Thread: HMAS Canberra damaged in sea trials

Choules (amphib ship / ute) has a similar propulsion system which appears to work well. This is a very common setup on commercial ships and increasingly popular on Naval units. It gives insane manouverability / control at low speed and the ability to command the vessel to 'maintain position' in most conditions - basically 'hands off' - the computers and the pods do the work and the ship hovers very precisely in a position. Very cool stuff.

These new electric propulsion ships are a bit of trouble for old sailors not used to the electrickery and computers and reading the manual ... some may recall the "small expense" fixing Choules transformers shortly after purchase ... a bit like Defender drivers getting into new Disco's ... I'd think

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

I have heard a rumour of a stock of brand new SMLE .303 rifles being found in an ordnance depot which will be issued to units and thus save millions of dollars. General service wagons and tan boots were also found in quantity and will save even more millions. So no complaints from the brown jobs about not getting any new goodies.

At least SMLE's work,rain,hail and shine. Pat

Originally Posted by bob10

The old Vamps went to Williamstown, they took B turret off, prior to the major refit, she still had the torpedo tubes, we did the last 21 inch torpedo firing in the RAN off Singapore, against HMS London. London did a gunnery shoot against Vampire , I think they call it off shoot? or something. They off set the system a few degrees so they are not actually firing at you [ obviously practise rounds] . The gunnery from London was spot on. A mate & I were off watch [ B Boiler] and were perched up in the spud locker behind the aft funnel.


Old Vamps. shook & shuddered, I swear I've never seen her go so fast. If I were a romantic, I would have said she knew it was the last hurrah, before being reborn. But I'm not, so I wont . The London sent a signal, after the torpedo was released. " Congratulations , Vampire, your torpedo passed under our bow. " I think you may be correct, having an open bridge meant you could see aircraft approaching. One RAN skipper, in the Med. [ navy talk] may have been Waller, [ hard over Hec] it is said used to lay down on the bridge deck, and con his ship during air raids like that. However, stokers used to say it was the only way to keep dozy seamen awake. Bob

Bob,there's a two gun turret like that on Rockingham's foreshore,I walked my dogs past it this afternoon. Pat

Bob, regarding the RAN skipper lying on the bridge, my father told me of the captain of the destroyer that took him off Crete lying on his back with binoculars, spotting Stukas and calling the evasive manoeuvres. That's my recollection, however it may also have been on the Greece-Crete leg of his holiday.

Originally Posted by Phil HH

Bob, regarding the RAN skipper lying on the bridge, my father told me of the captain of the destroyer that took him off Crete lying on his back with binoculars, spotting Stukas and calling the evasive manoeuvres. That's my recollection, however it may also have been on the Greece-Crete leg of his holiday.

Hard over Hec, for sure, Bob

I made my earlier comment tongue in cheek, but there you go.

It would probably not work with Chinese ballistic ship killer missiles. We have to hope for usual Chinese quality.

Originally Posted by bob10

First I've heard of this, Bob

• by: By Ian McPhedran national defence writer
• From: News Corp Australia
• June 04, 2014 11:30PM

Damaged ... the largest ship ever built for the Royal Australian Navy, Landing Helicopter Dock Canberra, passes through Sydney Heads for the first time. Source: Supplied



A CIVILIAN contract crew made two serious errors during sea trials for the navy’s biggest ever ship, damaging its hull and melting down electrical systems.

The first of two $1.5 billion 27,000-tonne Landing Helicopter Docks (LHDs), to be known as HMAS Canberra, suffered excessive vibration in May during her first “shakedown cruise” between Melbourne and Sydney.
The fault was traced to the brand-new vessel’s two German-built Siemens propulsion pods — or azimuth thrusters — which were out of alignment.
Each thruster, fitted at the stern of the ship, has two propellers mounted on large electric powered pods that can be rotated to any angle, eliminating the need for a rudder. And just like the wheels of a car, poor pod alignment causes vibration.
A crew from Teekay Shipping Corporation was hired by prime contractor BAE Systems and was apparently unaware that the pods must be operated in tandem above eight knots.
They ran them independently in low-speed mode at high speed, causing serious vibration throughout the ship.



Serious errors ... workers at BAE Systems, Williamstown Dockyards fitting out the first of the Navy's Amphibious Assault Ships, HMAS Canberra. Source: News Limited




“Once the pods were back in the correct mode the vibration ceased,” a project source said.
“It was an operator error and the return journey was much smoother.”
The vibration was generated by cavitation and the bounce produced at the stern rolled across the ship with decks trembling and panels vibrating.
“It was like the shaking floor in an amusement park house of fun,” a source said.
Damage was minimal, but vibration caused paint to be stripped from the ship’s hull directly above the pods.



Trial goes wrong ... on the largest ship ever built for the Royal Australian Navy, Landing Helicopter Dock Canberra. Source: Supplied




The crew’s woes continued when Canberra returned to Port Phillip Bay and was forced to drop anchor for four hours after losing steerage following an electrical power failure.
Unfortunately the operators forgot to disconnect the emergency power and when the main power kicked back in the circuit breakers melted.
“There were no major design errors during the trials and both issues were operator errors,” the source said.
“The trial didn’t go as well as hoped, but it was better than expected.”
In addition to the serious errors, excessive corrosion was detected in propeller nuts and a small crack was discovered in the hull of the ship that was caused during its long journey on a barge from the builder in Spain.



The largest ship ... ever built for the Royal Australian Navy, Landing Helicopter Dock Canberra, entered Sydney Harbour for the first time during the contractor sea trials and testing program. Source: Supplied




The Canberra will be back at sea in July for the next round of trials before she is handed to the Navy later this year.
News of the botched sea trials comes as the government announced it would insert an “experienced shipbuilding management team” into taxpayer-owned shipbuilder ASC in Adelaide to fix the troubled $8.5 billion Air Warfare Destroyer program.
Defence Minister David Johnston and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the team would target productivity and production schedules in a bid to get the controversial three-ship alliance project back on track.

I didn't realise that they had the sloped flight deck... wondering if is this for the "navy" version of the JSF acquisition which has been announced, to be able to launch like the Harrier?

I believe choppers are more efficient if they can get a running start