By CHAP Duncan Becsi

Standing by the Jack

Ship’s company of HMAS Warramunga enjoy the local hospitality in Hawaii.

Photo courtesy HMAS Warramunga

Warramunga Band

For many of the ship’s company sailing into this most famous of ports was a first time experience.

It must be said that while HMAS Warramunga (CMDR John Vandyke) seemed small standing alongside her much larger American cousins, her impact was anything but.

By the time she finally sailed it was clear to everyone that Aussies “know how to get the job done, and they sure know how to enjoy themselves.”

The events that will linger most in our collective memories (apart from the obvious thrill of a series of successful ESSM firings) were the interaction and hospitality shown between two close Allies.

Festivities began as MC Aust, RADM Gates hosted a cocktail party on Warramunga’s flight deck.

Among the list of guests was ADML Thomas Fargo, Commander US Pacific Command and ADML Walter Doran, Commander US Pacific Fleet.

Our American guests deemed the CTP on the “li’l green frigate” a great success and all were particularly impressed by the ceremonial sunset conducted by the Warramunga Guard and Band.

Another highlight was the invitation the RAN band detachment (deployed in Warramunga specifically for the trip) received from the US Marine Corps Band to join them for an evening entertaining the thousands of visitors and spectators at the Aloha markets not far from Pearl Harbor.

The eight-member band received rapturous applause after playing such familiar tunes as Funky Music, No Such Thing, Beautiful Day and I Feel Good.

The US Marine Corps Band showed their respect and appreciation by honouring the men with an “Eyes Right” and a rendition of Waltzing Matilda during a street parade through Waikiki the following day.

Many of the ship’s company accepted an offer by the International Hospitality Centre running their ‘Adopt A Sailor’ programme, to be hosted for a day of touring and hospitality.

It would not be unfair to use the word ‘fantastic’ to adequately describe the hospitality shown.

The infamous Pipeline (made famous to many of us in the movie Blue Crush), Sunset Beach and even a meal at the Hard Rock café were just some of the places we visited.

I will certainly be looking at returning the favour the next time a US ship visits my home port.

It would be remiss not to mention that greatest of American pastimes - football.

We had the good fortune of arriving at Pearl Harbor in time for the season opener of University football at Aloha Stadium. Whilst it wasn’t AFL or rugby for that matter, it was a spectacle and to top things off the home team won.

Then there were our tours of USS Arizona and Missouri, the never-ending stream of Australian sailors travelling to and from the Pearl Exchange and the fantastic golf courses....

When all is said and done, Pearl Harbor remains one of THE great runs for the RAN.

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By LEUT Steve Ford

Kauai Coast

SM1 Missile Launch

The Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) off Kauai was the site for HMAS Warramunga’s operational evaluation of the ESSM.

The high speed, highly manoeuvrable target, the BQM-74E was used to simulate the most likely threats that the ESSM is designed to counter.

Warramunga sailed for the PMRF on the morning of Tuesday September 2 with a number of sea riders on board, including personnel from the USN.

Once in the PMRF drills for the firing were conducted and all systems were checked.

Next morning range clearance was conducted and the count down for the Production Test and Evaluation Firing (PT&E) firing commenced.

Members of the ship’s company not involved directly with the firing gathered on the flight deck with cameras at the ready.

At 0900 local time the missile was launched and achieved a spectacular direct hit on the target, with both being destroyed.

Warramunga had just achieved the first ever “skin” shot by an ESSM anywhere in the world.

Three Operational Test and Evaluation (OT&E) firings also took place to test Warramunga and the Command and Control (C2) System in a variety of scenarios.

A first in this series of firings was watching the system engage a target in full auto. No buttons were pushed to fire the missile.

The final analysis proved unequivocally the success of the ESSM and its integration into the ANZAC weapon system.

Little Mo meets Mighty Mo

By CPOSTD Shane Savy

A moment was taken to catch a photo of some of the group taking the tour in front of Missouri’s 16” guns.

HMAS Warramunga’s Chief Petty Officers hosted the ship’s company’s ‘First Timers to Hawaii’ on a tour of the USS Arizona Memorial and USS Missouri during a port visit to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

USS Arizona was lost with some 1700 hands during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Missouri was commissioned late in World War II and went on to serve with distinction in all conflicts in which the US was involved up to the 1991 Gulf War.

The first HMAS Warramunga earned the nickname “Little Mo” during the Korean War where the ship escorted and provided screening to “Mighty Mo” on many occasions.

On a customary tropical Hawaiian day, personnel mustered on the gangway and were whisked away to the Arizona Memorial.

Time was taken to reflect and lament the disasters, which struck the military community of Pearl Harbor and brought the United States into World War II on December 7, 1941.

After visiting the Memorial the “Little Mo” group went aboard “Mighty Mo”. This was considered the highlight of the tours as it took all the Chiefs back to the days of DD’s, DDG’s and DE’s as the internals bore similarities to the mess decks and comfort levels of yesterday.

A moment was taken to catch a photo of some of the group taking the tour in front of Missouri’s 16” guns.

Jazzing it up in Hawaii
Bandies swing into life at sea

By LSMUSN Matt Klohs
and ABMUSN Stephen Fox

WARRAMUNGA Band Performance Pearl Harbour

Cocktail party on Warramunga's flight deck

Sunset Ceremony

The last four weeks have seen us do a thousand things we never thought we would. For starters, we never thought our turn would come to go to sea in a warship.

Despite repeatedly volunteering most of us had never been to sea before, but our turn finally came around last month and we found ourselves flying to Darwin to join HMAS Warramunga.

The first few days were a steep learning curve for the eight of us as we settled into the routines of life at sea.

We rehearsed as a band each morning in the hangar and kept watches during the afternoon and night with various departments around the ship.

Watches such as those on the bridge as the Quartermaster’s Assistant were a first for us and after a few days we got used to being awake for four hours at a time in the middle of the night.

Sleeping, eating, showering and walking around a moving deck all took a bit of getting used to, but came quite naturally only a few days out of Darwin

On the way over to Hawaii, we experienced so many firsts that we lost count. On the whole, the experience of 12 days’ solid at sea was a good one for us and lived up to (or exceeded) our expectations. We crossed the International Date Line, giving us two Sundays in a row, and the Equator.

In Pearl Harbor the Band finally got to prove its worth when the Maritime Commander, RADM Raydon Gates, hosted a cocktail party on Warramunga’s flight deck.

This was attended by some of the top brass in the US Navy, so the pressure was on to put on a good show.

The “bandies” flashed up their jazz group and swung through some standards before getting kitted up with their parade instruments to perform Ceremonial Sunset and Beat To Quarters.

Warramunga’s next few ports will include New Caledonia, Dunedin, Hobart and Sydney and then the band departs the ship.

The trip has been an eye-opener for the eight of us, and, we hope for the ship’s company as well.

It has been fantastic to share in the lives of the crew, and we are positive that many long-lasting friendships have been forged between us.

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