THE AUSTRALIAN NAVAL ARCHITECT Volume 20 Number 2 May 2016 HMAS Parramatta ready for undocking in April after her Anti-Ship Missile Defence upgrade at BAE Systems, Henderson Shipyard, Western Australia. (RAN photograph) THE AUSTRALIAN NAVAL ARCHITECT Journal of The Royal Institution of Naval Architects (Australian Division) Volume 20 Number 2 May 2016 Cover Photo: CONTENTS The 72 m high-speed support vessel RNOV Al Mub- shir, built by Austal for the Royal Navy of Oman, 2 From the Division President during sea trials off Western Australia in March 3 Editorial (Photo courtesy Austal) 4 Letters to the Editor 6 News from the Sections The Australian Naval Architect is published four times per year. All correspondence and advertising copy should be 18 Coming Events sent to: 20 Classification Society News The Editor The Australian Naval Architect 20 General News c/o RINA PO Box No. 462 34 From the Crows Nest Jamison Centre, ACT 2614 36 The 21st Century Aircraft Carrier — John AUSTRALIA email: [email protected] Jeremy The deadline for the next edition of The Australian Naval Ar- 45 Education News chitect (Vol. 20 No. 3, August 2016) is Friday 29 July 2016. 50 Industry News Articles and reports published in The Australian Naval 53 The Profession Architect reflect the views of the individuals who prepared them and, unless indicated expressly in the text, do not neces- 54 The Future Naval Architect — Jesse Millar sarily represent the views of the Institution. The Institution, its officers and members make no representation or warranty, 56 Membership expressed or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness or 57 The Internet correctness of information in articles or reports and accept no responsibility for any loss, damage or other liability 58 Naval Architects on the Move arising from any use of this publication or the information which it contains. 59 From the Archives The Australian Naval Architect ISSN 1441-0125 © Royal Institution of Naval Architects 2016 Editor in Chief: John Jeremy AM RINA Australian Division Technical Editor: Phil Helmore on the Print Post Approved PP 606811/00009 World Wide Web Printed by B E E Printmail Telephone (02) 9437 6917 www.rina.org.uk/aust May 2016 1 From the Division President As this is my first column as re-elected Division President I would like to begin by thanking my predecessor, Dr Tony Armstrong, for doing such a wonderful job. I know that he has put an enormous effort into this role and it will be very difficult for me to follow in his footsteps; however, I will do my best. I would like to thank my fellow Council members who voted for me as President. I appreciate their faith in me and hope that I won’t let them down. My thanks go to the retiring Council members who have served on Council so well, and I look forward to them returning to Council at some stage in the future. I would also like to welcome the new Council members and, in particular, Jesse Millar, who has taken on the role of Vice President. During Tony Armstrong’s tenure he worked with the Division Council to develop a list of main activities for the future, as noted in the February 2015 edition of The Australian Naval Architect. These are all useful initiatives Martin Renilson and I think that it is important to continue to work on these. avoiding the “valley of death” in naval shipbuilding that The overarching theme of many of these initiatives is to we, and others, have been warning about for many years. raise the public awareness of the Institution, so that we are With all this maritime activity in the country, there is quite seen as the authority of choice on matters relating to ship a demand for education. Of course, this is not only for and boat design and production. However, I believe that it traditional undergraduate degrees, but also for a range of is also very important that we do not become a lobby group industry-related short courses, particularly those specialising for any particular part of the maritime industry. in defence-related technologies. It is important that the As Tony Armstrong noted, this can be achieved by quality Institution is in a position to provide advice to those running submissions to Government and a greater involvement these courses, in particular where accreditation/certification by members in the activities of their local sections. He is involved. also raised the importance of working with the academic I also note that the Defence White Paper refers to the institutions, contributing to the relevant courses, and generation of a Centre for Defence Industry Capability, encouraging students to join the Institution. and a Defence Innovation Hub. These could be potentially I look forward to working with the new Council on these interesting developments and I hope that, if appropriate, the important matters. Institution will be able to contribute. We have already written One of the things that I want to achieve during my term as to the Defence Minister asking for further information and President is to visit as many of the section technical meetings offering to assist. as possible. I have already attended section meetings in the Internationally, I welcome the appointment of Tom Boardley ACT, NSW, and Victoria this year. These have been very as President, and look forward to meeting with him again interesting and I have enjoyed them all. It has also been in due course. Also, I understand that RINA’s International great meeting with section committee members, and others, Council is settling down into its new role as the reporting at these gatherings. I am struck by how differently the point for Technical Committees, with organisational various sections operate and run their technical meetings. management and governance being handled by the Board Of course there is no reason why they should all be the same of Trustees. — whatever suits that particular section. It is also interesting I would like to encourage all members to update their areas to compare the way the sections are run here in Australia of interest on “my RINA” so that they can contribute to the with my recent experiences at the Southern Joint Branch in workings of the new Technical Committee structure. This the UK, and the UAE Branch. is important as it will enable the Committees to tap the expertise of members worldwide, and will be an opportunity I’m looking forward to attending section meetings in the for us to contribute from Australia. other states in the future. For example, the method of analysing inclining experiments I believe that now is a very interesting time to be working in developed by Richard Dunworth has now generated quite a the maritime industry in Australia — particularly in defence- bit of discussion. Personally, I think that this is a great step related activities. Although there is much talk about SEA forward, and am actually quite amazed that nobody thought 1000 — the new submarine — we mustn’t forget about the of this before! If you’re not already aware of it, we published other major purchases, including the new frigates, the new a good paper on his approach in the International Journal offshore combatant vessel and the new patrol boats. It seems of Small Craft Technology, to which all members will have that the Government has, at last, learned the importance of access (Dunworth, 2014). The Australian Naval Architect 2 I know that this has also attracted quite a bit of interest within Success, as reported later in this edition of The ANA. Part of the SNAME SD-3 Stability Panel. every shipbuilder goes with every new ship, and it is very I would therefore like to encourage all members to get as rewarding to see a ship which you have helped to build involved with the Technical Committees as they feel able. provide good service for so long. The rewards with Success began when we first took her to sea. Her trials quickly proved Martin Renilson that the choice of the design for the RAN had been the right Dunworth, R.J., (2014) “Back Against the Wall”, Transactions one, and her shipbuilder and the project team were full of RINA, Vol 156, Part B2, International Journal of Small Craft admiration for the French naval architects and engineers who Technology, Jul-Dec 2014. had designed her. Today she looks in great form and ready to serve another five or six years until replaced by one of the Editorial new replenishment ships which are to be to be built in Spain. After what has seemed to many observers a very long French-designed ships, in this case submarines, will now wait, the Government has announced that Australia’s new continue to be part of the RAN for decades into the future. submarines will be built in Australia to a French design in It is right to build all the submarines in Australia and the partnership with DCNS, designers and builders of the French program of naval shipbuilding now announced will provide Navy’s nuclear submarines and designers of conventional much-needed continuity for new generations of shipbuilders. submarines which have been built around the world for other Speaking of time flying, this is the 72nd edition of The navies. This welcome decision sets in place a relationship Australian Naval Architect since Phil Helmore and I took with France which will last for decades and, along with plans over in July 1998 from the team who started the journal in for offshore patrol vessels and future frigates, will provide Western Australia early in the previous year.