Newsletter May 2009 - HMS Ganges Assoc



Division Patron: Commander Philip Orchard AM AFNI RAN Ret.WA DIVISION HOIST MARCH 2021G’day all,Banyan Meeting 27th JanuaryOur first meeting of the year, the traditional banyan at the Naval Memorial Park was well attended. It is surprising how many people we can fit under one of the pergolas. It was a pleasant day weatherwise, but, as it invariably is, it was little windy, this did not help Brian as he took minutes of the meeting. Vice President Barry Morgan made a good fist of his first meeting as chairman, conducting and concluding the meeting and leaving ample time for banyan and banter.Following Up Spirits, bosun Alex was upstaged by Dave Parry donating a bottle of Pussers for Queens. Showing some responsibility, it was the middle of the day after all, most of the contents went home with Alex for future Up Spirits. Discussions and decisions made were contained in the meeting minutes.Buster Keating passed on to me rare copies of the July 1912 Spithead Review official programme and the June 1953 Queens Coronation Naval Review at Spithead. The sheer power and number of ships of the Royal Navy at those times is hard to envisage given todays fleet. I will table them at the Sunday Social to give members the opportunity to browse though them. I promised Buster I would take care of these vintage items and return them intact. Please respect his wishes. At the time of printing, they are with Tony Richards who will bring them to the March committee meeting.Division Gatherings for 2021:Committee Meetings3rd Thursday of odd monthCommencing 1200 at TBADivision Meetings4th Thursday of odd monthCommencing 1200 at FNCSocial Sausage Sizzles3rd Sunday of even monthCommencing 1200 at RNC18th March25th March18th April (Ganges)20th May27th May20th June (RRNA)15th July22nd JulyBlack Tot Dinner: Saturday 31st July TBA15th August (Ganges)16th September23rd September17th October (RRNA)18th NovemberAGM 25th NovemberChristmas Lunch: 1200 Wednesday 8th December at ANZAC House, Perth Benefits of a good vocabulary.I was recently in touch with old stoker mate of mine and asked what he was working on these days. He replied that he was working on aqua-thermal treatment of ceramics, steel, and aluminium under a constrained environment.I was impressed until, upon further inquiry I realised he was washing dishes with hot water under his wife’s supervision.Sunday Social Sausage Sizzle 21st February 2021The plans for this bi-monthly social were thrown a bit off course when our regular venue the Rockingham Navy Club had overbooked. Not to worry though Jim Sharkey contacted the Rockingham RSL president whose clubrooms are just up the road and we were made very welcome. The drinks were very reasonably priced, and we had a covered BBQ area to ourselves, it was a hot day, and the shade was most beneficial.Gary Foley (on his 47th anniversary of joining HMS Ganges) did his usual chief chef duties in cooking the bangers and group members provided an appetising array of salads and duff. We also snuck in a sneaky ‘Up Spirits’, bosun Alex filling the Division flask with the remaining Pusser’s rum from Dave Parry’s donated bottle.Photo of some of the motley crew taken by James Sharkey.Does this face look strangely familiar?Better late than never!Membership Secretary Peter Godfrey placed an article in the West Australian Newspaper calling on any of the States Ganges boys to make contact. Thus far we have received four expressions of interest, one from a grand old chap Jim Goad who turns 100 in August. Jim had seen the article in the paper and told his daughter and son that he wished he had known about the Ganges Association and the WA Division much earlier as he had been living in Fremantle. To cut a long story short, on being told about Jim, we made immediate contact and passed on newsletters etc. to Jim via his son Darryl. Then on 25th February James Sharkey, Tony Richards, Alex McKinnon, and Ian Critchley visited Jim Goad in his nursing home. It should be noted that Jim was living alone at home until a fall from a ladder (cleaning gutters) some 18 months ago. As the photo shows our latest member Jim is doing alright for a 99-year-old.James Sharkey, James Goad (37), Ian Critchley, Tony RichardsJim Goad’s story is very interesting, and we will be putting together a more detailed record of his service and history after consultation with his son Darryl. Just to whet your appetites. Jim joined TS Arethusa at Chatham in January 1936 as a 14-year-old, then, in March 1937 join HMS Ganges as a boy seaman (gunnery rating, O/No CJX 152201, Jim can still reel off his official number without pause). Leaving Ganges in 1938 he joined the battleship HMS Ramillies for further older boy training before being posted to the cruiser HMS Kent (1938-1941) in the Far East. He was then drafted to HMS Hurricane (H class Destroyer) in 1941 then, after Hurricane was badly damaged in an air raid on Liverpool, drafted to HMS Lamerton (Hunt Class Escort Destroyer), she was, among other duties, involved in escorting convoys in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In 1943 whilst serving in HMS Lamerton, A/Petty Officer James William Harry Goad was mentioned in despatches. On 31st July he was presented the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) by King George VI at Buckingham Palace. To cut this story short, whilst Jim’s story is compiled, Jim left the RN in 1947 and emigrated to Australia, he met and married his wife Dorothy in Fremantle.Safer Sailing for RAN SubmarinesIn an announcement made in late December 2020, Thales Australia, and the Commonwealth of Australia (CoA)?said they have signed a $23.7M contract to deliver next generation systems to the Collins Class. The Heron MOAS (Mines & Obstacle Avoidance Sonar) is an Australian designed and developed system and the result of more than 20 years of investment in Australia by Thales, the RAN and Defence Science and Technology to develop sonar systems tailored to Navy’s unique operating requirements.3818890892810The High Frequency Intercept Array (HFIA) will enhance the submarine’s ability to detect high frequency emissions like sonars, and emerging undersea threats. “These advanced systems are designed, developed, integrated and sustained in Australia. Enhancing our world leading sovereign industrial capability in sonar systems,"?Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins said. “Together, these contracts will support approximately 30 jobs at our Rydalmere site in western Sydney and additional jobs with our supply chain partners."The High Frequency Intercept Array (HFIA) will enhance the submarine’s ability to detect high frequency emissions like sonars, and emerging undersea threats. “These advanced systems are designed, developed, integrated and sustained in Australia. Enhancing our world leading sovereign industrial capability in sonar systems,"?Thales Australia CEO Chris Jenkins said. “Together, these contracts will support approximately 30 jobs at our Rydalmere site in western Sydney and additional jobs with our supply chain partners."Mine and obstacle avoidance capability is critical to sustain naval operations due to the rapidly evolving threat of mines, as well as other navigational hazards in the shallow, poorly charted waters that are prevalent throughout Australia's maritime region. The Herron system provides enhanced detection, coupled with a low false alarm rate, against dangers ranging from small mine-like objects to reefs, shoals, and hazardous objects like displaced shipping containers. HMAS Waller in Jervis Bay AreaA pun columnNext-generation missiles for the Royal Navy carrier’s F-35 jetsStrike fighters flying from Royal Navy aircraft carriers will be armed with the next-generation air-to-ground missiles following a ?550m deal with defence firm MBDA. SPEAR3 (Select Precision Effects At Range missile No.3) will become the principal strike weapon of the F-35 Lightning jets operating from the decks of HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales. Designed to knock out warships, tanks and armoured vehicles, missile launchers, bunkers, radar posts and air defence batteries, the new missile can be fired at long range (more than 140kms) and should keep the Navy and RAF pilots out of harm’s way from enemy ground defences. MBDA will equip the Lightning Force – based at RAF Marham – with the new weapon, which has been developed over the past decade and will be introduced to the front line over the next seven years. Weighing under 90kg and just 1.8 metres long, SPEAR3 is powered at high subsonic speeds by a turbojet engine, can operate across land and sea, day or night, and strike at moving and stationary targets. It will support 700 jobs in the UK, 190 of them highly skilled technology jobs in system design, guidance control and navigation and software engineering. These jobs will be at sites around the country including?Bristol, Stevenage and Bolton. Testing, simulation, and trials will include controlled firings from a Typhoon aircraft before the missile is delivered to Marham and the Portsmouth-based carriers for front-line operations.An artist’s impression of a SPEAR3 missile in flight. HMS Queen Elizabeth undertakes role a new Fleet FlagshipHMS Queen Elizabeth today assumed the role of Fleet Flagship as the Royal Navy moves closer to deploying the world’s most technologically advanced carrier strike group. Fleet Commander Vice-Admiral Jerry Kyd was received on?HMS Queen Elizabeth?to mark the transfer of the role from?HMS Albion, while Royal Navy ships and shore establishments were informed by a signal at 1330. It was announced last week that the UK’s new Flagship and Lightning Force of F-35B stealth strike fighters will also be complemented by a detachment of the fifth-generation aircraft from the US Marine Corps, and a US Navy destroyer during her first operational strike group deployment. HMS Queen Elizabeth and her strike group will spend time developing collective war-fighting skills when NATO navies gather for exercise Strike Warrior off Scotland during the spring, before departing for the Mediterranean. Last year, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, confirmed that HMS Queen Elizabeth will be at the centre of a Carrier Strike Group deployment to the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean and East Asia. She will embark F-35B from 617 Squadron (the “Dambusters”), Royal Navy Merlin helicopters, and be escorted and supported by Royal Navy Type 45 destroyers, Type 23 frigates and support ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.??Assault ship HMS Albion had been flagship since March 2018, deploying to the Indo-Pacific for 10 months; to the Baltic for major multi-national exercises; and latterly to the Mediterranean leading NATO security patrols and experimental warfare trials. Her sister, HMS Bulwark, previously led the Fleet for four years.HMS Queen ElizabethPoint to ponder: There are two kinds of people, those who do the work, and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there. (Indira Gandhi)That’s all folks, stay safe. 381825559690left10795Cheers aye – Ian?Cheers aye – Ian? ................
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