Visit to HMAS Brisbane

  

TS Adelaide Cadet Unit visited the HMAS Brisbane before it was decommissioned in October 2001.  The HMAS Brisbane was the only remaining Australian warship to have served in the Vietnam and Gulf wars. 

The 133.2m-long, 4720 tonne destroyer which was commissioned 16 December 1967 for the Australian Navy, was in its time one of the RAN’s most potent surface warfare ships, and was deployed with the United States of America's Seventh Fleet off Vietnam in 1969 and 1971, and was the last Australian warship to serve there. HMAS Brisbane was one of four Australian ships deployed in the Gulf War, forming part of an anti-aircraft screen (picket duty) for the US navy carrier battle groups then, in Operation Desert Storm, controlling fighter combat air patrols.

The crew affectionately refer to her as “The Steel Cat” and with one look at her you can see why

HMAS Brisbane was the second vessel of that name to serve in the Royal Australian Navy. She was the third of the RAN's American-built "Charles F. Adams" class guided-missiles destroyers. The other two were HMAS Hobart and HMAS Perth.
Builder De-Foe Shipbuilding Company Limited, USA and launched on 5 May 1966
Displacement  4,900 tonnes (with CIWS fitted)
Length  133.2 metres
Beam  14.3 metres
Armament  Two 5 inch automatic rapid fire guns
Harpoon anti-ship missile system
Standard anti-air missile system
Two Vulcan Phalanx close-in weapon systems
Two triple mount torpedo tubes
Four .50 calibre machine guns
Machinery  Two GE geared steam turbines driving two shafts, producing 70,000 shaft horsepower
Speed  More than 30 knots
Ship’s Company  313 (normal) but could accommodate up to 350

Below are some photographs taken on the day of our visit to HMAS Brisbane - our visit also included a Sausage Sizzle which the Cadets helped to cook and serve to the many visitors who were waiting in line to board the HMAS Brisbane when it visited Port Adelaide in South Australia.

 

 

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This page was last edited :

19 July 2003