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A
sailor from HMAS Adelaide says goodbye to his partner on
the wharf at HMAS Stirling.
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Friends
and family watch on as HMAS Adelaide departs for the Middle
East. She will spend the next six months on patrol,
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Photos:
LSPH Damian Pawlenko
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By
Rachel Irving
With the strains of Waltzing Matilda filling the air, HMAS Adelaide
slipped her Fleet Base West berth last month heading for The Gulf.
The 4,100 tonne FFG, under the command of CMDR Bruce Victor, will
spend the next six months on patrol, replacing HMAS Stuart, which
has been in the Middle East Area of Operations since April.
Several hundred family and friends braved wild and wet weather
to farewell Adelaide, with many walking along the wharf to catch
the last goodbye waves until the ship sailed up Cockburn Sound.
Prior to her departure, Maritime Commander RADM Rowan Moffitt
addressed the crowd in a rare moment of blue sky.
“We are here to farewell what is now the ninth ship to rotate
to The Gulf since we began operations there in 2001,” RADM Moffitt
said.
“It is not Adelaide’s first visit to The Gulf - she was one of
the first ships to deploy following the invasion of Kuwait in
1990 and during that deployment she enforced UN
sanctions against Iraq.
That was Operation Damask.”
Adelaide also deployed to The Gulf as part of Operation Slipper
in late 2001.
“Today Adelaide deploys to the Middle East again and if you were
looking for an omen to predict the success of this operation I
would say to you that you only have to look over your heads and
backwards to the blue sky and sunshine and that’s what she is
sailing to.
That’s a good enough omen for me.” Adelaide deployed in support
of Coalition operations to assist the rebuilding efforts of Iraq.
“She follows other RAN units who have collectively and individually
established records for excellence in maritime operations.”
MCAUST said that Adelaide would essentially be involved in maritime
interception operations in a bid to stop the smuggling efforts
of Iraq’s national wealth.
“Since September the 11th and the horrific events which took place
that day, RAN units have conducted in excess of 2,300 boardings
and in the last 12 months our ships have conducted in excess of
600 boardings.
It’s a heavy workload in a risky environment and I have no doubts
that the men and women of Adelaide will make their mark and write
their own chapter in what has become a very proud history of the
Royal Australian Navy.
He told the ship’s company to above all else, ‘look after each
other’.
RADM Moffit extended thanks to the family and friends and reassured
them that the Navy with its support mechanisms, would do everything
they could to make the time apart little better.
He wished the ship well and said he hoped to visit the ship while
in the MEAO.
The WA contingent of the RAN band was joined by members of the
Sydney detachment and together managed to well up more than one
eye in the crowd when ABMUSN Nadene Starkie and ABMUSN Kristy
Cameron sang We Are Australian.
AB Starkie then sang the National Anthem as the ship let go her
lines. HMAS Stuart is due back in Australia in September.
