On May 17, the Anzac Class Guided Missile Frigate, HMAS Ballarat, began a five-day ship visit to Shanghai, China. Ballarat will be docked at the northern end of Shanghai’s historic Bund from 17-21 May. The visit will involve cultural exchanges and visits to significant icons in Shanghai. The exercis
HMAS Collins has successfully wrapped up Exercise Bersama Shield 2012 after a series of challenging, high intensity evolutions in the South China Sea. The exercise consisted of a shore phase, a structured integrated period at sea and finally a freeplay or open conflict phase. HMAS Collins commanding
The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) returned to its homeport of Commander Fleet Activities Yokosuka May 16, after completing sea trials. Sea trials is the testing phase of a U.S. Navy warship designed to measure a vessel’s performance and general seaworthiness. During th
HMAS Ballarat (Commanger Jonathan Earley) has been making waves in the South China Seas as part of the maritime component for the annual Five Power Defence Arrangement Exercise – Bersama Shield. Exercise Bersama Shield 12 (Ex BS12) saw Ballarat join forces with Malaysian Frigate KD Lekiu and Singapo
The Royal Australian Navy’s Submarine Force and industry partners have demonstrated how they would respond in the unlikely event of a submarine incident at sea, after completing an intensive two week training exercise focused on testing its Submarine Escape and Rescue capability. During Exercise Bla
Defence ties between Australia and Indonesia continue to strengthen with the conclusion of the biennial patrol boat exercise CASSOWARY. Royal Australian Navy Armidale Class Patrol Boats HMA Ships Ararat and Larrakia joined with Indonesian Armed Forces patrol boats KRI Kakap and KRI Tongkol for the e
A military funeral with full ceremonial honours will take place at Devonport Naval Base on Friday 11 May 2012 for Able Electronic Warfare Specialist Ben Revell (27) who passed away from Motor Neurone Disease (MND) on Saturday 05 May 2012. AEWS Revell joined the Royal New Zealand Navy in 2004 and has
The combined U.S. and Canadian Exercise Frontier Sentinel 12 (EX FS12) formally kicked off with a live diving demonstration by the Royal Canadian Navy’s, Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic (FDUA), at the Sydney Marine Terminal, May 1. Led by Royal Canadian navy, Rear Adm. Dave Gardam, Canadian Joint Task Fo
Fleet Base West has experienced a busy first half of 2012, with both HMAS Stirling and West based Fleet Units playing host to several high profile international visitors since January. April was particularly busy with a flurry of VIP visits to the West. The first was from the United States Secretary
“Today, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) released its paper “Mind The Gap: Getting Serious About Submarines”. As a result of this there has been some quite critical, and in some cases dated, analysis reported in the press. There is no denying the issue that submarine availability is
Naval personnel from India and the United States will participate in Exercise Malabar 2012, April 9-16. Malabar is a regularly scheduled naval field training exercise and has grown in scope and complexity over the years. Malabar 2012 is the latest in a continuing series of exercises conducted to adv
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is on track to prove its mission readiness this month as its Fleet embarks on the second week of an intensive three week training exercise being conducted off the coast of Western Australia. HMA Ships Ballarat, Newcastle, Perth, Sirius, Warramunga and Collins are taki
HMAS Parramatta (Commander Guy Blackburn) recently visited Mumbai, India following a successful operational deployment to the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO). Mumbai was Parramatta’s final port prior to her return to Fleet Base East on 31 March, following a six month deployment. The port visit
Essex Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) embarked more than 2,000 Marines of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and departed White Beach Naval Facility in Okinawa, Japan for the ARG’s amphibious integration training (AIT), and certification exercise (CERTEX) March 4. Amphibious assault ship USS Esse
