Publication:Sea Talk Winter 2006/Wonderful Kuttabul - a long history of service
By LEUT Sean Elbourne
HMAS Kuttabul provides administrative, logistic and training support to Fleet units, visiting foreign ships and to the wider Navy and Defence community.
Kuttabul administers a diverse range of lodger units to contribute to the effectiveness of RAN operational units.
The ship's badge contains the white St Andrews Cross from the house flag of Sydney Ferries Ltd and the waratah of NSW. 'Kuttabul' is Aboriginal for 'wonderful'.
History
Days after the landing of the First Fleet, Garden Island came to play a vital role for the fledgling colony. Gardens were established on the island to feed the colony on January 27, 1788.
Men from HMS Sirius, who tended the gardens, were responsible for Australia's oldest colonial graffiti. The rock carvings, "FM 1788", "IR 1788" and "WB 1788" are among the treasures to be seen in the public access area on Garden Island. It is widely believed that FM was Frederick Meridith who served as steward to Captain John Marshall of HMS Sirius.
Remnants of many sandstone fortifications built on the island during the 1820s to protect Sydney from a much-feared Russian attack also survive. Also on view is Australia's first grass tennis court, built in 1880.
A rigging shed with a sail loft on the upper floor was converted to a chapel in 1902 and today the chapel is the RAN's oldest church. Adding to the chapel's historical value are the stained glass windows, memorial plaques and mosaics that adorn the interior.
The Royal Navy began berthing ships at Garden Island in the late 1850s and the area became dedicated to the Admiralty in 1866. Soon after the formation of the RAN in 1911, the island became the RAN's main fleet base and principal ship refitting dockyard. During the World War 1, 852 ships were serviced and more than 3000 people employed.
Garden Island and the Woolloomooloo finger wharves were also where many of Australia's soldiers, sailors and airmen left their homes for war, and where many returned. It was from here that the Australian Imperial Force set sail for Egypt and Gallipoli and where, a generation later, the survivors of Changi and Kokoda returned.
World War 2 bought a number of important developments to the island. The building of the Captain Cook Graving Dock from 1940 to 1945 was a major engineering project for Australia, as was filling in the strait that separated the Garden from the mainland. These developments helped make Garden Island one of the most important naval bases in the southern hemisphere.
Sinking of ferry Kuttabul
Kuttabul was named after a ferry converted for sailors' accommodation during WWII. The ferry Kuttabul was lost in Sydney Harbour on the night of May31, 1942. Three Japanese Type A midget submarines entered the Harbour and launched an attack on shipping. Just after midnight, one of the submarines fired two torpedoes at USS Chicago, at anchor in the harbour. One torpedo ran aground on Garden Island and failed to explode. The other passed under Chicago, under the Dutch submarine K-9 and under Kuttabul, but struck the sea wall against which Kuttabul was moored. The explosion damaged the Dutch submarine and sunk the Kuttabul, killing 19 Australian and 2 British sailors and wounding 10 others.
Some of the sailors onboard had survived the sinking of HMS Repulse and others the bombing of HMS Cornwell only to die that night.
The establishment, HMAS Kuttabul, was commissioned on January 1, 1943 to commemorate this event and the sacrifice of those men.
Kuttabul today
The appearance of Kuttabul remained much the same from the end of WWII until a modernisation process began in the 1980s. Today Kuttabul employs more than 1450 personnel and houses 55 lodger units to fulfil the Command aim: "To provide logistic, administrative and combat support to the Fleet".
Kuttabul facilities and units include; Maritime Headquarters, Headquarters Joint Operations Command, Headquarters Special Operations, Australian Theatre, Navy indoor sports centre, Woolloomooloo Defence car park, Fleet Base East medical centre, Endeavour House, the band complex and TTU East at Waterloo, Naval fuel installation Chowder Bay and Spectacle Island.
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HMAS Melbourne in the Garden Island (GI) drydock
Junior sailors' accommodation at HMAS Kuttabul. Pics by ABPH Justin Brown
The RAN Heritage Centre Pic by ABBM James McDougall.
Lower level of GI chapel. Pics by ABPH Justin Brown
Support to fleet units and visiting foreign ships is provided by Port Services Sydney. Eleven major fleet units (MFUs) are homeported to FBE, the latest addition being HMAS Darwin.
With at least one FFG in upgrade at any one time, Kuttabul has consistently supported at least three MFUs in maintenance at any time for the last three years. At the end of this year, Kuttabul will be supporting six MFUs in major maintenance.
Port Services also organises around 300 ship movements a year. For each move, Port Services generally provides a minimum of a berthing party, gangway, shore power and waste connections.
Port Services also provides cranes, fork-lifts, conveyors, elevated work platforms, trailers and tow-motors, as well as boats, flat top lighters, paint stage lighters, fuel lighters and oil spill booms that are an essential part of every ship's life when berthed alongside. On average, Port Services, through DMS, provides around 450 waterborne support activities a month.
The carved representation of Queen Victoria from the ship Windsor Castle is one of the prized exhibits at the heritage centre
A Seacat launcher - part of the external display items at the centre
The Port Services Manager, LCDR Paul Bates, has over the past year provided Naval pilotage service to visiting foreign ships from the United States, Japan, France, Thailand and New Zealand. One of the highlights was the aircraft carrier, USS Kittyhawk.
Kuttabul Command is always seeking new ways to improve support to the Fleet and to the wider Navy community. Kuttabul has therefore embraced the trial of Ship's Warrant Officer for shore establishments.
Warrant Officer Garry Osborne says he enjoys the challenge and hopes to be instrumental in having the post accepted as a permanent position. He particularly enjoys liaising with the outstations of Kuttabul and talking with sailors who may not otherwise have a chance to talk directly to a part of Kuttabul Command.
Kuttabul also supports the local community through regular charity activities. Recently these have included work for the Wayside Chapel in Potts Point, Taronga Zoo and in the NSW Variety Bash.
The RAN Heritage Centre Pic by ABBM James McDougall.
Heritage housing at HMAS Kurrabul viewed from the rear of the RAN Heritage Centre. Pic by ABBM James McDougall
Australian officer on exchange with the USAF FLTLT Adam Graham exercises at the Kuttabul gymnasium. Pic by ABPH Andrew Dakin
Members of the public inspect the exhibits at the Boatshed exhibition of the RAN Heritage Centre.
To showcase the RAN's long history of service to Australia, the RAN Heritage Centre, in the Garden Island public access area, was opened to the public in about seven months ago. The Heritage Centre displays items from the Naval Heritage Collection, which contains more than 250,000 items from more than a century of Navy's history.
Director of the Centre CMDR Shane Moore explains that it helps Navy to 'provide all Australians with the opportunity to view and understand the role that their navy has played in the history and development of the nation'.
Because so much of this history has taken place at Garden Island, Kuttabul is an appropriate home for this invaluable display of the RAN's contribution to Australia's history.
In future, Kuttabul will continue to adapt to meet the challenge of providing service to RAN personnel and operational units.
