HMAS Brisbane... 'The Steel Cat'...

Pony · **Posted:** Fri Jul 26, 2019 10:19 am

Look forward to the "warries" :lol:

Stroppy Chippie · **Posted:** Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:05 pm

Hippy Chippy wrote:

Well, Chasps, :hi:

I'm just about to head off on my 90 minute drive :iroc:

down to Sydney to spend a day at sea with the crew of HMAS BRISBANE (III). :captain:

I'm told that the 20 of us HMAS Brisbane (II) Association Guests are part of a contingent of 200 Guests :omg1:

all up joining the 180 Crew of HMAS BRISBANE (III).

Hippy Chippy wrote:

HMAS Brisbane (III) has 23 Ossifers (of which only 2 are females, one SBLT and one MIDN,) out of a crew of 180, (of which, all up, a total of 40 are female,)
according to the commemorative brochure...

Seems a bit top heavy to me, :roll:

I trust that somebody did their buoyancy calculations :puter:

before they decided to add an extra 200 bodies (i.e., more
Guests than Crew,) as top-weight on the uppers...! :snap:

Don't worry. Standard policy is to load a couple of extra life raft containers onboard ships for family days.............................

Seejay · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2019 6:55 am

Not much of a confidence boost, Brian....... :happy2:

Pony · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2019 8:34 am

Nothing from the Hippy Chippy so far, wonder if he enjoyed it so much he decided to re-enlist and stay on. :lol:

Graeme Rhodes · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2019 11:18 am

Fell asleep in his clic-clac chair and couldn't be woken up!! :hoho:

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2019 6:02 pm

Gents, it's a bit of 'all of the above', :prayer:

a fabulous day, :fantastic:

exceptional hospitality extended by all 160 (?) of the crew, :notworthy:

but from the waist down, :pottytrain2:

every muscle in my thighs,
calves and feet are aching from climbing up/ sliding down ladders all day, (and breaking in a near-new pair of runners,) to the extent that if I'd have gotten out of bed this morning, I'd have been
lucky to move from one step off the vertical... #-o

Lesson learned, :snap:

get fit before taking on a challenge like spending the day on the sleekest, sea-going war-machine in the Fleet... :captain:

I've got a heap of photos to download from my phone/ upload to the site, along with lots of interesting/ fun snippets from a terrific day, but I'll take by time to get it right, (I expect over the next
24 hours,) as a number of HMAS BRISBANE (III) Crew now have access to RAN Skilled Hands and no doubt keen to read how their hospitality was received... :read1:

So thanks for your patience, bear with be, much more to come... :supz:

Suffice to say, our Navy is in good shape :yess:

and in

good hands...

The HMAS Brisbane (II) Association Group, (minus phot, George Hicks,) posing with Skipper, CMDR Josh Wilson and the HMAS Brisbane (I) picture presented to him...

connief · **Posted:** Sat Jul 27, 2019 7:47 pm

Great stuff Rick, looking forward to your photos and warries. :fantastic:

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Tue Jul 30, 2019 3:56 pm

Appreciate your patience, Guys... :notworthy:

...just waiting on a few more responses from HMAS Brisbane (II) Association Members with their details so I can tag them :evil3:

appropriately in subsequent pics... :happy3:

The reason I'm waiting on further info, is that about 1/3 of those above :laughing3:

were former Apprentices, or were directly connected with RANATE - HMAS Nirimba... :yess:

Stroppy Chippie · **Posted:** Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:21 pm

Geoff Cole was the last commanding officer of HMAS Nirimba (apart from the RN Commander Quinn who was given "command" for the last day).....

Hippy Chippy · **Posted:** Wed Jul 31, 2019 2:47 pm

Or as Geoff (a Supply Branch CAPT) himself put it to me (over a brew in the Senior Sailors' Mess,) :coffee:

he was "...the last CO of RANATE to oversee an Apprentice Intake, leaving in ’93,
relieved by CMDR Paul Quinn who oversaw the final dismantling of HMAS Nirimba..."

Lots more to show :happy3:

and tell,

and so I'd just like to tender a gentle reminder to all, that along with ALL the participating Members of the HMAS Brisbane (II) DDG41 Association, a large
number of HMAS BRISBANE (III) Crew have been given the URL :type:

to our website in anticipation of reading my report, so I would ask for some decorum, :angel12:

particularly in this Topic, for the
foreseeable future... :puter:

I know I can count on you Guys, :happy:

so in anticipation, :notworthy:

I thank you all...! :icare:

HMAS Brisbane... 'The Steel Cat'...

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