A Royal Australian Navy clearance diving team has led underwater maintenance work on Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Vermont while alongside at HMAS Stirling.

Working together in the water with United States Navy divers, Clearance Diving Team 4 (CDT-4) personnel have been either the lead or secondary divers for all underwater maintenance as part of Vermont’s scheduled submarine maintenance period at Fleet Base West.

This has allowed the team to demonstrate the skills and capability learnt as part of five months training at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) in Hawaii.

Lieutenant Cantona Borg, Officer in Charge of Underwater Salvage Repair at CDT-4, led a team of eight Australian divers on their training block under the watchful eye of United States Navy’s Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Tuft, Diving Officer for PHNSY & IMF.

During the intense training, the team spent many hours subsurface, completing hundreds of tasking and acquiring advanced underwater maintenance capability that previously had not existed in Australia – in either military or civilian circles.

“Being able to demonstrate our newly acquired skills in home waters highlights a key achievement in the scheduled maintenance period and Australia’s ability to work on conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines,” Lieutenant Borg said.

“Working with the Americans in Hawaii allowed us to learn from some of the best there are, and undertake new opportunities we haven’t conducted in Australia before.

“This was a significant learning opportunity for us and only possible thanks to the welcoming support from the American team.”

'With the training we’ve given the Australians, we can now grab some of those guys to meet us in other ports and fix a submarine.'

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tuft, who has brought a United States Navy diving team to Stirling, said the scheduled maintenance period provided a chance to put into practice all CDT-4 had learnt from a successful training block at Pearl Harbor.

“They intermingled with us seamlessly, they were just like another member of the team,” Chief Warrant Officer 3 Tuft said.

“I could call on them to do anything, even if it was late on a Saturday night and we needed something done, I knew I could call them in and they’d be the first ones at the dive site, ready to get to work.

“Our goal is to have a job in Australia or Hawaii, or a fly-away job in another place, and be able to say ‘I need a dive team there’, and with the training we’ve given the Australians, we can now grab some of those guys to meet us in other ports and fix a submarine.

“That’s the goal of interoperability that I’m looking for and we’re well on our way to achieving that.”

Vermont arrived at Stirling in Western Australia for a scheduled maintenance period in late October. 

While alongside at Fleet Base West, Australian personnel have been taking on greater responsibility for planning, coordinating and delivering complex maintenance activities on board the submarine to uplift the Royal Australian Navy and industry capability.

The scheduled maintenance period is a major capstone event towards Australia becoming sovereign ready for owning, operating and maintaining its own conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines as part of the AUKUS partnership.