USS Emory S. Land visits Darwin as part of naval knowledge-share
Complete with a barbershop, retro diner, corner store and dentist, USS Emory S. Land is more floating city than ship. Here’s how she’s helping prepare Australia for the Aukus nuclear subs.
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A US Navy ship has docked in Darwin, with hundreds of sailors expected to explore the Top End during the routine stopover aimed at enhancing relations between the two allies.
Complete with a barbershop, retro diner, post office, corner store, dentist, and emergency operating theatre, USS Emory S. Land serves as a floating city wherever she is deployed.
“Our mission is to repair, rearm, and resupply deployed submarines and surface ships, both of US and our partner navies,” Captain Brent Spillner said.
“Two thirds of our crew works in the repair department, so maintenance specialists such as welders, electricians, and we’ve also got a very capable weapons department – we’ve got the ability to reload torpedoes, mines, missiles.
“We are self contained, we could go into a very austere, remote port and still provide the same services a ship would have if it were in a major port.”
Royal Australian Navy Seaman Leanne Rogerson recently graduated as an electronics technician.
She joined the Emory S. Land as part of a knowledge exchange program between the two naval powers, to improve interoperability and help prepare Australia’s navy to operate the nuclear-powered AUKUS submarines due to arrive in the early 2030s.
“I've learned a lot … we’ve done a lot of training that’s outside of our job roles,” she said.
“We don’t necessarily get to touch any of this stuff (in our regular roles), so I think that’s the coolest part of being deployed.”
Lieutenant Joseph Melbin leads the 17 Australians on the ship, which deployed from Guam in January and is set to circumnavigate the country before continuing through the Indo-Pacific region.
“Darwin basically marks the midway point for our current secondment,” he said.
“This represents a massive milestone for us in terms of an opportunity to demonstrate all the skills we have, and really be able to contribute to the operation of the ship.”
It was also an opportunity to show off their home turf - though Lieutenant Melbin could already predict what most of the US sailors would be doing in their free time: “golf”.
“It’s not so much a question of ‘what’ they’ll do on Friday night, it’s more ‘which driving range’.”
US Consul General Kathleen Lively said the Emory S. Land was a “real, tangible example of the strong, deep” US-Australian military ties, in which Darwin played “a huge role”.
“Darwin is critically important, it’s pretty much the gateway to the pacific,” she said.
Ms Lively said the presence of US military in the region was “a reinforcement of the great co-operation we have with friends and allies in this region, to keep the Indo-Pacific free, and open, and prosperous, and secure”.
Emory S. Land was commissioned 45 years ago, making it one of the US Navy’s oldest operational ships. But on-board the 12-storey, 198m-long behemoth is specialised, modern technology – including a simulation gun range where compressed air cartridges loaded into weapons allows for realistic firearm training.
First Class Petty Officer Jesse Whitaker said it was “as close as you can get without actually having live ammo”.
“Normally these are on compounds, on bases, but not usually on ships, this is the first I’ve seen and I’ve been in it for 17 years.”
Emory S. Land arrived on Tuesday and is due to remain at HMAS Coonawarra for four days.
While in port, many of the ship’s crew members will participate in local activities including helping out at local pick-up basketball games, a reconciliation breakfast and volunteering at Charles Darwin University.
SEE ON BOARD THE USS EMORY S. LAND
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Originally published as USS Emory S. Land visits Darwin as part of naval knowledge-share
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