HMAS Brisbane (III): Inside Australia’s most sophisticated navy ship
The River City has a front-row view of one of the world’s most sophisticated navy ships as the HMAS Brisbane (III) visits its namesake for the first time, writes Michael Madigan.
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THE Queensland capital was better protected on Wednesday night than it has been since the dark days of World War II.
One of the world’s most sophisticated battle ships had anchored in Moreton Bay and, theoretically at least, created a 150km security bubble across the state’s southeast.
The HMAS Brisbane ( III ), the second in an ongoing $10 billion Australian Defence program to provide the country with three Hobart Class destroyers, made its first appearance in its namesake city just after 10am on Thursday.
Resting place of HMAS Brisbane
HMAS Adelaide arrives in Brisbane for the first time
Built in Adelaide and commissioned last October, the HMAS Brisbane passed its sea trials in Jervis Bay with flying colours last month, and is headed to San Diego on America’s west coast later this year to finetune its Aegis Combat System.
“The ship is the most potent warship Australia has ever had,’’ said Commanding Officer Josh Wilson who expertly guided the massive, 7000 tonne, 147m warship under
the Gateway Bridge to moor at Hamilton Wharf.
Commander Wilson says the HMAS Brisbane, the third Australian naval ship to carry the name in just over one century, is equipped with the most advanced defence technological equipment available, and is capable of swiftly fusing, out of thin air, a security bubble with a 150km radius, which could protect a fleet at sea, as well as coastal communities under threat.
MONITORING THREATS
Threats beyond that bubble, hidden from radar by the curvature of the Earth, can also be monitored.
Pilots at 7000m altitudes are able to feed information into HMAS Brisbane’s security systems to advise of potential enemy activities hundreds of kilometres away, whether they be in the air, below the sea or on land.
To Brisbane boy and former Acacia Ridge High School student, David Newton, 38, an electronics warfare director, the ship that accommodates a crew of more than 200 is a floating version of his home city – friendly, easygoing and a little adventurous.
“This is the best crew I have served with in 9½ years of service,’’ he says.
Alan Lucas, 28, who grew up in Redland Bay and was celebrating eight years of naval service yesterday, is responsible for firing the 127mm main gun that graces the deck.
“It’s a great life on board the Brisbane,’’ he says.
HMAS Brisbane, which can carve through the waves at 30 knots (about 55km/h), is not merely a marvel of technological warfare.
MILITARY LOGISTICS
It’s also a testament to the genius of military logistics, picking up supplies at port, which turn it into a floating self-reliant, small town.
With a population easily eclipsing that of Birdsville, the ship comes complete with a bakery that sends the smell of freshly baking bread wafting through the decks each morning.
The ship also purifies its own water through reverse osmosis, and hosts a small army of chefs who provide more than 600 hots meals a day, on top of innumerable snacks, treats and hot coffees.
The naval tradition of a “tot of rum” to ward off a cold night chill has gone by the wayside, even if sailors are occasionally given two cans of cold beer as a reward for going above and beyond the call of duty, while an on-board gym helps the crew burn off the kilograms.
The three HMAS Brisbanes collectively represent a proud naval line.
The first, launched on September 30, 1915, served in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean in World War I, where it played a key role in the hunt for the German commerce raider SMS Wolf.
The second, commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy in 1967, made two deployments to the Vietnam War, was involved in the post-Cyclone Tracy disaster relief operation in Darwin in 1974, and was also deployed to the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War.
FREEDOM OF ENTRY
The people of Brisbane have already demonstrated an extraordinary enthusiasm for this third incarnation of the HMAS Brisbane.
Members of the public will be able to view a traditional “Freedom of Entry’’ ceremony starting tomorrow at 10am at King George Square, where naval crew will draw on a medieval tradition from continental Europe where friendly armies are permitted entry to a city.
A public open day on Sunday at Hamilton has been such a hit that it has effectively become a “sold-out show”.
“All the tickets are gone,’’ a Defence spokesman said yesterday.
“It really has been a tremendous response.’’
HISTORY OF HEROISM
HMAS Brisbane I
Commissioned in 1915 and served in the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean in World War I.
HMAS Brisbane II
Commissioned in 1967 and served twice in the Vietnam War as well as the first Gulf War.
HMAS Brisbane III
Commissioned in October 2017 and will serve as the second ship of the three Hobart Class air warfare destroyers used by the Royal Australian Navy.
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