On This Day

2000-present-day

June 29, 2004

Exercise RIMPAC 04, (the 19th in the series which commenced in the early 1970’s), began in Hawaii. RAN units involved included HMA Ships NEWCASTLE, (guided missile frigate), SUCCESS, (fleet oiler and replenishment ship), and PARRAMATTA, (ANZAC class frigate). The RAAF provided two P3C maritime patrol aircraft, and the Army a 120 man rifle company. Ships and personnel from Australia, Canada, Chile, Peru, Japan, South Korea, and the United States took part in the one month long exercise. The units from Japan however only conducted activities with US units.

June 28, 2004

RADM R. C. Moffitt, AM, RAN, was appointed as Maritime Commander Australia. He had previously served as the Deputy Chief of Navy from 2002-04.

June 26, 2004

The ANZAC class guided missile frigate, HMAS BALLARAT, (CMDR D. J. Hunter, CSC, RAN), was commissioned. BALLARAT was laid down in Tenix Williamstown Dockyard, VIC, and launched on 22 May 2002. Dr S. Herd, (Daughter of the President of the HMAS BALLARAT Association), performed the launching ceremony.

June 18, 2004

The frigate HMAS NEWCASTLE, (CAPT T. N. Jones, CSC, RAN), was en-route to Hawaii for Exercise Rimpac 04, when she was diverted to rescue three Danish sailors from the yacht TICO TICO. The yacht had been badly damaged when it capsized near a Fijian atoll, and the three crew were forced into a life raft. A RNZAF Orion aircraft on patrol, picked up a signal from the yacht’s distress beacon, and guided NEWCASTLE to the raft. The crew had been in the life raft for over 48 hours when NEWCASTLE’s helicopter arrived on the scene and winched them to safety.

The largest single class of trainee officers graduated from the RAN College. 115 officers graduated on this day.

June 16, 2004

The tanker MT DELOS, was purchased by the RAN as a replacement for HMAS WESTRALIA. MT DELOS is a 37,000 double-hulled tanker built in South Korea. The tanker was to be converted to an auxiliary oiler, and join the fleet in 2006.

June 12, 2004

The Iraqi Coastal Defence Force was officially formed at the Umm Qasr Naval Base, Iraq. Personnel from the RAN, RN, USN, and Polish Navy, had been instrumental in the training of Iraqi sailors over a seven month period, since late 2003. The RAN team of 12 personnel was lead by LCDR A. R. Powell, RAN.

June 6, 2004

60 years after the D-Day landings, a significant commemorative service was held at Arromanches, France. Four Australian ex-servicemen, including CDRE Dacre Smyth, (RAN, Retired), were presented with the French Legion of Honour.

June 3, 2004

The Minister of Defence, Mr Robert Hill, announced the purchase of a new tanker to replace the aging HMAS WESTRALIA. The tanker DELOS, which had been built in South Korea and launched in April 2004, had been selected, and following modification in 2005 was planned for delivery to the RAN in 2006. It was later announced that the ship would be commissioned as HMAS SIRIUS, as a tribute to HMS SIRIUS, which was one of the two warships to escort the First Fleet to NSW in 1788.

June 2, 2004

During a two week ‘blitz’ on illegal fishing vessels in Northern Australian waters, more then 15 Indonesian fishing vessels were detained. HMA Ships BUNBURY, WARRNAMBOOL, and WHYALLA, (patrol boats), assisted Australian Customs vessels to apprehend the illegal fishing boats.

June 1, 2004

The damaged yacht ELIZABETH II was towed into Darwin, after being rescued by the patrol boat HMAS GAWLER, (LCDR R. Donnelly, RAN), near Bathurst Island.

May 28, 2004

The Minister of Defence, Mr Robert Hill, announced that an RAN Heritage Centre would be built at the northern end of Garden Island, Sydney, to display RAN artifacts. The idea of such an RAN museum was first proposed in the 1920’s, and for many years items were housed in the RAN Historical Collection on Spectacle Island, in Sydney Harbour.

May 20, 2004

The ADF ceased to formally provide security forces in Timor Leste, (formerly East Timor), when security for the nation was handed over to the country’s own Defence Force and Police. Approximately 100 ADF and Australian Federal Police personnel remained behind in Timor Leste as advisors.The ADF had first entered the country in 1999, to restore law and order following the violence that had erupted following the pro-independence elections.

The survey vessel HMAS MELVILLE, (CMDR A. J. Withers, RAN), rescued five people from the stranded catamaran BAGATELLE, which had run aground on Scott Reef, (off Russell Heads, QLD). The catamaran had left Dunk Island earlier that day, and was bound for Fitzroy Island, when she struck the reef late in the day and was severely damaged

May 5, 2004

A ceremonial plate-cutting, of the first aluminum for the RAN’s new Armidale class patrol boats, was conducted at the Austal Shipyard near Fremantle, WA. Under the $550 million contract, Austal/Defence Maritime Services was directed to provide 12 aluminum patrol boats over a 42 month period. These vessels will replace the Fremantle class patrol boats, which commenced service in the early 1980’s.

April 25, 2004

Prime Minister, John Howard, accompanied by the CDF, (General Peter Cosgrove), make a surprise ANZAC Day visit to Australian personnel serving in Baghdad. A planned visit to HMAS STUART, then serving in the Northern Arabian Gulf, was cancelled due to the ship’s commitment to security actions following the suicide bombings of oil terminals near the port cities of Basra and Al Faw, the day before.

April 24, 2004

The ANZAC class frigate HMAS STUART, (CMDR Phillip Spedding, RAN), took part in the rescue of US personnel following a suicide attack by three boats on oil terminals at Basra and Al Faw, in southern Iraq. An 8-man coalition boarding party had spotted the suspicious vessels, and while attempting to board one of the dhows the explosives onboard were detonated. At least two coalition personnel were killed, and several wounded. STUART’s Seahawk helicopter and RHIB were used to rescue coalition personnel, and bring them back to the ship for medical attention. The bodies of the two slain personnel were also recovered by STUART’s RHIB.

April 7, 2004

In one of the stranger law cases dealt with in Australia, Leading Seaman Michael Szewczyk was found to have stolen over 1000 books on Naval and Military history, (worth over $200,000), from the Royal United Services Institute Library and Naval Historical Collection Library. Szewczyk, who had served in the RAN for over 20 years, including service in the first Gulf War, (1990-91), was a prolific reader with a love of military books. The magistrate hearing the case found the offence proven but chose to record no conviction due to the sailors previous good character, and the fact that the books were not stolen for any financial gain. Szewczyk, however, was banned from using Defence Force libraries in the future.

March 16, 2004

While on a goodwill visit to Wellington, New Zealand, the HMAS SUCCESS, (tanker), had graffiti spray painted on her hull. The slogan “J. Howard US bootlicker” was spray painted in metre high green fluorescent letters on the ship’s side in a pre dawn raid by two political activists, from a group known as “Ethical Foreign Policy is Possible”. The graffiti referred to the Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, and Australia’s strong support for US actions in the Persian Gulf and Iraq in 2003-04. Sailors from SUCCESS removed the graffiti and the ship sailed later that day bound for Auckland.

March 10, 2004

The frigate HMAS STUART, (CMDR. P. Spedding, OAM, RAN), departed Sydney for service in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Catalyst. In keeping with tradition the ship, nicknamed the “Tartan Terror”, had a lone piper play as she departed the wharf.

March 9, 2004

The frigate HMAS WARRAMUNGA, (CMDR J Vandyke, RAN), assists in transferring a critically ill passenger from the P&O cruise liner ADONIA, to the hospital at Christmas Island. WARRAMUNGA was conducting Operation RELEX II, (Immigration), patrols off Christmas Island when called upon to assist the 76 year old passenger, using her RHIB, to medical facilities ashore.

February 24, 2004

VADM Chris Ritchie, AO, RAN, (Chief of Naval Staff), released a signal to the RAN concerning the safety of Anthrax injections issued to RAN personnel who were involved in the 2nd Gulf War in 2003. VADM Ritchie advised “no long term side affects have been observed and there is no real reason to believe the vaccine is not safe”. Issue of the vaccine had been cancelled in late November 2001 when a number of SAS personnel, (being deployed to Afghanistan), had adverse reactions, but this information was not made public until early 2004. When vaccinations recommenced in early 2003, some 97 personnel serving in HMAS DARWIN, (frigate), suffered from a reaction to the vaccine which was well in excess of the 3% average expected. Additionally about 30 personnel serving in RAN ships deployed to the Arabian Gulf refused to have the vaccination, and were removed from their ships and returned to Australia. Similarly the USN had also cancelled Anthrax vaccinations during 2001-2002 due to concerns about the safety of the vaccine.

February 7, 2004

The first of 11 RAN personnel sent to Iraq to assist with the creation of the new Iraqi Coastal Defence Force arrived at Umm Qasr. The RAN personnel under the command of LCDR Tony Powell, RAN, joined a Coalition training team of 72 personnel from Britain, the United States, Holland and Italy.

February 6, 2004

The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial was dedicated at the Ballarat Botanical Gardens by the Chief of the Defence Force (General Peter Cosgrove, AO, MC). Among the 35,000 names on the memorial are those of men from the Australian submarine AE2 (sunk during WWI), HMAS PERTH, (sunk at the Battle of Sunda Strait in 1942), and naval personnel captured while serving in Merchant ships.

January 26, 2004

CDRE J. P. V. Goldrick, CSC, RAN, and CAPT A. K. Du Toit, RAN, were awarded the AM for their services to the Commander Task Group, (CTG), during Operation Slipper deployments to the Arabian Gulf in 2002.

January 23, 2004

HMAS WARRAMUNGA, (frigate), intercepts the illegal fishing vessel MAYA V near Heard Island. Due to bad weather and heavy seas a Navy boarding party was fast roped, from a Seahawk helicopter, onto the vessel to take control of it and steam her to Fremantle. The tanker HMAS SUCCESS supported WARRAMUNGA and provided fuel to enable her to return to Australia from Heard Island.

The Minister of Defence, Mr Robert Hill, announced that a small group of RAN personnel would soon deploy to Iraq to assist rebuilding the Iraq Navy. The 12 personnel under the command of LCDR Tony Powell, RAN, would be based at the port of Umm Qasr and assist RN and USN personnel with the training of the Iraqi Coastal Defence Force.

January 21, 2004

The patrol boat, HMAS GLADSTONE, (LCDR M. Moore, RAN), apprehended the illegal fishing vessel SUMUT SAKHON in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

GLADSTONE was forced to fire rifle shots across the bow of the vessel, but it still refused to stop and eventually a boarding party was put onboard to take control of the vessel.