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| NAMING
RIGHTS: Sydney will be the name of one of the new Air Warfare Destroyers. |
By
Michael Brooke
The new
Helicopter Landing Dock Amphibious Ships and Air Warfare Destroyers will be named
after the Australian cities that lent their name to earlier generations of RAN
warships.
The Air Warfare Destroyers will be named HMA Ships Sydney, Hobart
and Brisbane, while the amphibious platforms will be named HMA Ships Canberra
and Adelaide.
The ships are expected to enter service from 2012. RAN warships
have previously carried these names and all have received battle honours in conflicts
dating from WWI.
Navy Chief VADM Russ Shalders, AO, CSC, RAN, made the
recommendation for the names after taking into account the importance of promoting
links between the Navy and the community.
“Naming the ships after Australian
cities will hopefully build on these links and gain the wide acceptance from former
Navy personnel,” he said. The new amphibious ships to be called Canberra and Adelaide
will be the third RAN warships to carry these names.
Commanding Officers
and junior sailors agreed that the names for the new ships would continue the
tradition established by earlier generations of Australians.
The last
Commanding Officer of Canberra (II), that was decommissioned late last year, CAPT
R Leggatt, said he was “absolutely delighted with the news that one of the new
amphibious ships will be named Canberra”.
“I know that Canberra I veterans
and those personnel that served in Canberra II in her 24 years in commission will
also be very proud and pleased,” he said. “Canberra I and II established a proud
tradition and heritage in the RAN and it is very special that another Canberra
will be able to carry on that heritage in the near future.
“Canberra also
had a very close relationship with her namesake city and it is good that this
important relationship will be able to be continued.” HMAS Sydney’s CO CMDR Peter
Quinn said it was “wonderful” that the third Air Warfare Destroyer would be named
Sydney.
“This new ship will carry on the fine traditions of the previous four HMAS Sydneys,
whose service lives have included serving in every major conflict involving Australia
since the First World War,” CMDR Quinn said.
“HMAS Sydney IV and her three
upgraded sister ships will continue to provide the backbone of the RAN’s area
air defence capability until the introduction of the AWDs in the next decade.”
It has been announced that the three new Air Warfare Destroyers, Sydney, Brisbane
and Hobart will be equipped with Lockheed Martin’s Aegis combat system.
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