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Mrs
Jill Green and the ship’s Commanding Officer, Commander
Michael Noonan.
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Mandurah
resident, Mrs Jill Green, recently had the opportunity to experience
life at sea onboard the Royal Australian Navy’s newest warship,
HMAS Parramatta.
Mrs Green and members of her family (her husband Kevin, son Doug,
son-in-law Jamie Pirie, and nephews Byrne and Jonathon Tuckey)
were all able to share the experience of sailing in a warship
at the invitation of the ship’s Commanding Officer, Commander
Michael Noonan.
Mrs Green’s association with HMAS Parramatta began in June
2000 when she was invited to be the ship’s Launching Lady
at a ceremony in Williamstown, Melbourne. In Sydney, in October
2003, she again featured as the ship’s Commissioning Lady
when Parramatta was inaugurated into the RAN.
Today she is simply, but proudly referred to as the Ship’s
Lady and she shares a unique bond with the ship. This bond stems
back to World War II, when her father, Lieutenant Bill Langford,
was the First Officer (second-in-command) in the second RAN ship
to bear the name HMAS Parramatta.
Regretfully, Lieutenant Langford was one of 138 men killed when
HMAS Parramatta II was sunk by the German submarine U-559 in the
Mediterranean on November 27, 1941.
