But my glass is full!!!

Whilst Pete's glass is empty...............

_________________

Chris O'Keefe
R43136
Ex WO Chippy
19th MOBI Intake
July 65 to July 85
HMAS Nirimba X 4 -Penguin-Sydney-Queenborough - Creswell - Moreton - Stalwart - Platypus - Coonawarra Reconstruction Team 76 - Platypus - Hobart - Cerberus - FHQ - Coonawarra.

Anyone can be ordinary. Shipwrights choose to be extraordinary!

My glass is in my left hand and one third full!!!!!

I reckon Col Kelson's version sounds closer to the truth......

_________________
Robin (Bob) King
R105234
Ex-WOETS4
25th MOBI Intake
July 68 - June 88
Nirimba, Waratah (Dam Neck), Brisbane, Waratah (Mare Is & LBNSY), Harman (CDSC), Waratah (Mare Is), Brisbane, Harman (Navy Office & CDSC), Waratah (Dam Neck & Mare Is), Harman (CDSC)

Wisdom comes with age, sometimes age comes alone.

I can't help it if they insisted on having their photo taken with me.....they're only human.....

_________________
Robin (Bob) King
R105234
Ex-WOETS4
25th MOBI Intake
July 68 - June 88
Nirimba, Waratah (Dam Neck), Brisbane, Waratah (Mare Is & LBNSY), Harman (CDSC), Waratah (Mare Is), Brisbane, Harman (Navy Office & CDSC), Waratah (Dam Neck & Mare Is), Harman (CDSC)

Wisdom comes with age, sometimes age comes alone.

...and the remainder on the back of your jeans?

_________________

Chris O'Keefe
R43136
Ex WO Chippy
19th MOBI Intake
July 65 to July 85
HMAS Nirimba X 4 -Penguin-Sydney-Queenborough - Creswell - Moreton - Stalwart - Platypus - Coonawarra Reconstruction Team 76 - Platypus - Hobart - Cerberus - FHQ - Coonawarra.

Anyone can be ordinary. Shipwrights choose to be extraordinary!

Was telling some of the Navy boys at the RSL today about the run, and one of the Stokers reckons we should call the Sunday bar-b-q and harbour cruise the "Degaussing Run"" at the end of the Basin Trials and the actual "Run". I forward it as a suggestion, even though I feel that not to many Chippies would know what "degaussing" was all about!!

That sausage sanger I had on Sunday morning with lots of sauce, and Tafmos fried onion was just bloody great by the way.

Couldn't think of anything simpler, yet more appropriate for the morning after... it really hit the spot, didn't it...?

Two bags of chopped onions to one tin of crushed pineapple, grilled to perfection by Tafmo, the freshest of rolls,
custom baked at Baker's Delight with lashings of real butter from Sandy and Ellen, a packet of pork sausages,
a packet of beef sausages, a packet of lamb, garlic and rosemary sausages, expertly cooked up by Chef Neddley,
add a packet of grated cheese and all my favourite sauces, and... YUM...!

And we motor over the Rose Bay/ Shark Island degaussing range every time we take The MOBI Yacht 'Nirimba'
out on the harbour... We're the most demagnetised steel yacht in Sydney...!!!

_________________

Rick Pengilly
WEBMASTER
Ex-CPOMTH3
R42630
13th MOBI Intake
July'62 to July'74
HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Melbourne - HMAS Cerberus - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Lonsdale - HMAS Tarangau - HMAS Nirimba - HMAS Brisbane

Should do Peter. In 1973 spent two weeks re-caulking the timber deck of the timber degaussing lighter (in dry dock). Ohh, and re-sheathing the immersed area of the timber hull with Zinculume sheet.

_________________
Brian Mackenzie
ex-Shipwright Instructor
Oct '88 to Dec '93 (NIRIMBA) before and beyond

Since the mid 60's, the "degaussing" grid or loops on the harbour were mainly used for measuring the magnetic signature of a ship, rather than actually trying to de-gauss it. All of the older ships had degaussing loops built into the hull. The Sydney and Melbourne had three loops. In 67-68 it was the job of the nav-aids team to maintain these and try to get them to work. The ship would sail (or be towed) over the course with no coils on and the magnetic signature was read at the station at Watson. On the next pass, the coils would be energised and the readings taken again. Adjustments to the Ampere-turns ratio would be made and another pass made. This would continue until (in theory) the ship made no anomaly as it passed over the sensing loops. Never got that far. The cables on the Sydney that made up the loops were so deteriorated that we did not have enough good "turns" to make any appreciable difference to the ship's signature.
Meanwhile, we all spent a pleasant day puttering back and forward, much to the amusement of the locals and the anoyance of the fishermen and the yachties that had to avoid us.
We all knew that the degaussing didn't work, but I recall seeing a signal to Navy Office to the effect that the trials and adjustments were successful. Had a great laugh about that.
The point was that it was believed that the North Vietnamese (or Chinese) were sewing magnetic mines around Vung Tau and this would "protect"the ship against them. Kept the Army and DoD wallahs happy, but I always wondered if they really knew it was not working.

Stroppy Chippie mentioned the de-gaussing boat. She carried portable loops that were passed over smaller ships to "wipe" the magnetic signature. The giant crane was also used (a very long time ago) to hold up bigger loops that were passed over destroyers (or rather they passed through) Usually done by warping the cold ship to and fro down the wharf.
You know how dibbies love that sort of thing.
Used to be called "evolutions".

Latest technology at the time.
Pity it didn't work. (well, not work very well)

_________________
Gordon Robertson
ex-CPOETC
R42793
15th MOBI Intake
July63 to March74
Nirimba, Sydney III, Collingwood(UK), WSTG(UK), Lonsdale, Swan, Cerberus, Kuttabul, Harman, Kuttabul(RANTAU)