Publication:Sea Talk Spring 2007/A view from Cairns

By CO HMAS Cairns, CMDR Jenny Daetz

On May 11 this year, the Mayor of Cairns, Councillor Kevin Byrne, presented to the officers and sailors of HMAS Cairns a hand-crafted replica of the original Bathurst Class corvette HMAS Cairns in the presence of Chief of Navy and his senior advisory committee.

This is testament to the close relationship HMAS Cairns shares with the local community.

The original HMAS Cairns was commissioned with a British pennant number of B239 on May 11, 1942. Halfway through its life it was overhauled, had a full crew change and sailed with a pennant number of J183, finally decommissioning in 1946.

Could it be that the multicrewing philosophy has always been around? One thing is for sure, refitting and remodelling has and always will remain instrumental in providing a quality service.

The redevelopment of Queensland's only naval establishment, HMAS Cairns, began in earnest at the start of the year and now at almost quarter time, we are beginning to see real changes.

With almost 25 per cent of the base in the hands of the contractors there are significant challenges but just like the strong relationship we have with the community, a strong relationship exists with the prime contractor, Theiss.

This is a very important relationship because of the relatively small footprint which is HMAS Cairns, compared with the complex and diverse works occurring within. For this reason we could not contemplate holding an Open Day this year so we went out and joined the public at their Cairns Show.

The Cairns Show is the largest regional show in Australia and although we are not an agricultural, pastoral or mining industry we do rely on each of these for sustainment and we share valuable resources with them. This year the official attendance figures were quoted at 70,345, and Navy played no small part with the assistance of the RAN Band, recruiting and the official opening being conducted by the Systems Commander, CDRE Peter Jones.

The redevelopment of HMAS Cairns is required because we had simply outgrown our facilities. The primary role of supporting the 14 ships and deployable teams has been complicated with the role of supporting off watch crews, up to 100 personnel at a time. The focus during this though must remain on keeping these ships and teams operational.

Ardent Division and the four Armidale class patrol boats, HMA Ships Bundaberg, Wollongong, Childers and Launceston now call Cairns home. The division is working very hard with the assistance of minor war vessels sea training group to bring all four ships and their hardworking and dedicated crews up to full operational status to enforce border protection and fisheries legislation.

Cairns is also home to the Hydrographic Survey Fleet, including the hydrographic ships HMA Ship Leeuwin and Melville, survey motor launches HMA Ships Paluma, Mermaid, Benalla and Shepparton, the Laser Airborne Depth Sounder F27 aircraft and team known as LADS as well as a Deployable Geospatial Survey Team (DGST). Their job is directed by the Government to survey Australia's water for the production of charts and safe navigation to enhance safety of life at sea.

And last but not least are four of the six heavy landing craft (LCHs) HMA Ships Wewak, Tarakan, Labuan and Brunei who continue to soldier on and provide valuable support not just to Defence but also to isolated communities and teams of researches and other government agencies in collecting data and visiting isolated areas. As the oldest commissioned vessels in the Fleet they present unique challenges in operation and maintenance but likewise provide a unique capability.

The city has also undergone some changes recently to support its ever growing population now at 140,000. On top of that is the transient tourist population here to experience the rainforest next to the Great Barrier Reef.

(l. to r.) HMA Ships Labuan, Wewak and Brunei alongside HMAS Cairns. Pic by LS Neil Richards.

We at HMAS Cairns are very cognisant of our close proximity to these world heritage sites and our responsibility to provide best practice when it comes to sustainable energy, waste management and safeguarding against any damage to the environment. Defence Support have worked hard to help us establish a waste management facility which has not only reduced our waste to landfill to one third (a third gets recycled, a third goes to compost paddocks and a third to landfill) but it would surprise you how much is no longer wasted when someone is literally combing through your garbage.

In addition to enabling us to positively control hazardous wastes, this process of managing waste has also become an excellent training mechanism for recycling. Most of us get it at home from our kids about recycling, now with it at work it becomes second nature. We are extremely proud to have been awarded the Chief of the Defence Force and Secretary's Environment and Heritage Award for 2007 for excellent contributions to sustainable waste management.

HMAS Cairns personnel remain positive about the redevelopment project and the changes it has brought to our community interaction. The redevelopment expenditure has generated significant interest in the local business community.

We look forward to completion milestones and especially the completion of the project which will see HMAS Cairns with the modern and state of the art facilities it deserves for the benefit of our people.

The model of the former HMAS Cairns will take pride of place in the new command administration building at the completion of the current redevelopment work.

HMAS Cairns (centre) with bulk-loading terminal and wharf (upper left).