HAWK RETURNS
HMAS HAWKESBURY: life saver, weapons collector, aid giver and village helper back in triumph

By Graham Davis

HMAS Hawkesbury (LCDR Paul Mandziy) might be designated "mine hunter coastal" but she has proved she is more versatile than her designation suggests. Back from deployment to the Solomon Islands as part of Operation Anode, the ship's company has an outstanding list of achievements.

These included saving the lives of seven Solomon Islanders, collecting 333 weapons and 1,879 rounds of ammunition, destroying a World War 2 seamine, which for decades had been a threat to villagers, and conducting 13 boardings of major vessels.

She left Sydney on July 28, and remained deployed until September 24. Her role was to provide security, logistic and general support to the participating police forces (PPF) of the Regional Assistance Mission Solomons (RAMSI) to enable them to restore the rule of law to the Solomons.

Hawkesbury's main task involved embarking PPF officers to conduct village visits in support of RAMSI goals. To achieve this she conducted in excess of 310 boat operations. In addition she helped in the collection of weapons during the gun amnesty period.

She also provided humanitarian aid support to seven villages and conducted maritime surveillance and interdiction (boardings), maritime transport, search and rescues, medevacs, explosive ordnance disposal, eight beach landings, three airfield surveys and other support tasks.

Hawkesbury was the first RAN MHC to be operationally deployed and spent the longest period at sea for a MHC, 55 days between ports and 51 days on station.

She travelled 9,000 Nm. Her ship's company visited 74 villages, boarded 13 major ships and questioned the occupants of 20 small craft and canoes. As reported in the Navy News Edition of August 28 the sailors found six men in open water after their craft had sunk in heavy weather.

All were rescued, including one under threat from a shark. The ship also took two people, then under arrest, to a centre with court facilities. Her explosives team joined with the Army in Honiara to destroy 750 kilograms of ordnance as well as neutralising a WW 2 seamine holding 300 kg of high explosives.

The mine had threatened the fishing activities of a local village. Navigationally Hawkesbury conducted some 145 pilotages and 74 anchorages. The bulk of these were in waters where the reefs were poorly charted. As a result her seaboat or diveboat was needed to precede her to do soundings.

The first MHC to be operationally deployed, the ship and her crew were given a very warm welcome home by 30 family members and shipmates led by the Maritime Commander, RADM Raydon Gates on October 3.

On a windswept wharf at HMAS Waterhen the Maritime Commander declared the work done by Hawkesbury as a "great success." "You saved seven lives and recovered 333 weapons. "Well done," he said.

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