THE www.nautical.asn.au LOG QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE NAUTICAL ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INC. VOL. 50, NO. 1, ISSUE 207 - NEW SERIES 2017 Howard Smith (496/1952) in Victoria Dock, Melbourne in January 1963 (M.Dippy) Howard Smith was completed for Howard Smith Industries Pty Ltd by Hall, Russell & Co., Aberdeen in March 1952 for use in Melbourne. Built to burn coal, she was converted to oil before entering service to resolve a manning dispute with the Seamen‘s Union. In 1969 she was renamed Melbourne to release the name for Hoegh Elm (35,719/1964) a combined ore/oil carrier which had been acquired from Leif Hoegh. On 9 August 1972 she was rolled over by Royal Interocean‘s Nieuw Holland (11,926/1958) off Gellibrand Light at the entrance to the Yarra River with the loss of five crew. She was raised on 16 February 1973 and towed to Brisbane in August of that year where she was stripped. In January 1979 her hull was scuttled in Moreton Bay. PRINT POST PUBLICATION NUMBER 100003238 ISSN 0815-0052. All rights reserved. On 13 December 2016 the RAN commenced a three year (with two options of one year extensions) agreement for the purpose of contractor support, maintenance, crewing and operation of the new 94 metre long multi-role aviation training vessel (MATV) Sycamore. The Damen-built MATV Sycamore, launched in Haiphong, Vietnam on 30 August 2016, will operate as a civilian registered, aviation- capable, ocean-going vessel for the delivery of military training and other services to the RAN and other Commonwealth agencies. The ship will undergo sea trials and then arrive in Sydney in 2017. On 6 December 2016 HMAS Canberra took part in trials with the BAE Systems Australia Patria AMV35 combat reconnaissance vehicle and a Rheinmetall Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicle from the LAND 400 project. The project seeks to find a replacement for the Light Armoured Vehicles currently in service with the Australian Army. In mid-November the RAN conducted one of its largest maritime warfare exercises off the New South Wales coast. Exercise OCEAN RAIDER involved eleven warships and submarines, supported by aircraft and more than 1,500 personnel from Australia and the USN over a three week period. The LHD HMAS Adelaide led six ships south from Sydney, while HMAS Warramunga and two submarines sailed from Western Australia. HMAS Darwin was also en route after completing her disaster relief duties in New Zealand. The Navy‘s mine clearance divers, Clearance Diving Team One, and minehunters HMA Ships Gascoyne and Huon, also trained in Broken Bay. All of the ships then sailed to Bass Strait for the final week of OCEAN RAIDER where they conducted war games and tested their ability to conduct joint sea combat in task groups. The Spanish Navy's F-100 class frigate Cristóbal Colón began her deployment to Australia in January 2017. After conducting operational qualification trials in the Gulf of Cádiz, the frigate began her 120-day deployment from 9 January. The long-term deployment was framed within the agreement between the Spanish Navy and the RAN to enhance the interoperability between the two services, and to provide individual training on board the frigate for the crews of the new Hobart class destroyers, designed by Navantia. After a stopover at Fleet Base West, he ship will visit Adelaide 5-10 February. During the deployment, all the ship‘s capabilities will be put to the test, including maintenance and logistic support procedures in far-off theatres of operation. Cristóbal Colón is scheduled to return to Spain in June 2017. Meanwhile, the Italian Navy FREMM frigate Carabiniere also visited Australia during January and February. The tour, backed by Fincantieri the frigate‘s builder, included visits to Fremantle, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. In April 2016 Australia shortlisted proposals from BAE Systems, Fincantieri and Navantia for the RAN‘s program to build nine new frigates. The anti-submarine frigate was delivered to the Italian Navy in April 2015, the fifth of ten to be eventually commissioned. Border Force On 12 December the RAN returned the Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Cape Nelson to the Australian Border Force after operating the vessel on loan for 14 months. Cape Nelson, and her sistership Cape Byron, were leased to the RAN at a cost of $3 million a year to fill a gap in border protection capabilities. This arrangement came about after the Armidale class patrol boat (ACPB) HMAS Bundaberg was destroyed in a fire while undergoing maintenance in Brisbane, reducing the Fleet to 13 ACPBs. The RAN‘s ACPBs had been operating under extreme pressure since the initial boats entered service in 2006 and several had been laid up and repaired due to associated structural and mechanical problems. Cape Nelson sailed more than 55,000 nautical miles during her service with the RAN, operating around Christmas Island, off the northwest Cape, north of Darwin off the Tiwi Islands, up off Torres Strait, into the Coral Sea, and east to Norfolk Island and south to Brisbane. To replace the pair of leased patrol craft, the first of two additional Cape class patrol boats for the RAN was rolled out on 8 December 2016. ADV Cape Fourcroy was launched mid December and is scheduled for delivery to the RAN in April 2017, with the second vessel, ADV Cape Inscription, following in May 2017. The two vessels will be leased until at least 2019. 63 The Log quarterly journal of the NAUTICAL ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INC. www.nautical.asn.au ABN: 18 382 946 943 Vol. 50, No. 1, Issue 207 - New Series 2017 Contents President‘s Report for 2016 ............................................................................................ 4 The Long Forgotten Karuah (1908-1932): A Story in Three Parts .................................. 5 Correspondence ............................................................................................................. 14 Interesting Ships No.59, Ugly Ducklings and Beautiful Swans....................................... 17 Boyhood Memories of the Steam Tug Eagle .................................................................. 25 Sydney Shipping Recalled.............................................................................................. 27 Reviews .......................................................................................................................... 30 From the Pen of Peter Nicolson – Port Line Streamliners .............................................. 31 Colour Pictures from Yesteryear - Ellermans.................................................................. 32 Maritime News ................................................................................................................ 34 Opposite: David Kirby‘s shot of Royal Interocean‘s Van Cloon (2,843/1955) at Hobart on 20 September 1965. She was built by Bijker‘s at Gorinchem in 1955 and served her owner without mishap until sold in 1969 at which time she was renamed Eastern Prosperity and then Eastern Prosper a year later. She ended her days at Kaohsiung at the end of 1984 as Meng Horng the name she had carried since 1982. Errata: Page 176 of Issue 205, caption for picture, should read Searoad Mersey II, not Seaway Mersey II. Page 211 of Issue 206 – Titania was renamed Aristotelis in November 1961, not Arisotelis Page 243 of Issue 206 - Publications by Ron Parsons the published email address for Louise Thompson was incorrectly rendered, it should have read: [email protected] 3 PRESIDENT’S REPORT FOR 2016 The year past was ‗steady as she goes‘ for the Nautical Association of Australia (NAA). With thanks once again to our Editor, Russell Priest, plus Dale Crisp and the Maritime News team, the four issues of Volume 49 of The Log again covered almost 300 pages of Australasian shipping history, nostalgia and current news, all well-illustrated by interesting, high-quality photographs. The Log remains the pre- eminent journal of record for Australasian maritime history. The overdue increase in the subscription rate from mid-year was a regrettable necessity but The Log remains good value for money and I am pleased that we have lost few subscribers. That said, its long- term viability depends on maintaining the subscription base. If you read a borrowed copy, please give us your support by becoming a subscriber and encouraging your friends to do likewise. Our Editor has also continued to develop the NAA‘s digital database of ship photos with off-site back-up. This is not only a valuable resource for The Log but also available on request and with due acknowledgement to other publications. It will become more valuable over time. If you have a collection that may be of interest, please contact The Editor. The focus is on Australasian shipping and foreign-flag ships that have been in service to Australia and New Zealand. Identified maritime incidents, port views and on-board views are also appreciated in both colour and black-and-white. This photographic database is being drawn on for the NAA‘s work-in-progress on the Fleet History of the Australian National Line from its establishment at the end of 1956 to the sale to French owners in 1998. This is now mostly drafted up to about 1970 and we aim to complete the draft manuscript by the end of this year. As advised in the previous issue of The Log, Iain Steverson, Mike Carolin and Barry Pemberton are the lead writers with Rex Cox updating the fleet list. If you have ANL recollections, materials or photos, we would be pleased to hear from you and may be contacted through The Editor. The relentless contraction