Commander Australian Fleet HMAS Kanimbla Decommissioning Ceremony Speech
25 November 2011 By RADM Steve Gilmore, AM, CSC, RAN
Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, AM, CSC Chief of Navy, former Commanding Officers of HMAS Kanimbla (II), distinguished guests, shipmates of HMAS Kanimbla past and present, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Good morning.
May I start by offering a warm and most sincere welcome to Fleet Base East today.
Farewelling any of Her Majesty’s Australian Ships in a decommissioning ceremony always has a touch of sadness as it marks the end of a living entity – an operational warship. Today is however, also a celebration – an opportunity to reflect on Kanimbla’s contribution to our nation and her many achievements. It is this latter aspect of a decommissioning event that I wish to characterise today.
Few Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships have seen as much operational service to our country as Kanimbla. In her seventeen years of flying the Australian White Ensign, Kanimbla has distinguished herself on many occasions and earned a reputation as a very versatile, reliable and efficient ship. Across Operations SLIPPER, BASTILLE, FALCONER, TREK, QUICKSTEP, ASTUTE and SUMUTRA ASSIST 1 AND 2, she has repeatedly established a presence across the international community and has been a core contributor to the strong professional reputation the RAN enjoys amongst other navies.
During her life as an HMA Ship, Kanimbla proudly flew the Australian White Ensign in twenty countries, from Oman to the United States. She has steamed over three hundred and thirty thousand miles – the equivalent of circumnavigating the globe over thirteen times, in just seventeen years of service – whilst impressive, these statistics don’t begin to capture the true breadth and tempo of her contribution, nor the passion, professionalism and achievements of her ships company over that time.
Kanimbla’s proven excellence routinely made her the australian government’s asset of choice for assignment to activities such as maritime security and disaster relief operations across the region and further afield. The men and women who have so capably served in Kanimbla over the past two decades have laid a very strong foundation from which to evolve our future amphibious capability.
There has of course been sacrifice in serving our nation at sea and Kanimbla’s commission has been no different. It is most appropriate that on this day of commemoration we remember those who lost their lives whilst serving in HMAS Kanimbla. The nine Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel who were killed in the crash of Seaking Shark 02 on Nias Island in 2005 and also Captain Bingley and Trooper Porter who died in a subsequent Black Hawk accident off Kanimbla are in our minds today as we reflect on service to our nation.
The experience and lessons, often hard learnt, by the ships companies of Kanimbla and Manoora, now form the doctrinal bases for our future force. It is a horizon which is both very bright, and increasingly close. It is a future marked by advanced and highly capable assets, and resilient and thoroughly professional people. The Landing Helicopter Dock ships Canberra and Adelaide will develop our Navy’s amphibious capability even further, enabling a scale and duration of joint, amphibious operations not ever before conducted in the ADF.
So in closing, I know all those who served in Kanimbla and her extended family will feel some sense of loss today, but we can and should rejoice in the long and faithful service she has provided to our country and the outstanding accomplishments if her crew. This is the Kanimbla we should remember.
Commander Zilko, read your de-commissioning order.
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