By
Graham Davis
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From
left:
LSHSO Clinton Capuano, LSHSO Aaron Godwin, CAPT Bruce
Kafer, LS Shane Bull and ABMT Damian Kain.
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Photo:
ABPH Bradley Darvill
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An
ancient brass cannon is now taking pride of place in the boardroom
of the Wollongong headquarters of the RAN’s Hydrographic Service.
But its background remains a mystery. Indeed, it may have been
lost for ever had not the curator of the Darwin Botanic Gardens
recovered it from a rubbish heap.
Pearlers found the cannon on New Year Island off the Northern
Territory in the 1890s. It had Malay and Arabic markings on
it but no date of manufacture.
Malayan ships were common visitors to northern Australian waters
for centuries. They came to collect sea slugs. After the cannon
was brought ashore by the pearlers it next made an appearance
on the rubbish heap.
In 1937, the cannon was presented to the CO of the former HMAS
Moresby, normally based in Sydney but at the time operating
out of Darwin.
When WW2 broke out Moresby was stripped of all but essentials
and the cannon was given to the Hydrographic Office which has
been its custodian ever since.
It has gone wherever the office was situated, moving to Wollongong
in 1994. “It needed to be cleaned and we offered to do the job,”
LEUT Shane Tacon of the FIMA team at HMAS Waterhen told Navy
News.
Shane and his specialists including PO Glenn Stevenson, CPO
Paul Graham, AB Damien Kain and LS Shane Bull, did more than
clean-up the ancient barrel.
They made a carriage for it. Using some eucalypt timber from
the old Platypus wharf, the group carefully cut, joined and
polished the timber to form the carriage.
Late in January, several of the FIMA team formally returned
the cannon to the Hydrographer, CAPT Bruce Kafer, in a ceremony
in Wollongong.
Bridging
gaps in history
By
LEUT Tom Lewis
Why
is the term “bridge” used to signify the place from where a
ship is conned? This must be a modern term, since it does not
occur in the records of wind-powered navies.
We know that in those days a ship was commanded from the quarterdeck
at the ship’s stern. Steering was carried out from a position
forward of this by a quartermaster manning the ship’s wheel,
which connected cables to the tiller flat below.
Going back even further, ships – or at least boats – were commanded
by a steering oar, also operated from the stern. The term “bridge”
seems to have arisen, at least as far as authorities such as
The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea are concerned, from
the days of paddle steamers.
With a paddle wheel on each side of the ship, it was found far
more convenient in terms of visibility to command the ship from
a bridge across the driving machinery between the two wheels.
When propellers were introduced the useful bridge was retained,
and with the funnels producing smoke it was natural to move
the bridge further forward to stay clear.
Reference: Kemp, Peter. (Ed.) The Oxford Companion to Ships
and the Sea. London: Granada, 1979.
Ashes
scattered
By
LCDR Mick Gallagher
The
busy fleet operations late last year did not prevent the Navy
from honouring former RAN personnel and their contribution to
the defence of Australia.
In a ceremony aboard HMAS Melbourne (CMDR Vern Dutschke) the
ashes of RAN personnel were committed to the sea.
Remembered were AB Noel Brown who served 1942-45, LSSIG Richard
McCrossin 1940-46, Mr Norm Hall and CPOSV Lance Kempster 1962-1986.
