Ships in the bay

I took these images this morning of HMAS Adelaide passing on the inside of Point Perpendicular. She made an impressive site and dominated the landscape.

While HMAS Adelaide was conducting exercises in Jervis Bay, her sister ship HMAS Canberra was on the other side of the world near Guam conducting helicopter training exercises.

The amazing image below was sent to us today.. It was taken from the ship and shows the Helicopter "Warlock" in the middle of a successful "Hellfire missile shoot."

Continue on to more images of HMAS Canberra from onboard.

Ships in the bay. HMAS Adelaide.(L01)

Today, HMAS Adelaide, a Canberra-class landing helicopter dock ship, was at anchor near Greenpatch. Her distinctive shape certainly stood out in the morning sun.

An image from inside Adelaide's sister ship
HMAS Canberra.



Continue onto more images of HMAS Adelaide
Continue on to more images of HMAS Canberra from onboard.

HMAS. Canberra

We were sent these amazing images onboard HMAS Canberra taken shortly before she sailed for duties in Shrilanka, India and beyond.
The helicopter featured is a Sikorsky Seahawk. The Seahawk can handle anti-submarine warfare (ASW), anti-surface warfare (ASUW), naval special warfare (NSW) insertion, search and rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR), vertical replenishment (VERTREP), and medical evacuation (MEDEVAC).

I recently designed and fitted an emblem to the side of the helicopter at HMAS Albatross.
Each helicopter crew has their own insignia, this one fly's under the insignia "Warlock."

Drawn and finished - Rob Slater 2019

Sloop HMAS Yarra

The naval sloop HMAS Yarra would have been a familiar shape on the horizon for the residents and visitors to Jervis Bay in the late 1930's.



HMAS Yarra was a Grimsby-class sloop of the Royal Australian Navy which came to the bay on many occasions to conduct training exercises leading up to the second world war, sometimes alone,  other times as part of larger operations involving the Australian fleet.

Lost Anchor - Buffeted during a gale.
1936 August. - Anchored off HMAS Creswell she was caught in a strong northerly gale which reached speeds of 50 mph.  She rocked so violently a timber whaleboat tethered beside the ship was splintered to pieces within minutes.  A heavy swell whipped up by the gale came across the bay tossing the Yarra  so violently she lost one of her anchors when the chain snapped.  With this, the captain ordered full steam and the sloop sailed across the bay seeking shelter in the lee of Point Perpendicular. 

HMAS Canberra, also in the bay had her boat boom carried away in the violent storm, other boats were in danger of being smashed by the cruiser. Two divers were dispatched from HMAS Canberra to recover the Yarra's anchor, the operation was carried out in very difficult conditions.

Ken Stephens a young seaman on the Yarra fell overboard. 
         Stephens: -  "I went to put my foot on the Jacobs ladder", he said.  And found it was not there."

An open boat was immediately lowered and his shipmates had a difficult and dangerous time effecting the rescue. Stephens collapsed when he reached the deck and received medical attention.

1938 - The Yarra had a further association with Jervis Bay when H.B. Farncomb, a graduate from the Jervis Bay Naval College was appointed the captain of the Yarra.

War service.
1942 - War was raging across the Pacific.  HMAS Yarra was involved in rescuing 1800 troops from the liner Empress of Asia after she was dive-bombed by the Japanese and set on fire, Captain
W. H. Harrington by commendable seamanship took his ship alongside the blazing liner allowing the troops to come aboard. Meanwhile, the Yarra's gunfire helped save other ships in the convoy.

1942 - May,  HMAS Yarra was sunk during action with the loss of 138 including the Captain and all officers, they were killed in the action or died subsequently on the rafts. The action was described as one of the most gallant in Australian naval history.

Navy Minister Mr Makin described the gallantry of the HMAS Yarra's crew in fighting a far superior enemy until she was sunk.

  'At dawn on March 4 while escorting 2 merchant vessels and a minesweeper from Java to Australia the Yarra and her charges were attacked 350 miles south of Java
by three Japanese heavy cruisers and 4 destroyers. Against such odds, the battle lasted less than 30 minutes and the Yarra and her convoy were sunk.
The Yarra after trying to save the convoy by ordering a covering smoke screen fought to the end and went down with colour flying. Only 13 of her compliment
were saved after spending 105 hours in the water.

Take the time to watch this short well made documentary about the courage of the captain and his crew against overwhelming odds.

http://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-yarra-ii

Ships in the bay

The bay has been very active with ships over the last few weeks. This morning HMAS Adelaide (L01) Canberra-class landing helicopter dock was crusing back and forth across the bay in the early light.

Ships in Jervis bay.

Late yesterday afternoon I went around to Hole in the Wall and took a few pictures of the Atoll 2,   a beautiful, 2 masted sailing boat,  tucked in close to the shore seeking shelter from the southerly winds. The conditions were not ideal for taking photographs,  dark and overcast, raining and misty, but the bay looked absolutely beautiful all the same.

Moored near the Atoll 2 was the DMS navy support ship,  Seahorse Horizon. Built in 1984, the ship was initially operated by the National Safety Council of Australia as MV Blue Nabilla. She was purchased by the RAN in 1990 for use as a surveillance, training, and diving support vessel and renamed, HMAS Protector, she was used as a  Royal Australian Navy (RAN) trials and submarine rescue ship.  During her military career, Protector supported the trials of the Collins-class submarines, and was involved in a search for the shipwreck of the World War II cruiser HMAS Sydney.  The ship was decommissioned in 1998 and, while still owned by the Commonwealth, she is provided to Defence Maritime Services to allow them to support Navy activities under contract.  Renamed Seahorse Horizon, the ship is operated by Defence Maritime Services out of HMAS Creswell as a training and Fleet support vessel. REF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Protector_(ASR_241)

Seahorse Horizon behind Hole in the Wall.

The Huskisson side of the bay was shrouded in thick mist almost obscuring the land , out of the mist appeared two largs ghost like shapes, hard to discern, but as they moved closer you could make out the distinctive shapes of two large navy ships.

The ship in the foreground is the second of two Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) ships, HMAS Adelaide .    The ship in the background is the Adelaide-class guided-missle Frigate HMAS Darwin. Both ships, slowly and carefully moved about the bay in the misty conditions,  the Adelaide finally coming to a halt in front of HMAS Creswell before dropping it’s anchor,   the Adelaide almost dissapeared into the gloom  near  Honemoon Bay.

Very early this morning I took this photograph of HMAS Adelaide under lights near Hole in the Wall.

HMAS Canberra –Jervis Bay

If you have been to the shores of Jervis Bay recently you could not have missed the dominating spectacle of the HMAS Canberra steaming about the bay. It’s an unusual and impressive ship, and is following a long history of navy involvement with Jervis Bay. Roll - air-land-sea amphibious deployment humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) Tonnes - 27,831 Length - 230.8 metres (overall) Beam - 32 metres Draft - 7.18 metres (full load) Flight deck - 202.3 metres (length) 32 metres (width) 4,750 square metres (area) 27.5 metres (height) Speed – 20 knots Crew 358 (293 RAN, 62 Army, 3 RAAF)

This fabulous photo was taken and sent to us by local man Paul Newman.

Ships from different eras.

Today anyone visiting the bay will have the opportunity to see two completely different modes of transport. One being a modern war ship equipped to travel the seas with the latest that technology has to offer.

Australia’s newest war ship HMAS Canberra - 2015

The other transports us back to a time when travelling vast distances by sea presented sailors with life challenges modern sailors very rarely get to experience.

The James Craig anchored off Callala Beach – Oct 2015

W.D Atlas founders off Jervis Bay.

‘It was a case of every man for himself”

The terrible loss of life associated with the self propelled bucket dredge off Jervis Bay in on the 20th May 1966. The Atlas had sailed from Whyalla in South Australia bound for Sydney,  a destination it never reached. 13 men drowned in huge seas aboard a vessel designed for river use and not the open sea. With her high superstructure she was known to roll alarmingly even in moderate seas. All went well until she reached the coast off Jervis Bay, where she ran into heavy seas accompanied by gale force winds. By 10pm and hove-to of Point Perpendicular the dredge listed badly. Conditions had deteriorated so bad they put a may day call out. The captain had called ‘stand by the lifeboats”  but the ship sank by the head so fast only one boat was able to be launched. Jumping into the pitch black the men could not see a thing, screams and shouts were mixed with the sounds of the driving rains and gale force winds, ‘it was every man for himself” Gordon Fairbairn, fireman-greaser owes his life to one of his drowned companions. Floundering in the icy seas for 10 hours he managed to keep afloat at one stage by clinging to the body of a drowned shipmate. Sam De Vries, a 25 years-old seaman of Whyalla threw the raft over the side and was able to swim to it and pull into it by his hair his companion,  25 year-old seaman Jeffery Mulder of Victoria. From there they drifted about 10 miles north before being rescued more than 10 hours later. Two other seaman, Gordon Fairbairn, 30,  and Richard Macrae, 30, were rescued by helicopter. By the 23rd May the massive air and sea search for the missing crew members was officially called off. The Canberra Times, Monday 23 May 1966   The rescues were carried out under extreme conditions, two 723 Squadron Iroquois helicopters from HMAS Albatross were scrambled in 45 knot winds to search for survivors,    they hovered a few meters above 10 meter waves and winched 4 exhausted survivors from the wreckage. HMAS Vendetta responded to the signal and battled her way through the mountainous seas to the search area. As the ship steamed towards the dredge, rising seas and high winds made conditions extremely difficult in her boiler rooms. During the early hours of Saturday 21 May, the ship was struck by a huge wave, and sea water poured into "B" Boiler Room and Engine Room, resulting in flooded bilges, damage, and power failure. In addition, the weather conditions made it impossible to relieve the watchkeepers in the boiler room for some time. Following the mercy dash, the Naval Board approved the immediate promotion of Leading Engineer Mechanic WJ Robinson to Acting Petty Officer, as a result of his presence of mind and devotion to duty under arduous circumstances whilst in charge of Vendetta's "B" Boiler Room

W.D.Atlas – 747 ton twin screw bucket dredge. Length 197.2ft;  Beam 41.2ft; Built 1949.  https://www.dredgepoint.org/dredging-database/equipment/wd-atlas

I found this song about the loss of the W.D.Atlas.

The ‘W. D. ATLAS’ Lyrics and Music Harry Robertson Arranged by Evan Mathieson The ‘Atlas’ was a dredge that sailed from Whyalla town, And set a course for Sydney, with its hatches battened down. It sailed into a cyclone out on Jervis Bay The waves they tossed, the ship was lost, that 20th of May. Chorus Dark and stormy was the night and the sea was cold. Did the cargo start to shift in her rusty hold? A seaman to his Mother wrote, and in the letter said, “This ship is like a coffin, Mum, there’s a dirty trip ahead, And while we need the money, my mind is filled with doubt, But the clearance papers are aboard and we are shipping out.” Chorus Since the ‘Atlas’ made that trip, enquiries have been made. Were the men who manned her seamen to their trade? Did her doors and hatches fit ’til they were watertight? Was the ‘Atlas’ overloaded?Was her engine room alright? Chorus Was her steering faulty before that fateful night? Did water stop the boiler fires from burning clear and bright? Did heavy bucket tumblers roll the decks beneath the waves ’Fore the ‘Atlas’ sank and carried thirteen seamen to their graves? Chorus Who will ask the questions?Who will tell the lies? How many seamen will be drowned before we realise That a dredge that’s built for river use, should not be sent to sea’ Til she’s put in first class order,with a safety guarantee? Chorus © HarryRobertsonand subsequently ©1995 Mrs Rita Robertson, Brisbane, AUSTRALIA. Registered with APRA/AMCOS www.apra-amcos.com.a http://www.harryrobertson.net/?page_id=575