Benalla
birthday
HMAS Benalla might be getting a bit more mature, but age is not
enough to stop her Ship’s Company celebrating her 14th birthday
during a survey east of Darwin. Benalla (LCDR Stewart Dunne) was
the last of the RAN’s four Paluma-class Survey Motor Launches
to be built, commissioned on March 20, 1990. During her productive
life, she has steamed more than 210,000 nautical miles and has
visited as far afield as Bali, East Timor, Noumea and PNG. Benalla’s
role is to undertake hydrographic survey work as directed to provide
up-to-date information for coastal charts in the Australian region.
Warramunga turns three
HMAS Warramunga (CMDR John Vandyke) celebrated her third birthday
last month, while on patrol for Operation Relex II. The Western
Australian-based Anzac-class frigate was the first ship in the
world to be fitted with the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile, the latest
generation anti-missile defence system, which she successfully
fired during trials last year. Named after the Warumungu people
from the Tennant Creek region in the Northern Territory, she is
the second ship to bear the name. In her first three years Warramunga
has steamed 49,450 nautical miles, including port visits around
Australia and South East Asia, highlighted with a visit to Hawaii
last year.
Mine workshop
A DSTO Mine Warfare Workshop has been held at HMAS Waterhen. The
workshop followed the Canberra Mine Countermeasures and Demining
Conference in February. The workshop was a mixture of expert-led
briefs and syndicate activities which enabled delegates to discuss
future mine warfare issues. The theme of the Waterhen workshop
was “MCM Systems for the Future”. The theme was aimed
to help shape programs to undertake research relevant to the needs
of operational requirements of expeditionary warfare. It also
aimed to inform delegates of the development of future maritime
operational concepts and to engage industry in the process from
research outputs to operational deliverables.
