Submarine silently docks in Brisbane after being spotted off the coast earlier this week
An Australian Navy submarine has docked in Brisbane after it was spotted in the waters off the coast earlier this week, triggering plenty of interest from keen-eyed locals.
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A submarine has silently docked in Brisbane after being spotted in the waters off the coast earlier this week.
The diesel-electric-powered HMAS Collins and some of its 60 crew were spotted next to Wagner’s Jetty on Pamela Street in Pinkenba after arriving in port Thursday morning, but Australian Department of Defence (ADF) officials refused to deny or confirm if the submarine was going to be involved with Australia’s largest bilateral training exercise with the US, Exercise Talisman Sabre 2021 (TS21).
Based at Fleet Base West near Perth in Western Australia, the HMAS Collins was photographed by several locals after it popped up in the waters off of Moreton Bay Wednesday, including the administrator of the Caught on Fishing Facebook page.
“When a submarine pops up in Moreton Bay.”
“Is world war 3 about to start or what’s going on (sic),” a post said, accompanied by laughing emoji faces.
The photos attracted more than 500 comments, including one from Clinton Keeble who said he had previously seen another submarine in the bay.
“Seen one there about 15 years ago. Probably come through a lot more often than people realise (sic),” he wrote.
Specific questions asked by the Courier Mail about the submarine, including whether its crew were going to participate in TS21, were not answered by the Department of Defence, with a written statement from a spokesman emailed instead.
The defence spokesman said the HMAS Collins was conducting a routine port visit, following a visit to Cairns from June 23-29.
“Navy’s submarine’s regularly train in Australian waters, including off the Queensland coast,” he wrote in the email.
“Navy does not provide advance notice of submarine movements for operational security reasons.”
The spokesman also did not answer specific questions about if the crew had to previously quarantine on arrival into Queensland, but said COVID-19 guidelines were followed.
“Navy personnel follow all whole-of-government guidelines from the Department of Health, as well as (Queensland) state government COVID – 19 restrictions,” he wrote.
All foreign personnel arriving for TS21 have had complete 14 days in hotel quarantine as well as undergo regular COVID-19 testing.
The HMAS Collins was one of the first of the six Collins Class submarines to enter service in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and was launched in Adelaide in 1993, before being commissioned in 1996.
The submarine was one of the first to be completely designed by computers with some of its features including automated controls, high shock resistance, optimal noise suppression, a high-performance hull form and an efficient weapons handling and discharge system, according to the RAN web site.
It moves quietly through the water on electric power supplied to the propulsion motor by banks of lead-free batteries, which are charged by on-board diesel generators.
The Courier Mail understands the HMAS Choules, a 176m long, 16,000 tonne ship is also on its way to Cairns.
The amphibious Landing Ship Dock, commissioned by the RAN in 2011, is capable of carrying 23 Abrams tanks, 150 light trucks, Landing Craft, Vehicle and Personnel – used to take troops or vehicles from ship to shore – and 300 personnel.
A variety of Australian navy and Army helicopters can also land on board.
The ADF has also not confirmed if the ship is headed to Exercise Talisman Sabre, which is scheduled to take place throughout parts of Queensland from July 14-August 1.
The training exercise is designed to strengthen the ADF’s alliance with the US and to help improve combat readiness.
US and British marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen and women from several countries are expected to converge on regions extending from Weipa to the Whitsundays and down to Evans Head in NSW now through to August.
Some US aircraft have already arrived in Australia, including a United States Air Force Lockheed C5 Galaxy from Hawaii that landed at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Amberley, on South Amberley Road, near Ipswich, Tuesday night.
The transport plane headed to Townsville on Wednesday, where two new CH-47F Chinook helicopters, bought by the ADF, were offloaded for Townsville’s 5th Aviation Regiment.
They were the first of four chinooks purchased by the ADF at a cost of $595 million, with the last two expected to arrive in mid-2022.
More than 17,000 military personnel from Australia, the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea will take part in TS21.
The majority of the mock war-games are scheduled to take place in the Shoalwater Bay Military Training Area in Byfield, north of Rockhampton, as well as further north in Townsville and off the east coast of Australia.
About 700 foreign troops have been or remain in quarantine for at least the past fortnight, with many staying in Brisbane hotels.
A small number have also been in quarantine in New South Wales.
An Australian Department of Defence spokeswoman previously said a further 1000 US soldiers would quarantine in Bladin Village in the Northern Territory before the exercise, and some UK, Canadian, Japanese, and Republic of Korea forces would do so in Sydney.
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