New year to remember, Kanimbla answers the call
Nurse extends healing hands
Helos help distance
Hydro team aid landing

Crew members from a Sea King helicopter deliver much needed aid to victims of the tsunami in Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

Photo: LEUT Fenn Kemp

By Graham Davis

More than 1050 Australian sailors, soldiers and airmen continue to support the Indonesian Government in providing aid and restoring infrastructure to those who survived the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami which struck the island of Sumatra killing more than 230,000.

The massive deployment, now even larger in personnel numbers to those committed to the Middle East, has been dubbed Operation Sumatra Assist.

There have been hundreds of headlines and millions of words written about the actions of ADF and Australian civilians since the Indian Ocean earthquake of 8.9 on the richter scale sent multiple tidal waves across the ocean to Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and to Africa.

 

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A story in itself is, however, how the Royal Australian Navy answered the call for help.

Within days of the tragedy small groups of sailors were in RAAF Hercules or commercial jets winging their way to the region, particularly to Banda Aceh and Jakarta.

The Australian Government then decided to send a major RAN ship, the Navy’s “can do” amphibious landing ship HMAS Kanimbla. Kanimbla was alongside Fleet Base East and was not the duty response vessel for the Christmas/New Year period.

She had just a skeleton Christmas duty watch on board.

“You’ve got 48 hours to get to sea,” was the instruction given on January 29.

“The Deputy Maritime Commander, CDRE Peter Lockwood, phoned CMDR Steve Woodall, the CO of Kanimbla telling him of the instruction to sail in 48 hours,” LCDR Phil Henry, the Maritime Headquarters Operations Co-ordinator said.

“CMDR Woodall was on leave on the Central Coast.

“CMDR Woodall rang his Officer of the Day to start bringing the ship’s company back from leave. We assisted him with the recall.” It became obvious that the ship’s recall list was in good shape.

“The XO, LCDR Victor Pilicic was on board within 12 hours. Other ship’s company came in from Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Two Sea King helicopters needed to go on the ship. The Fleet Aviation Officer, CMDR Andrew Whittaker looked after contacting pilots, aircrew and maintainers.

“There was outstanding support from many others. Kanimbla had to be fuelled. Kuttabul’s Port Services helped with this. The ship also needed to take 190 tonnes of aviation fuel for the helicopters.

A fleet of road tankers shuttled between HMAS Albatross in Nowra to Fleet Base East to transfer the 190 tonnes from storage to the ship.

It was a great effort,” LCDR Henry said. Some RAN specialists were enlisted to go including divers and hydrographers to be used the check the seabed prior to sending the ship’s LCM8s ashore.

The ship’s operating theatre and 36- bed hospital saw doctors, nurses and medics stream aboard and become a hive of activity. As the ship was stored and fuelled it was realised that a few sailors were still not on board. “Some sailors from Manoora filled their billets,” LCDR Henry said.

“When she sailed on time…the evening of New Year’s Eve, Kanimbla ... was just 20 personnel down on her full company.”

 

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