“URDEF”unmoved by size 13 steelcaps
Big Cat resident aboard Darwin

By LCDRGraham Spencer

CODarwin CMDRAa­ron Ingram with the ship’s cat...er...lion.

An artefact from HMAS Darwin (CMDR Aaron Ingram) being temporarily withheld from the Australian War Memorial while still in use is the ship’s cat affectionately known by the crew as “URDEF”.

When Darwin was transiting to the Persian Gulf last year the Sonar Dome became holed and necessitated urgent repairs.

An urgent defect report (URDEF) was subsequently raised and the painfully slow passage to the area of operations for urgent repairs was so frustrating that the CO was heard muttering as he left the bridge one-day, “I’m going to my cabin to kick the ship’s cat”.

Arriving in the next port the FLYCO (LCDR Marc Pavillard) and WEEO (LCDR Adam Gilbert) conspired to purchase a large stuffed lion to present to the CO as the resident HMAS Darwin cat.

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