The good oil
It’s action stations for HMAS Ballarat as ‘the little frigate that can’ lives up to her nickname on task in the Persian Gulf

Volume 49, No. 14, August 10, 2006

 

GOOD SHOT: Aircrewman PO Andrew Watson mans the Mag 58 door gun of the “Bushranger”, Sea Hawk helicopter.

Photo: ABPH Bradley Darvill

FULL STEAM: HMAS Ballarat on patrol in the Persian Gulf, where her duties include oil platform protection, maintaining Iraqi borders and humanitarian assistance in the region.

Photo: ABPH Bradley Darvill

CLIMBING THE LADDER: Boarding party crew member LS Mathew Bell scales a foreign tanker’s four storey ladder during a Maritime Security Operation.

Photo: ABPH Bradley Darvill

By Capt Lachlan Simond

The first thing that impresses any visitor to HMAS Ballarat on patrol in the Northern Persian Gulf is the high operational tempo.
Appropriately dubbed ‘the little frigate that can’ by her Coalition partners, the Ballarat and her crew are relied upon for a multitude of tasks.
A quick glance at some of Ballarat’s milestones to date reinforces her “can do” reputation.

Having completed her third patrol conducting maritime security operations in the region, Ballarat can be rightfully proud of the reputation she has achieved. Not bad going for a ship that celebrated its second birthday while on its first Gulf mission and still has another patrol to complete.

The officers and sailors of Ballarat continue to be highly motivated in spite of the volume of tasks they have undertaken.
“I feel quite proud actually, you are doing what your country has asked you to do and while you don’t hear a lot about it in the media, the Navy is fulfilling a very important and vital role,” ABCSO Hamish McInness said.

The pride they feel is underpinned by a typical Australian humility. The ship and her company are not only ambassadors when it comes to promoting the professionalism of the RAN, but also ambassadors for the character and reputation of Australians in the region.

“From what the people on the ships tell us, they like Aussie boarding parties, they say we are more friendly. I’ve got a lot more respect for other cultures and you end up interacting with so many different people,” LSCSO Dwayne Cocks explained.

“We are professional, even though we are laid back as Aussies we still get the job done. We enjoy making a difference, protecting the oil platforms is helping Iraq,” said LSBM’s Rudsyn Marinas.

“We’ve trained for so long and now we’re doing something for real. That gives a sense of pride, not just in the job but in the Australian Navy” said LSET Scott Williams.
Immensely proud of his ship and his crew’s performance to date, HMAS Ballarat’s CO, CMDR Malcolm Wise, cannot praise their efforts enough.

“We are certainly flying the flag up here. I think the reason that Australians are attractive for employment is that they’ll give anything a go. Rather than say it can’t be done, we’ll say how can we do it? We ultimately come up with solutions and achieve the task. There is a proud history of Australian Frigates operating up here and they have set the benchmark, which we continue.”

The ship’s motto, Defend the Flag, is a reference to the Eureka Stockade, and the Commander sees parallels between the historical Australian fight for equality and the ship’s current mission.
“I think there are a number of parallels, the bedrock of the Eureka stockade was a fair go for all and ultimately the mission up here is to rebuild Iraq, so that the people of that country can have a fair go and a fair chance to live their lives.”

The attitude of RAN personnel serving in the Middle East is probably best summarised by a veteran of nearly 29 years service, POMTSM Gordon Anderson. “They have a lot of work ahead of them and we are here to help in any way we can.”

BALLARAT STATS

More than 110,000 signals have been transmitted in and out of the communications centre.
Nearly 500 ships have been queried by the operations room.
Nearly 100 high priority radar intercepts have occurred.
Each sailor has served more than 900 hours on watch.
More than 266 helicopter hours have been flown.
1364 standard medical procedures have been performed.
34 medivacs have been conducted.
12 cases of medical assistance have been rendered to other ships.
More than 50 church services have been conducted by the padre for the ship and Coalition allies.
More than 100 boardings have occurred.
More than 500 missions have been run in Ballarat’s Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boats.
The crew have had only 20 days off during the deployment.

BLUE EYES: SBLT Fergus Stewart takes a reading on the pelorus to ensure the safety of the ship while on the bridge of HMAS Ballarat. Photo: LSPH Phillip Cullinan	ON FIRE: The standing sea fire party fights a simulated fire in the main engine room during a damage control exercise onboard HMAS Ballarat.Photo: ABPH Bradley Darvill
BAND AID: PO 1st Class, Corpsman Terome Harding from the USS Sirocco and LS Michael Holeman from HMAS Ballarat bandage up the injured fingers of a US sailor. Photo: ABPH Bradley Darvill	COPY THAT: LS Dwayne Cocks plays a vital role in boarding operations conducted by HMAS Ballarat.Photo: LSPH Phillip Cullinan
TUG-O-WAR: Members of the ship’s company man the refuelling messenger line as HMAS Ballarat and USNS Supply conduct a replenishment at sea.Photo: ABPH Bradley Darvill	WIRED: AB Brett Azzopardi solders an important piece of communications equipment onboard HMAS Ballarat. Photo: LSPH Phillip Cullinan

 

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