The guided missile frigate HMAS MELBOURNE, (CMDR. R. V. S. Dutschke, RAN), responded to a distress call from the iron ore carrier LOWLANDS GRACE, which was anchored off Port Hedland WA. The iron ore carrier had been practicing life boat drills, when one of the lifeboats capsized. MELBOURNE dispatched two RHIB’s with a medical team embarked, who rescued two of the merchant sailors, but two others had already drowned by the time the frigate’s boats had arrived.
Australian Naval History on 7 October 2004
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