Historical link to evacuations July 24, 2000 Air capable... HMAS MANOORA with the Black Hawks on her deck off Savo Island in the Solomons. In June 1942 the LSI HMAS MANOORA was involved in the evacuation of friendly forces from Honiara in front of the advancing Japanese Army. Nearly sixty years later another MANOORA found herself on station in the famous battle area of Guadalcanal standing by to conduct evacuation of Australian nationals from Honiara. Despite the exceedingly different circumstances both of these operations have helped establish MANOORA in RAN history. In June this June MANOORA had embarked members of 4 RAR to conduct amphibious load trials in the Shoalwater Bay exercise area. However, as the crisis in the Solomon Islands deepened and Australian assistance was sought the ship's company of MANOORA turned its attention to a major disembarkation and re-embarkation event. At very short notice 4 RAR personnel and equipment were disembarked and the 1 RAR Ready Company Group (RCG), with supplementation, was embarked in an unseasonably, dismal Townsville. This embarkation saw many firsts achieved for the modernised LPA. In support of the RCG three S-70A-9 Black Hawk helicopters from 5 Avn Regt, personnel from 2 Cav Regt, 4 Field Regt, 3 BASB, 1 Int Btn, 3 CER, 7 Sig regt, 103 SIG Sqn and 13 MP Platoon were embarked. The last minute delivery of much needed humanitarian aid stores, after the ship had left Townsville, saw her complete with four Black Hawks aboard. The Embarked Forces Operations and Planning Room was activated in parallel with the ship's operations' room, and scenarios and responses flew back and forth. The domestic front was no less intense. The care and feeding of 548 personnel kept the cooks busy while the medical department, augmented by nine medics and two doctors, had surprisingly little trade. To keep up the necessary level of preparedness the Army conducted daily PT, with combat skills training, TEWTS and tactics training. STEYR qualification courses were undertaken for the ship's company and the usual whole-ship training program of Deck Landing Practices, Man Overboards, Damage Control exercises and Engineering Casualty Controls drills was followed. Some conversion training also occurred when a number of Army personnel discovered the helm and achieved their helmsman certificates. Despite all the "what ifs" that were thrown at MANOORA her 12-day stint in the Solomons was only in a waiting capacity and she returned to Townsville on June 24 to disembark the 350 troops and equipment who had called her home before returning south to Sydney. The use of MANOORA in the Solomon Islands demonstrated for the first time the RAN's new capabilities inherent in the LPA and gave food for thought to those Army personnel who went to sea in her.