, including the rum ration. Later he bor-rowed a motorbike to visit the hinterland to buy eggs and cheese to supplement his iron rations. Jim operated on Sword Beach for about a month.
Jim Speed was wounded three times before he was
evacuated to England; to him it was all “a bit of an ad-venture”, but he was awarded the DSC for his courage
under fire. Jim was demobbed from the Royal Navy in 1946 and
resumed his studies briefly, but abandoned these to work in forestry in North Wales and Shropshire.
Falling on hard times, in 1954 he re-joined the Royal Navy as an able seaman but was swiftly commissioned as a Sub-Lieutenant and sent on exchange to the Royal Aus-tralian Navy and HMAS Cootamundra (1957-60). Whilst in Australia he married Olga Natalie Dickson, but his re-quest at that time to transfer to the RAN was denied by the Admiralty and he was obliged to return to the UK to serve a further three years.
In 1963 he emigrated and began a 20-year career in the RAN. He served in a number of postings including HMAS Tarangau (PNG-Manus Island), and as a Lieuten-
ant Commander, the First Lieutenant of HMAS Mel-bourne II (for large ships at that time the First Lieutenant was the Executive Officer’s 1st Lieutenant and took charge of all upper deck seamanship evolutions).
Jim’s final posting in the RAN was in command of HMAS Lonsdale at Port Melbourne (photo above). He retired from the RAN in 1984.
CMDR J.H Speed was appointed a member of the Lé-gion d’Honneur earlier this year.
Commander James Henry Speed Remembered
Roger Beach Commando—July 1944
29
Sue Buxton, Denise Garnock, Pam Makings
Captain Brian Read RAN Retd was the first RAN of-
ficer to be designated as a Weapons Electrical Engi-
neering Officer (WEEO). Brian passed away in May at
96.
Brian joined the RANC at Cerberus in 1947 as a 13 year old entry and undertook the officer training pro-gram existing at that time. At the age of 17 he found himself as a Midshipman onboard HMS Devonshire in the UK. In 1951 Brian sustained a fall and the resulting head injury led to the partial loss of sight in one eye. His career changed direction as a result and he transferred to the engineering branch, commencing his training at the Royal Naval Engineering College in Plymouth in 1953. Brian specialised in weapons engineering with stints at the Royal Military College of Science and HMS Vernon, thereby becoming the first officer to be catego-rized as a WEEO in the RAN. In 1956 during his UK sojourn he met his wife-to-be Pam, and they were mar-ried in Sydney during 1958. On completion of training in UK he returned to
Australia and was posted as WEEO of HMAS Tobruk, which became involved in providing naval gunfire sup-port to Commonwealth forces during the Malayan emer-gency. Then followed a posting to HMAS Melbourne followed by a 1959 posting back to UK, where he sup-ported the sale of the IKARA system to the Royal Navy. Before returning to Australia, Brian completed the Royal Navy Staff Course. Back in Australia Lieutenant Commander Read joined HMAS Vendetta as WEEO and deployed again to provide naval gunfire support during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation. In 1969 he undertook DDG en-gineering systems training in the USA before being post-ed as WEEO of HMAS Perth which, on its second Vi-etnam tour, fired over 13,000 5 inch rounds in support of operations onshore. Having reportedly enjoyed his sea-time, his pen-ance was to be eight years in Navy Office where he was
promoted to Captain. As Director of Fleet Maintenance, he alerted Navy to the dangers of asbestos in ships and oversaw the establishment of processes for regulating asbestos use and eliminating it from the workplace. While in Canberra he joined the RAN Ski Club and in 1974 first represented Navy in the inter-service competition. He organised training in Nordic skiing and helped introduce this as a separate inter-service disci-pline. He continued to represent Navy in skiing for the rest of his career, five years in the Alpine squad and eleven in the Nordic skiing discipline. In 1978 Brian escaped the Canberra clutches to return to Garden Island as Manager of the Planning Divi-sion where he particularly enjoyed living in one of the island’s residences. After three years there he posted back to Canberra as Navy’s Quality assurance Superin-tendent before his final four year posting as General Overseer and Superintendent of Inspection, signing off in 1988. After leaving the Navy, for many years Brian spent most of the winter season years in Perisher Valley as RAN Ski Club Lodge Manager where he continued his commitment to Nordic skiing. Brian was an accomplished musician who played the piano with great skill and panache and also enjoyed a fine bass singing voice. In 1993 he joined the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and over the next 14 years per-formed in more concerts than he could recall. His high-lights included being part of the backing for a dancing penguin in the animated film “Happy Feet”, and Barbra Streisand in the Sydney concerts of her “Timeless” tour in 2000. He also sang in in the opening ceremonies of two Olympics Games. For the winter games in Nagano in 1998, five choirs across five continents performed Bee-thoven’s Ode to Joy, being conducted from Nagano via satellite link. The Sydney choristers stood in the for-mation of the Olympic rings on the steps of the Opera House. The most exciting event of his sing-ing career was the games of the 27th Olympiad in Syd-ney. During the final torch relay and lighting of the cauldron, Brian sang as part of a massed choir which included the Sydney Phil-harmonia.
RIP Brian - one
last run!
Captain Brian Read Remembered
Captain Brian Read in uniform standing with his 1947 RANC
entry classmates
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 30
Australia’s most ambitious civil engineering pro-
ject in 1961 found a leak in Lake Eucumbene’s key
sluice gates that managed the year round water flow
from Lake Eucumbene to low lying irrigation dis-
tricts in southern inland New South Wales and Vic-
toria.
Australia’s Snowy Mountains Scheme construction
now faced a major problem at .Lake Eucumbene.
It was 1300 metres above sea-level and with winter
approaching, water temperatures falling below freezing
point and large rainfalls rapidly filling Lake Eucum-
bene it was discovered that an accumulation of con-
struction material littered the inlet tower’s base at a
depth of 80 metres creating a blockage that had to be
removed.
Possible Solutions - Drain the lake, wait 15 years
for Eucumbene to refill or obtain clearance divers to
remove the debris as soon as possible
The RAN’s Clearance Divers were now considered
and Commander M. Batterham, OBE, Assistant Direc-
tor of Underwater Activities for Australia and the
LEUT Titcombe RAN, OIC Naval Diving School came
to Ecumbene with Navy’s Divers to assess the problem
and start work.
A pontoon was placed over the diversion tunnel’s 70
metre high intake tower whose top was now 10 metres
beneath the surface.
RAN Divers had to dismantle one of its sides and
remove twenty 3½ ton trash racks to reach the sluice
gates at the tower’s base.
Divers lifted
the heavy trash
racks with a
floating crane
and progres-
sively worked
down the tower
to the fifteenth
trash rack.
The next three
racks at 60 me-
tres were
jammed into
the tower frame
and needed
plastic explo-
sives to free
them.
The Navy
divers were
soon faced with
diver’s physio-
RAN Divers and the Snowy Mountains Scheme By John Wilkins
The Tower under construction
31
logical and psychological troubles as freezing cold wa-
ter numbed them and the decomposing vegetable mat-
ter suspended in the lake’s water resulted in zero visi-
bility at 200 feet. Surface powered, 1,000 candle
power underwater lights were used but only provided a
few inches of visibility.
At this depth nitrogen narcosis became evident as a
diver was tasked to attach the crane to the next rack,
but an unsuccessful hoist resulted and another diver
descended to investigate and reported that the first div-
er had not attached the chains correctly
A second hoisting failed and another diver went
down and reported both previous divers had been under
a narcosis illusion causing them to have memory lapses
in the middle of the job, leaving it partially completed.
Finally the rack was prepared for lifting, but now the
crane cable broke.
The RAN Diving team started again until all trash
racks were finally removed.
RAN divers then concentrated on checking and re-
pairing the leaking sealing device comprising 28 five-
ton ‘stop-logs’. Navy now acquired new French Cous-
teau Constant Volume suits with continual voice com-
munication to maintain surface contact. These dry
suits protected divers from the freezing cold
The intense cold saw divers finally wear heavy duty
neoprene wet suits under the French dry-suits, a pre-
caution that allowed the diver, while working at depth,
to be quickly brought up to a higher level at the first
sign of irrational comment brought on by narcosis.
Limited by decompression considerations the divers’
effective bottom time was a few minutes on each dive
at maximum depth. After 15 minutes at 80 metres it
took nearly an hour-and-a-half of staged decompres-
sion to bring the diver back to the surface.
The RAN gained valuable experience in reducing
diver underwater time by feeding him pure oxygen
through his air hose during shallower decompression
stages. After 15 minutes on the lake’s bottom, this
reduced the diver’s decompression to thirty-six
minutes. Navy’s Submersible Decompression Cham-
ber (SDC) was used as an underwater ‘elevator’, giv-
ing divers a rapid transit back to the surface whilst
decompression was being completed in comparative
comfort.
However the need for the crane to also lift trash
racks and stop logs as well as the SDC saw the divers
restricted to one dive in 24 hours.
For over eighty days this small RAN Diver Team
maintained a gruelling pace working at depths close to
82 metres, a quite outstanding feat performed by these
RAN diving team personnel who brought international
attention and credit on their professionalism, Australia
and its Navy. It took the RAN Divers four months to
complete.
The dive team comprised: Commander Maurice
(Batts) Batterham, OBE RANVR; Lieutenant R.M
Titcombe, MBE RAN (OIC Diving School,); Chief
Petty Officer W. T. Fitzgerald BEM; PO Edward
Douglas Moore RAN ; Surgeon LCDR R. Gray RAN;
Petty Officer Edward Jake Linton BEM (top left);
Leading Seaman E. Douglas Moore BEM; Able Sea-
men Norman Jeffress BEM; Leading Seamen Ingram;
Leading Seaman Gregson; Able Seamen Creasey; Able
Seaman Hills.
Note. BEMs were awarded to a number of sailors to
recognise their part in a hazardous diving operation
undertaken by the RAN for the Snowy Mountains
Scheme at Lake Eucumbene.
Extract from John M Wilkins publication Australian Hon-
ours & Awards 1939 – 1945 +
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 32
Where we left it:
24 April Navy recommends reinstating captain of
coronavirus-stricken aircraft carrier
The U.S. Navy’s top officials recommended Friday
that the captain relieved of duty after sounding the alarm
of a growing coronavirus outbreak aboard an aircraft
carrier should be reinstated. The decision to rein-
state Navy Capt. Brett Crozier’s command of the aircraft
carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt sits with Secretary of
Defense Mark Esper.
Source: CNBC
30 April: Navy orders deeper probe into how coro-
navirus spread aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt,
where 900 crew were infected and one died
The Navy has revealed that officials will conduct a
wider investigation of circumstances surrounding the
spread of the coronavirus aboard the USS Theodore Roo-
sevelt, a move that delays a decision on whether to rein-
state the ship's captain, Brett Crozier, who was fired after
pleading for more urgent protection of his crew. The in-
vestigation was announced Wednesday by James E.
McPherson, the acting Navy Secretary, who said in a brief
written statement that an initial inquiry was insufficient.
'I have unanswered questions that the preliminary in-
quiry has identified and that can only be answered by a
deeper review,' he said.
Source: Associated Press
Later June 19 : Fired Captain Brett Crozier of USS
Theodore Roosevelt - will not be reinstated Defense officials said Friday that Navy Cap-
tain Brett Crozier will not be reinstated as com-
mander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, after an
investigation found fault with his attempts to stop
the spread of the coronavirus aboard the ship.
That reverses the results of an earlier investi-
gation which recommended Crozier be given back
his command. Crozier was relieved of his command
in early April after he sent out a letter pleading for
help in containing the coronavirus aboard the ship.
The first investigation concluded he should
not have been relieved for sending out the letter.
But the second investigation into events that pro-
ceeded the letter found he had not done enough to
stop the spread of the virus after the ship left a port
visit in Vietnam and sailors started showing symp-
toms, defense officials said.
The second investigation also found fault with
Crozier's immediate superior, the strike group com-
mander Rear Admiral Stuart Baker, whose promo-
tion to a higher rank is now on hold, according to
defense officials.
Source CBS News
10 July: USS Theodore Roosevelt finally returns
home to San Diego after six months at sea and a
huge coronavirus outbreak that infected more
than 1,000 sailors and led to the firing of the ship's
captain
The USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived at Naval
Base San Diego on Thursday under a new command-
ing officer. The ship departed in January with a crew
of 4,800, only to have to return to a US port in Guam
on March 27 following a coronavirus outbreak that
infected more than 1,000 sailors.
Then Commanding Officer Brett Crozier urged
his commanders to take faster action to stem the
spread of the virus but was removed from his com-
mand when his letter requesting help was leaked
The Roosevelt's return marks the end to one of
the Navy's most tumultuous non-combat deploy-
ments. Unlike typical homecomings, however, there
were no emotional embraces nor crowds waiting to
greet the sailors on the pier upon their return due to
coronavirus fears. Instead, crew members wearing
face coverings disembarked one by one and walked
to waiting vehicles to prevent the spread of the
coronavirus.
Source: Daily Mail
The End of this sorry saga!
USS Theodore Roosevelt: A Covid 19 Diary (cont’d)
33
During the Cold War, the U.S. Navy studied a
concept for a troop-carrying submarine that would
have carried an entire U.S. Marine Expeditionary
Unit of 2,000 Marines. The giant submarine landing
craft, or LST, never got off the drawing board. And
for good reason. The Navy had plenty of experience
with submarine transports. And it wasn’t always
good.
Some time in the 1950s, artist Frank Tinsley drew an
impression of a giant submarine LST for Mechanix Il-
lustrated. The magazine “presented” the sketch to the
Navy, according to naval historian Norman Polmar. Tin-
sely’s submarine LST was 720 feet long and boasted a
124-foot beam. It had room for 2,240 Marines as well as
the “amphibious flying platforms” that would land the
Marines on the enemy’s shore.
The concept art depicted several submarines disem-
barking Marines while a sister vessel bombarded beach
defenses by way of artillery arrayed on her deck.
Tinsely’s proposal was not a very serious one. For
starters, no such “amphibious flying platforms” existed.
But the Navy did take seriously other concepts for large,
troop-carrying submarines. The fleet however didn’t act
on them.
The main reason is that surface vessels worked just
fine for amphibious assaults. Plus they were cheaper and
safer than submarines were. The Navy’s own experienc-
es during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam
Wars underscored this truth.
Argonaut launched in 1927. She was 358 feet long and
displaced 4,100 tons while submerged. She was, by de-
sign, a minelayer. But in the hours following Japan’s
attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Argonaut
made the first-ever attack run of the war by a U.S. sub-
marine when she unsuccessfully approached two Japa-
nese destroyers shelling Midway Island.
An American warplane brought the day to an ig-
nominious end when it mistook Argonaut for an enemy
vessel and tried to bomb her.
Argonaut sailed to San Francisco and underwent con-
version to a troop transport. Workers removed some of
the vessel’s torpedo tubes in order to make room for
more berthing. In August 1942 she and Nautilus em-
barked 222 Marine Raiders and sailed for Makin Island,
which housed a strong Japanese garrison and fuel depot.
It was an uncomfortable journey. “For eight days the
submarines sailed eastward,” Proceedings, the profes-
sional journal of the U.S. Naval Institute, explained in a
1946 article. “It was hot and cramped in the close
quarters. The temperature of the sea itself was 80 de-
grees and, although extra air-conditioning units had
been installed, the temperature inside the submarine
was raised over 90 degrees and the humidity to 85 per-
cent by the sweating bodies of the jam-packed men.
All torpedoes had been removed, except for those in
the tubes, and bunks had been built in the forward and
after torpedo rooms. To fit that many men in, the space
between these bunks was so limited that if a man wanted
to turn over, he had to slide out of his bed and crawl
back up the other side!”
The 85 Japanese defenders on Makin were ready for
the Marines and, in a day of furious fighting, killed 30 of
them. The Americans ultimately overran the garrison
and torched its fuel supplies. That raid with its mixed
results arguably was Argonaut’s greatest success. She
sank a Japanese gunboat in early January 1943. A week
later three Japanese destroyers depth-charged and
shelled Argonaut, sinking her. There were no survivors
among her 102 crew.
At 4,000 tons of displacement, Narwhal and Nautilus
The U.S. Navy Wasn’t Exactly Thrilled With Its Beach-Storming Submarines
Makin Island as seen through the periscope of a submarine.
USS Argonaut. Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 34
were somewhat smaller than Argonaut was. Nautilus
helped land Raiders on Makin and, in 1942 and 1943,
sank a few small Japanese vessels. In April 1943 she
embarked 107 U.S. Army scouts and landed them on
Attu five hours ahead of the main American assault on
the Japanese-held Aleutians.
Nautilus’s only other major accomplishments during
the war were landing scouts on Tarawa in November
1943 and destroying, with gunfire, the submarine USS
Darter after Darter ran aground in the Pacific in Octo-
ber 1944.
Sister ship Narwhal helped to shoot down two Japa-
nese planes during the Pearl Harbor attack. She sank
some small Japanese freighters in 1942 before joining
Nautilus for the attack on Attu.
In their transport roles, Nautilus and Narwhal “were not
a critical factor” in the Alaska campaign, Polmar con-
cluded. But the Navy retained transport submarines
through the Korean and Vietnam Wars. USS Perch in
October 1950 landed 67 British marines behind North
Korean lines on a mission to blow up a railroad tunnel.
Perch launched in 1943 and, during World War II,
sank two Japanese freighters, landed commandos on
Borneo and rescued downed allied pilots. Her raid on
North Korea in 1950 was the only allied submarine ac-
tion of that war.
The unspectacular results of these small-scale am-
phibious assaults didn’t justify a major expansion of the
Navy’s undersea transport capability. Nor would
Perch’s missions landing Marine recon troops and Navy
demolition specialists during the Vietnam War do so.
The Navy decommissioned its last dedicated
transport submarine, USS Grayback, in 1984 following
a fatal accident two years earlier that killed five divers.
Today the Navy still uses attack and cruise-missile sub-
marines to transport small teams of SEALs. But large-
scale amphibious raids remain the purview of surface
vessels.
Source: Forbes Aerospace & Defense
South Korea Defence News
The Republic of Korea armed forces are set to receive a range of unmanned capabilities across its land, air, and naval services under the Minis-try of National Defense’s (MND’s) latest ‘2021–25 mid-term defence plan’.
For example, the RoK Air Force will receive the indigenously developed Mid-Altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (MUAVs) by 2025. The MUAV is a medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE)-class UAV with a length of 13 m, a wingspan of 25 m, and a height of 3 m. The type is equipped with a 1,200 hp turboprop engine that enables it to attain a maximum altitude of 45,000 ft (13,716 m) and an endurance of 24 hours.
KAL’s KUS-FS design has been selected to be the future mid-altitude UAV for the South Korean air force and army
The RoKAF plans to establish the 39th Recon-naissance Squadron by the end of 2020 in anticipa-tion of the first serial-production reconnaissance MUAVs within the first half of 2021. The unit will operate MUAVs in reconnaissance and strike con-figurations, as well as the US-made Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) platform.
The defence blueprint also calls for the de-velopment of the Stealth UAV within the 2021–25 timeframe. The MND’s Agency for Defense De-velopment (ADD) released on 5 August what could be an early design of the Stealth UAV.
Source: Jane’s Defence Weekly
USS Perch
35
In the course of writing a book on Teddy Sheean, hero of
HMAS Armidale, which went down fighting in WWII, I re-
searched some of the surroundings of WWII naval personnel.
This article is drawn from that book.
Teddy Sheean joined the
Navy while it was still ex-
panding to cope with the new
global conflict. World War II
was increasing not just the
force’s size but its determi-
nation to be a success and a
professional organisation
well regarded by its parent,
the Royal Navy of Britain.
Teddy joined on 21 April
1941 and was allocated for
the next six months to duty
in his home port of Hobart,
where he would undergo
training at the HMAS Der-
went naval depot
Somewhat confusingly,
the Tasmanian base where
these sailors trained was only known by that name for a few
years. Land on the west bank of the Derwent River was pur-
chased by the RAN in 1911, and construction started in 1912
on a drill hall, accommodation, and administration buildings,
together with a parade ground. The embryo base remained
unnamed until 27 August 1939, when it was commissioned as
HMAS Cerberus VI, making her a subsidiary depot to the Vic-
torian naval base HMAS Cerberus.
In 1940, the decision was made to give RAN shore estab-
lishments unique names, and Cerberus VI was recommis-
sioned on 1 August as HMAS Derwent. But the (parent) Royal
Navy had previously commissioned the destroyer HMS Der-
went, and RAN wartime policy was to avoid duplicating
names with allied navies. And so the establishment was re-
named as HMAS Huon on 1 March 1942.
Derwent, or Huon, still exists, in buildings at least. It is
perched above the river Derwent, just below the Domain out-
side Hobart’s central area. Government House is within sight
– a fine old stone building, very grand, and no doubt impres-
sive and imposing for all of the trainees gathered from around
Tasmania.
The onset of World War II led to an increase in naval staff
in Hobart. An examination service and Port War Signal Sta-
tion were in place on 3 September 1939 at the outbreak of war.
Five requisitioned ships acted as examination vessels over the
course of the conflict, stopping and examining ships to ensure
they were not smuggling prohibited goods or carrying troops.
They also fulfilled training roles: Teddy Sheean and his mate
Jack Bird carried out duties on Coombar and Bombo respec-
tively for several months. The signal station was moved from
Mount Nelson to Cape Direction, overlooking Storm Bay, on
20 November 1939.
The trainees lived inside the Derwent establishment, with-
in barrack dormitories. Their training consisted of routine mil-
itary matters: learning rudimentary drill, handling firearms,
and ceremonial duties, as well as maritime skills, out on the
river Derwent. For around half of the year this was a cold grey
waterway, but in spring and summer it was often hospitable.
The training was carried out in a variety of small craft, where
the sailors learnt rowing, sailing, and all of the small skills
associated with the naval world, from knot tying to storing
ship, that is, bringing provisions aboard a vessel.
In terms of recreation, when they were given leave,
Sheean and his friends were within a five minute walk from
town. The Hobart Mercury, the local paper, and the film news
– always shown before any feature film at the cinema, was full
of stories of the war, but chiefly what was going on in Europe,
for Japan had yet to enter the conflict, although her troops had
invaded China in 1937, and made a puppet state out of Man-
churia from 1931.
Most Australian eyes however, were turned permanently
towards Europe, for that was where Australia’s mother nation
of Britain was fighting for her life, and where Australian forc-
es were already engaged. Sheean and his fellow trainees
would have assumed that Europe was where they were going
to be sent, for few would have had the capacity to imagine the
implications of the gathering might of the Imperial Japanese
Empire and its increasingly hostile dealings with the rest of
the world.
Movies were shown at several cinemas, including The
Strand, His Majesty’s, Liberty (now known as the State Cine-
ma) and the Avalon. In fact, Hobart had five movie theatres,
and another was located in Moonah, one of the less salubrious
suburbs to Hobart’s north. Two films were shown for each
session, generally with cartoons beforehand, and an interval
inbetween, during which refreshments were liberally con-
sumed. The national anthem was always played before a
screening, and people stood up for it. Smoking was permitted
during the films, and consequently the air above the viewers
was liberally tinged with blue clouds, as most men smoked.
The cinema was more popular than it is in the 21st century;
television was unknown in Australia, and only just coming
into some households in the USA. There were many studios
around the world turning out hundreds of movies. In 1941 the
best known were perhaps Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde, starring
Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergmann and Lana Turner, Orson
Welles’ Citizen Kane, and The Maltese Falcon, starring
World War II Naval Induction and Training By Dr Tom Lewis
HMAS Coombar on Derwent in 1941
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 36
Humphrey Bogart.
The USA had not
yet joined the war, but its
Hollywood studios had,
with films such as A Yank
in the RAF (Tyrone Pow-
er, Betty Grable) and
Caught in the Draft (Bob
Hope, Dorothy Lamour)
bringing military themes
into the movie houses. It
is likely cheers would
have filled Hobart cine-
mas whenever Errol Flynn appeared on the screen. This fa-
mous movie star had been educated at Hobart High School –
or more likely, sent home constantly in disgrace – only a few
miles from Hobart’s central business district. To see such a
person up there on the big screen would have indeed con-
firmed to Teddy and others that adventure could be had be-
yond the small island state.
There were also dances held on several nights a week,
where young men could meet females of their own age. These
were generally “policed” with many females having chaper-
ones. Sheean and his mates were under the drinking age of 21,
although beer consumption out of sight was common enough,
as were impromptu fights between young males, generally
held around the back of a dance hall. Excursions on steamers
were popular, with outings to Bruny Island and various points
around the Derwent and beyond the river’s opening, several
miles to the east.
The pay of the sailors was quite generous. A private in
the Army was on eight shillings a day in November 1941, and
a sailor’s wage was commensurate but made more complicat-
ed by various allowances he received for sea-going; “hard-
lying” and various speciality additions. As they were under
training, the naval recruits pay was not so generous. Jack Bird
recalls they received “22/6 a fortnight” – that is, 22 shillings
and six pence, or one half a shilling. Given they were clothed,
fed and accommodated, this meant a reasonable sum of money
to spend every week ashore on whatever delights took their
fancy. When sailors went to sea they were given more money.
Keith Venn, who served on board HMAS Broome, re-
calls at the end of the war as a Leading Seaman he was receiv-
ing 14 shillings a day, made up of:
• 8/6 [eight shillings and sixpence] standard pay
• 1/6 – hard lyers (for serving on corvettes) [officially known as “hard lying allowance”]
• 2/6 – for serving in war zone
• 1/6 – leading hand rate. Admission to a dance was often one shilling and six-
pence, a session at the cinema sixpence, the daily newspaper
cost twopence, a basic “Brownie” camera eleven shillings and
threepence, and a man’s new long-sleeved shirt around twelve
shillings. Twenty cigarettes cost one shilling and ten pence,
and incidentally were often advertised as having health-giving
qualities.
Secondhand cars were available for around fifty
pounds at a minimum, but one hundred-plus was more realis-
tic. Few young men were able to afford the capital outlay and
the fuel however, and motorbikes were a more common pur-
chase. Pushbikes were much more likely though, and public
transport was cheap and for military personnel free. Teddy
went home to northern Tasmania several times, as leave al-
lowed, in his six months in Hobart. He spent a full day travel-
ling, for the train service
was slow: Jack recalls
they were allowed on
leave on a Friday after-
noon, and reached north-
ern Tasmania that night –
“Teddy probably then had
to catch a bus” – and they
were allowed to travel
back on the Monday
morning.
One aspect of the
training would have en-
couraged Sheean and all his classmates in their tasks. That
was that they were doing the right thing by their society. On
every side was encouragement. Propaganda posters issued
messages: exhortations to join the forces; reminders to con-
serve materials, work for the country, and carry the fight to the
enemy – when Teddy joined up the Germans and Italians, but
by mid-December including the Japanese as well. Such a spirit
of positive reinforcement would have been like living in a
warm bath to the young Navy men: they were admired by so-
ciety, and it would have lifted every weary step and brought
strength to every tired arm.
Sheean did well in training, and got on well with his
messmates. Jack Bird recalls his friend as possessing a great
sense of humour: he was once met by bemused fellow sailors
dragging a dead crayfish across a parade ground; he was tak-
ing it for a walk, he explained to the other ratings he encoun-
tered, and departed talking to it. On another occasion, on a
boat trip to nearby Port Arthur, Sheean led the way in per-
suading a pack of seven dogs to board their launch back to
Hobart, where the animals were let out into a minesweeper
which was tied up alongside the wharf. Although Sheen was
the type that “let hammocks down”, as Jack put it, he was also
very loyal to his friends, and already noted as full of courage.
An interesting mix of exuberance and reality pervaded
the young men’s world. Just before Christmas 1941 the naval
trainees were made to put on a parade through Hobart. The
liner Queen Mary was in town, readying for another dash
across the Indian Ocean, and the streets were full of Tasmani-
ans and “mainlanders.”
Teddy and his shipmates had a Chinese cannon from
the Boxer Rebellion to tow, captured some forty years previ-
ously. It was all prepared, its bronze surface shining, and
white drag ropes enabled the trainees to pull it on its wheels
through the Hobart streets. Their Chief Petty Officer had actu-
ally fought in the Boxer Rebellion, and on a practise run be-
forehand his age didn’t allow him to keep up at the end of the
march, as his charges marched faster and faster, and then as
they turned a corner, they deliberately broke into a trot, and
then their cannon got away from then on the steep street, and
out of control, charged into some bush.
“And there,” Jack recalled, “were a lot of local girls
entertaining the sailors from the Queen Mary. We all thought
that was very funny.”
On 9 December the Hobart Mercury newspaper carried
the grim news that Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, the USN
base in Hawaii. Although it was likely that the naval trainees
would have heard the news on the radio first, the newspaper
accounts gave much more detail. Prominent on the front page
was the article “How Australia Will Face Pacific Crisis.” The
war was suddenly a lot closer.
At the end of his initial training time Sheean was post-
ed for another two months duty in his home establishment. He
Hobart 1942
37
received some sea-going experience aboard the auxiliary
minesweeper HMAS Coombar, a 581 ton converted coaster.
His friend Jack Bird remembers doing about “two months” of
sea time, before as he puts it, they were put “back in depot” to
do the recruiting march through Hobart, a good move on the
part of the forces, for now was the right time to encourage
service. Jack Bird notes the Navy led the way as the Senior
Service - “what else.”
Tasmania contributed enormously to the Navy in World
War II. In statistical terms, Tasmania most likely gave the
most of any state to the maritime force. For example, in 1941,
the year Teddy joined, there were 448 enlistments from the
island, and as a percentage of the male population that was the
highest of any state. (However, this must be caveated with the
analysis note shown here.)
An analysis of 1941 enlistments indicated that Western
Australia followed very slightly behind, percentage-wise, with
781 men signing up, and then in order South Australia (594);
Victoria (1, 472); NSW with 1, 367 and finally Queensland
with 508. The two territories of the ACT and the NT only
yielded one and two members respectively.
No doubt there would be some derogatory comments from
some as to why the Tasmanians and West Australians wanted
to go to sea. There has been little analysis done of this. But we
might expect that isolation from the eastern coast – then as
now the central area of the Australia’s population – being a
bigger factor than it is now, given the transport technology
available, it is not surprising that there should be good reason
to want to see the world.
Bird and Sheean were then sent to the shore base HMAS
Cerberus, or Flinders Naval Depot, some 90 kilometres south
of Melbourne on the Mornington Peninsula. The base was
known by the Flinders title until 1921, when it was formally
commissioned as a ship, or “stone frigate”, as some put it.
Many sailors still called it by its first name though, encour-
aged by the gates through which they passed on entry and exit,
which bore the name “FND” in iron scrollwork upon them.
Cerberus is still the centre for initial sailor training today.
In the winter it is a cold windswept area, but in the summer,
towards which the trainees were progressing, it can be hot and
humid. Jack recalls they completed courses in “gunnery, depth
charges and torpedoes.” Sheean’s actual position on board
Armidale was to be a gun loader on the 20mm Oerlikon anti-
aircraft cannon.
On the Bathurst-class corvettes a Swiss-designed single
barrel 20mm Oerlikon light anti-aircraft gun was mounted on
each side of the bridge. These covered approaches made by
attacking aircraft against the bow, stern and the side on which
they were mounted. Another single Oerlikon was mounted on
the stern. The Oerlikon was the most prolific weapon fitted to
ships in World War II. About 55,000 were fitted to Royal and
Commonwealth Navy vessels.
Each mount was operated by a gunner with his shoulders
tucked firmly into the supports to assist in maneuvering it.
The gun could be operated by two crewmen, a gunner and
loader, but an additional loader was usually allocated to each
gun. Crews regularly trained in all positions so they could as-
sume any of them in action, in case, as Jack Bird put it, one of
them “got knocked.”
The Oerlikon could fire 480 rounds per minute though this
was rarely achieved under combat conditions owing largely to
the need to reload. The black, side-mounted ammunition drum
contained 60 rounds of ammunition. Tracer rounds, which
would show up as luminous as they sped through the air, were
evenly dispersed in the magazine drum to enable the gunner to
see where his rounds were going.
Each single gun was mounted on a conical pedestal so that
it could be trained in any direction and elevated up to eighty
degrees. The Oerlikon had a maximum range of 6,000 yards
(5480m) but its accurate range was much less.
At the time of Teddy’s training the world of aircraft and
ships was undergoing a revolution, with the aircraft becoming
knowledgeably more dangerous and the world of navies play-
ing catch-up, although this was an informal adjustment, with
debate still raging about the exact nature of the air threat and
how – or whether at all – to adjust to cope with it.
Machine guns were found to be insufficient against aircraft
that flew at heights of several kilometres above the earth, so
anti-aircraft cannon – such as Teddy’s Oerlikon – were devel-
oped. Furthermore, aircraft flew rapidly, and deflection fire –
firing ahead of the aircraft so the projectile and the air-
craft collide – was essential. Exploding shells, which dis-
persed shrapnel over a wide area, were developed, and the
concept of fusing them to explode at the same height as the
aircraft was refined. Rangefinders, which determined how
high the aircraft was, were also developed from the existing
science of surface gunnery, and although these were mainly
optical, sound-detection devices were also produced.
Anti-aircraft fire – known as “archie” on the Allied side in
WWI – was a well-understood science by WWII, when it was
known as “AA”, for “anti-aircraft” fire. As aircraft now also
flew at night searchlights were added, and to be “coned” with-
in their beams and targeted by several guns was a frightening
and often devastating experience. But still AA had limits. To
escape the fire, bombers climbed higher, with the crews wear-20mm Oerlikon
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 38
ing oxygen masks above 20, 000 feet. Although this was effec-
tive, for it forced less accurate bombing, AA fire was found to
be insufficient above 35, 000 feet in WWII, as the shells took
so long to travel to that height it was too difficult to calculate
the predicted path of the bomber.
Instead, bomber interception at high altitude was the prov-
ince of fighter aircraft, which by the end of the war had devel-
oped tremendously, including machines with night-flying radar
-guided capabilities, and jet aircraft of immense speed.
By 1942 on naval ships rifle-calibre machine guns were
being replaced with far more effective 20mm Oerlikon can-
nons as close range AA armament. This was certainly the case
with the Bathurst-class corvettes such Armidale, which was
equipped with multiple Oerlikons, one of which was manned
by Teddy’s detail. The odds of holding off hostile aircraft
seemed heightened.
Much training took place on the gun systems. Some of this
was carried out in the shore base HMAS Penguin in Sydney,
with the young Tasmanian being billeted on board a converted
ferry, HMAS Kuttabul, which was berthed at Garden Island.
On 31 May 1942 three Japanese midget submarines at-
tacked shipping in the harbour, and a torpedo blew up the
Kuttabul sinking her and killing 21 naval ratings in the pro-
cess. Sheean was lucky then, not to have been on board, for he
had been given leave in Tasmania prior to joining his first ship,
HMAS Armidale.
The war, by now, was not going well. The war had begun
to counter German aggression, under the Nazi Party, when it
invaded other European countries. 1942 was the worst year so
far since Australia had entered the conflict, as part of the Brit-
ish Empire, in September 1939.
German submarines dominated the Atlantic Ocean, and
fierce engagements had taken place between the Allied coun-
tries and the Axis Powers, for Germany had been joined by
Italy, similarly ruled by a totalitarian party under Benito Mus-
solini.
The United States had formerly remained apart, with a
strong internal lobby remembering the price paid when the
USA entered World War I; although other voices pointed out
strongly that Hitler would not stop at dominating Europe, but
rather wanted the world under Third Reich control. Now with
the Pearl Harbor attack widely regarded as underhand, she was
awake and furious. The tone of the war was now fiercely ag-
gressive in America, and had been so since the surprise Pearl
attack, which enraged most of its citizenry, including the
armed forces.
While beginning to concentrate more on the oceans nearer
to home, Australian naval forces had fought well in the Medi-
terranean, and the Atlantic, and the RAN had expanded tre-
mendously in size and capability. A high point had been the
engagement of the cruiser HMAS Sydney and several British
destroyers in sinking the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni.
The lowest point of the war for the Navy had quickly followed
however, when the Sydney was lost with all 645 crew off
Western Australia in a battle with the raider Kormoran. A few
weeks later, on 6 December 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor, catapulting the United States into the war.
The Japanese did extremely well. They hit hard at the Phil-
ippines; were already involved in China, and quickly overran
various Asian countries, including strongpoints of the Allied
presence. The British fortress of Singapore collapsed, taking
down with it thousands of British and Australian military per-
sonnel, dead, missing, or captured.
On 19 February 1942 the Japanese struck at Darwin, killing
235 people and sinking 11 ships. Air raids were to continue for
the next two years across all of northern Australia. The Imperi-
al Japanese Navy waged an effective campaign against ship-
ping off the east Australian coast. They were fought to a draw
in the Battle of the Coral Sea, then defeated at Midway in June
1942, at the height of their power. It would take another three
years before they were pushed back to the Home Islands and
totally defeated.
In October 1942 HMAS Armidale was ordered to Darwin to
join a group of other corvettes there, operating as the 24th
Minesweeping Flotilla. The corvette arrived in Darwin on 7
November. Less than a month later she was sunk.
Dr Tom Lewis OAM is the author of Honour Denied,
(Avonmore Books) the story of the loss of the Armidale and the
lack of a Victoria Cross for Teddy Sheean.
A bullet had entered through his left ear and exited above the
right eye and he had been tortured before death. Unfortunately,
Feldt suffered a heart attack in 1943 and was relieved by
CMDR J C McManus as Leader of Operation ‘Ferdinand.’
Gen. MacArthur expressed his high opinion of Feldt’s opera-
tion and wished him a speedy recovery. US Fleet Admiral Wil-
liam Halsey said ‘I could go down on my knees every night
and thank God for CMDR Feldt’. At another time he said ‘the
coast watchers saved the Guadalcanal and Guadalcanal saved
the South Pacific’. In the New Year Honours List of 1944 the
King awarded Eric the OBE.
Feldt had previously suffered a severe bout of malaria and
then a near fatal attack of scrub typhus and then a heart attack
in 1943. In his later years he suffered from peripheral vascular
disease. He died at his home in Newfarm in 1968, from a third
heart attack.
There is much detail presented in the Coast Watchers’ story
written by Dr. Betty Lee, the great niece of Eric Feldt, but ‘the
right man in the right place at the darkest time’ is a central and
continuing theme in the book. There is a beautiful and valua-
ble lighthouse on Madang which stands as a magnificent me-
morial to the Coast Watchers and the achievements of
‘Ferdinand’.
Publisher - Bodarong Press 2019
Review by Kevin Rickard HMAS Armidale, 1942
continued from page 39
39
Sue Buxton, Denise Garnock, Pam Makings
“Along Buka Passage. Japan he go bush. Wamaru he go
too, along. By and by Japan man he come up . Wamaru
him call out. Japan man he call out. Wamaru he shoot,
plenty musket. Two fellow Jap he die, finish. This fellow
good fellow. He all time work.”
Thus spoke Private Wamaru of M Special battalion, one of
Commander Eric Feldt’s loyal native coast watcher compan-
ions as Wamaru was being decorated at Greenslopes in Bris-
bane in February 1946.
Eric Feldt, born in 1899 of Swedish immigrant parents
won a scholarship to Queensland Grammar and from there
obtained a coveted entry to the RAN Naval College at Os-
borne House in Geelong. Eric was one of the 28 RAN first
cadet midshipmen entry in 1913.
Among Eric’s colleagues in the pioneer class of the Col-
lege were John Collins, later Vice Admiral and Harold Farn-
ham, later Rear Admiral. Also present were Hugh Mackenzie
and Rupert Long. The latter two were to play a very signifi-
cant part in Eric’s life as major contributors of the Coast
Watchers in the north eastern Australian area.
After an impressive time at the Naval College in both aca-
demic and sporting areas Eric graduated as a midshipman in
1917 and went to England for further training with the RN.
He first served ln HMS Canada which was part of the Grand
Fleet based at Scapa Flow. He was promoted Acting Sub.
Lieut. in 1918 and transferred to the destroyer HMS Sybille in
Harwich. He spent 6 months at Royal Naval College Green-
wich and was promoted to Lieutenant in Feb. 1920. After
much consideration he elected to leave the Navy in 1922 and
was placed on the Retired list.
He became a clerk in the Public Service in the mandated
Territory of New Guinea, later becoming a patrol officer, then
a district officer. During this pre-war service time in New
Guinea he developed an in-depth knowledge of the geography
and people of New Guinea and associated islands. He was
thus uniquely equipped to become the organiser and com-
mander of the Coast Watchers. He married Nancy Echlin in
Brisbane in 1933.
By the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on
Dec. 7, 1941, Eric Feldt had developed an invaluable ring of
coast watchers in the many Pacific Islands which were Aus-
tralia’s north eastern. boundaries. By 1939 he was able to
meet Commander Rupert Long’s request to set up the Coast
Watchers team the only man considered for commanding this
top secret mission. He was given the title Staff Officer Intelli-
gence in Port Moresby. His task was to recruit civilian volun-
teers to be coast watchers. Travelling widely around the is-
lands he carefully selected areas of strategic importance and
personnel to make the role of gathering military intelligence
the principal role of the Coast Watchers. They were equipped
with bulky tele radios for communication with Port Moresby
and other centres. With the advance of the Japanese military in
Oceania the ‘human island screen’ became Australia’s front
line. A number of the coast watchers became members of the
RAN Volunteer Reserve. Many of these people suddenly
found themselves behind Japanese lines. Feldt’s duties in-
creased considerably over his primary intelligence role to that
of ‘Supply Officer’ organising tele-radios, food, equipment
and movement of aircraft and small boats for the coast watch-
ers. This was all very stressful.
In January 1942 the Japanese rapidly attacked Rabaul. The
Japanese commander-in-chief ordered the surrender of the
population. A number of the coast watchers surviving in the
jungle became ill with the complications of malaria, scrub ty-
phus and dysentery but bravely managed to fulfill their intelli-
gence gathering role. In March and April some coast watchers
and their colleagues using the ‘Harris Navy’ were evacuated.
A number of jungle survivors were lost whilst on the Japanese
POW vessel Montevideo Maru when she was mistakenly sunk
by the American submarine USS Sturgeon.
The Australian War Memorial’s Dr. Brendan Nelson said
‘that if 1788 was the most important year in
Australia’s history, the next most important year was 1942
when Australia was at its greatest danger. It was during these
critical days that CMDR Eric Feldt was in control and the
driving force behind the core activities f the coast watchers.
The coast watchers were crucial in the battle for Guadalca-
nal. As Japanese aircraft and naval vessels traversed ‘the slot’
between Kavieng and Guadalcanal their positions and course
were transmitted by coast watchers. By this time CMDR Feldt
had officially given to the coast watchers’ operation the titular
name ‘Ferdinand’ after the Disney character, Ferdinand the
Bull, who liked to sit under trees rather than fight.
There were deeply tragic events in the coast watchers’
war. The Japanese took Sgt. W.H. Butteris and one of his na-
tives to Cape Gloucester where they were beheaded. The body
of Percy Good, another coast watcher, was exhumed.
Book Review
continued on the previous page
NOC Newsletter Number 122, 7 September 2020 40
Application for Membership of the Naval Officers’ Club
Apply online on NOC Website https://www.navalofficer.com.au/ or use this form.
To: Membership Secretary, Naval Officers’ Club PO Box 648, Pennant Hills, NSW 1715 I forward this application for membership of the Naval Officers’ Club of Australia. In the event of my be-ing accepted, I hereby undertake to conform to the Constitution of the Club (see NOC website). My naval association is: ...…………………………………………..…………………………………………….in the …………………..………………..………………Navy
Personal Details
Last name ………………………………………………………. First name………….……………………………Initials……………………
Orders/decorations ……………………………................................... Rank…………………………………………………………….
Naval Service. Year joined ……………………. Year left …………..……….Status Active/Retired….………………………….
Postal address ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...............................
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..Postcode…………………………
Email ……………………………………………………………………………………………... Mobile…….………………………………………..
Home Phone…………………………………………………………….Work Phone……………………………………………………………...
Occupation ……………………………………………………………….Partner’s name ……………………………………………………….
Membership Annual Subscription expires end of February each year. Newsletter printed and posted - $30 OR Newsletter digitally delivered (preferred) - $20 Merchandise Silk Club Tie $45 – Yes/No . Name Tag $25 - Yes /No Payment Amount = $................................. Scan form and email to Hon Treasurer OR post. EFT. BSB 032-087, Account 174666, Naval Officers’ Club. Email Treasurer at [email protected] OR Cheque. Made out to Naval Officer Club. Mail to Hon Treasurer at PO Box 648, Pennant Hills, NSW 1715 Signature …………………………………………………………………………………...………… Date …………………………………………..