Ship design has changed dramatically since the first Royal Australian Navy fleet review in 1913, a fact demonstrated this week when the Royal Navy’s modern warship HMS Daring arrived alongside NUSHIP Canberra in Melbourne.
Daring pulled into the the city for a port visit as part of her journey to Sydney for the International Fleet Review.
The air-defence destroyer is the lead ship of its class and the seventh ship to hold that name. She was commissioned on 23 July 2009. Her name, crest and motto are a reference to the Roman youth Gaius Mucius Scaevola, famed for his bravery.
Since her departure from the UK to particpate in the IFR and the Five Power Defence Arrangement Exercise Bersama Lima, Daring has sailed through the Panama Canal and docked at the US Naval Base in San Diego. She has also recently visited Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, before arriving in Melbourne.
In Melbourne, HMS Daring berthed alongside the Royal Australian Navy’s most modern ship, NUSHIP Canberra. The Canberra Class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) project will provide the Australian Defence Force with two of the most capable and sophisticated air-land-sea amphibious deployment systems in the world.
These 27,000 tonne ships will be able to land a force of over 2,000 personnel by helicopter and water craft, along with all their weapons, ammunition, vehicles and stores.
IFR will bring over 35 warships, 16 tall ships, 60 aircraft, 10 military bands and over 8000 sailors from around the world to Sydney, to commemorate 100 years since the arrival of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet into Sydney.
The event will commence on 3 October 2013 with the arrival of tall ships in Sydney Harbour. This will be followed by the ceremonial arrival of the warships on Friday, 4 October.
[mappress] Press Release, September 25, 2013; Image: Australian Navy