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DEEP:
HMAS Brisbane will soon be sitting underneath the water
after being scuttled.
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By
Graham Davis
The former guided missile destroyer (DDG), HMAS Brisbane, is set
to go to Davey Jones Locker on Sunday July 31, weather permitting.
The 4500 tonne warship is in the Brisbane River being prepared
to be scuttled 2.5NM off Mudjimba Island off the Sunshine Coast.
In the final stages, 38 separate explosive charges will go off
inside the ship allowing her to sink in 28 metres of water.
The old-timer is expected to take about two minutes to disappear
and hopefully will settle on the ocean floor upright.
A Canadian explosives expert and artificial reef consultant has
the job of overseeing the scuttling of the warship. Brisbane is
to become an artificial reef and a target for recreational divers.
A number of panels have been cut in the side of 41 to minimise
any danger of a diver being trapped inside. Brisbane was commissioned
in 1966 and decommissioned at Fleet Base East late 2001.
The DDG saw service off Vietnam with the US 7th Fleet and went
to the Gulf between 1990 and 1991.
Her bridge has been removed to form a walkthrough display at the
Australian War Memorial.
