HMAS Brisbane takes on a new life in a watery grave
In 34 years of military service, including 3 tours of active duty, the HMAS Brisbane never encountered an enemy that could do it harm. But in just seconds a series of carefully timed and placed explosions took the former guided missile destroyer to the ocean floor off the sunshine coast.
Shortly after 10:15 AM the decommissioned warship entered a new service - one expected to last 500 years - as a dive site and artificial reef. Spectators aboard hundreds of private boats and more than a dozen aircraft, and thousands more people confined to shore, watched as the Brisbane slipped beneath the waves.
Among them were a handful of the former Brisbane crewmembers, many of whom had served on the ship during its two tours of Vietnam and spoke proudly and fondly of their days on the "Steel Cat." But while they insisted that they were happy to see it end its days as a tourist attraction, there were a few moist old eyes as the Brisbane gracefully went down.
Kerry Kerr, who served as a Leading Engineering Mechanic on the Brisbane, said the scuttling provoked mixed feelings among former crew members, particularly those who went to war on the ship. "every person who is in the Navy or has been in the Navy, they each have a special ship," he said. If they went to war on it, that does make it special.
"The 7000 men who served on her for 34 years, most of them are happy that it's going to end up out here as a dive wreck, because the name will be preserved." Former Brisbane captain Ralph Derbidge said he would rather see the vessel become a dive wreck than sold for scrap. "I don't view this as a sad day. It's a pretty happy day for me because I know precisely where and what she will be for some time. "I can tell my grandchildren"
Canadian explosives technologist and artificial
reef consultant Roy Gabriel, who supervised the towing of the ex-HMAS Brisbane
to its final destination, 5 km off Mooloolaba, later said divers had inspected
the ship and found it sitting "dead upright" on the ocean floor.
Article reproduced courtesy of the Courier Mail by Malcolm Cole
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