HMAS Brisbane (D 41)

Design and construction

Brisbane was one of three Perth-class guided missile destroyers built for the RAN. Based on the United States Navy's Charles F. Adams class, Brisbane had a displacement of 3,370 tons at standard load, and 4,551 tons at full load, a length of 437 ft overall and 420 ft between perpendiculars, a beam of 47 ft, and a maximum draught of 15 ft. Propulsion was provided by two General Electric turbines, which provided 70000 shp to the destroyer's two propeller shafts. Brisbane could achieve speeds of 35 kn. The ship's company consisted of 24 officers and 312 sailors.

As a guided missile destroyer, Brisbanes main armament consisted of a Mark 13 missile launcher firing Tartar missiles and two Ikara anti-submarine missile launchers. Over the course of the ship's career, the Mark 13 launcher was modified to fire Standard missiles, two Phalanx CIWS units were installed in 1990, and the Ikara launchers were removed in 1991.

Brisbane was laid down by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company at Bay City, Michigan on 15 February 1965. During construction, the ship was assigned the United States Navy hull number DDG-27.

Brisbane spent the first nine months of her career undergoing exercises in US waters, before sailing for Australia on 28 September 1968. After visits to Pearl Harbor and Suva, Brisbane arrived in her namesake city on 17 October.

Operational history

Vietnam deployments

During the mid-1960s, the United States government pressured Australia to increase the resources it was committing to the Vietnam War; one of the requests was for a combat vessel to help the USN meet the demand for naval gunfire support operations. The idea of deploying a RAN combat ship to the Vietnam War was initially hampered by the number of ships available, particularly with commitments to the Far East Strategic Reserve and involvement in the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, along with the difficulty of operating and maintaining British-designed ships with USN resources. On 14 December 1966, the Australian Cabinet approved the deployment of Hobart as part of increases to Australian military commitment to the conflict. Brisbane operated in one of three roles:

• Naval gunfire support operations to assist ground forces, particularly the United States Marine Corps units operating closest to the North Vietnam border. Seven ships were usually stationed on the 'gunline', and attacks fell into two categories: 'unspotted' shelling of areas where North Vietnamese or Viet Cong forces and facilities were known or believed to be, and 'spotted' fire missions in direct support of ground troops. In this role, Brisbane operated under the callsign "Flamboyant".
• Anti-infiltration operations under Operation Market Time, which aimed to stop the logistic supply and reinforcement of Viet Cong units operating in South Vietnam by tracking, intercepting, and searching coastal shipping. RAN destroyers were never formally assigned to Market Time, but the overlap of the gunline and Market Time operational areas meant the ships were often called on to assist by tracking suspicious ships or participating in raids.
• Escort of USN aircraft carriers involved in Operation Rolling Thunder airstrikes. Sister ships Hobart and had also been involved in shipping interdiction patrols along the coast of North Vietnam as part of Operation Sea Dragon, but this operation had ended by the time of Brisbanes first deployment. Although RAN ships on deployment were expected to fulfil all duties of an equivalent American destroyer, they were forbidden by the Australian government from operating outside the Vietnam theatre on unrelated Seventh Fleet duties (such as the Taiwan Patrol Force, guard ship duties at Hong Kong, or the Space Recovery Program). After the invasion of Cambodia in 1970, RAN ships were also prohibited from entering Cambodian waters.

While deployed to Vietnam, the destroyers were placed under the administrative control of Commander Australian Forces Vietnam in addition to that of the Flag Officer Commanding Australian Fleet. Operationally, the RAN vessels were under the command of the United States Seventh Fleet. Arrangements were made to provide logistic support through the United States Pacific Fleet. The deployment of in March 1967 began a pattern of six-month deployments for RAN destroyers, with a constant RAN presence with the Seventh Fleet. Australia was the only allied nation to provide naval support to the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.

First deployment

After time in Australian waters to prepare for wartime service, Brisbane arrived in Subic on 28 March 1969 to be deployed to the Vietnam War. The destroyer was first deployed to naval gunfire support duties, and arrived off the IV Corps operating area on 15 April. On 5 May, Brisbane was ordered to the Gulf of Thailand to provide support for South Vietnamese forces operating near the Cambodian border. The destroyer was relieved on 18 May by , and sailed to Subic for maintenance. On 10 June, the Australian ship relieved and commenced gunline duties in the II Corps Area. En route to Singapore, the destroyer encountered the merchant vessel , which was on fire. After unsuccessfully attempting to extinguish the fire, Brisbane evacuated Sinceres crew, and remained in the area until the salvage vessel Salvana arrived to take the stricken vessel in tow.

Brisbane returned to operations in II Corps on 15 July. On 22 July, near the end of a shore bombardment operation, a premature explosion occurred in the barrel of the forward gun turret; casualties were limited to one sailor with a fractured wrist, but the turret was unusable. On the ship's return to Subic on 3 August, the damaged turret was removed, but as the replacement turret would not arrive until September, Brisbane would complete the deployment with only a single gun turret. After the completion of maintenance, Brisbane returned to duty on 23 August, but instead of gunline duties, was assigned as the head of the escort screen for the aircraft carrier . Arriving on 13 October, Brisbane was almost immediately docked for a major refit, which lasted until 15 July 1970.

Brisbanes tour was considered quieter than those experienced previously by Australian ships. This, combined with the damage to the forward gun turret and other defects, meant that the destroyer only fired 7,891 shells during the six-month deployment. Two officers from the ship were Mentioned in Despatches, while other personnel awards included a British Empire Medal and 25 Naval Board commendations.

Second deployment

On 29 March 1971, Brisbane relieved Perth of Vietnam duties. The ship was assigned to Military Region 3 for gunfire support duties, and arrived on 5 April. Brisbane was assigned to operate near the Demilitarized Zone. During 3 and 4 May, Brisbane was detached to provide cover for the repatriation of prisoners-of-war to North Vietnam. The operation did not go ahead, as only 13 of the 570 prisoners wanted to return to North Vietnam, and the North Vietnamese government refused to accept them. Brisbane returned to carrier escort duties, where she remained until sailing to Hong Kong for maintenance on 12 June.

On 24 June, Brisbane was assigned back to gunline duties in Military Region 3. On 15 August, the destroyer commenced gunfire support operations off the Demilitarized Zone. The amount of wear had yet to compromise accuracy, and the destroyer was instructed to continue gunfire missions, while the cruiser and the destroyer were deployed to the gunline in support of Brisbane; the Australian destroyer only firing if targets were out of the other ships' range or they were otherwise unavailable.

During 1971, the Australian government decided to withdraw all forces from Vietnam by the end of the year; Brisbane was the last ship to make a combat deployment to Vietnam, and was not replaced when the deployment ended. Brisbane received the first of two battle honours, "Vietnam 1969–71", for her Vietnam service. Personnel awards for the deployment included 24 Naval Board commendations, two personnel Mentioned in Despatches, and the appointment of the ship's commanding officer as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

1970s and 1980s

On 11 March 1974, Brisbane was docked for a major refit. Brisbane sped ahead and arrived on 31 December, setting up communications between the relief force and Canberra. In addition to facilitating communications, Brisbanes personnel were responsible for clearing sites for helicopters and headquarters, salvaging boats and equipment, repairs of infrastructure, and installation of power generators: on average, 160 of the ship's company went ashore each day.

On 16 July 1975, Brisbane sailed for a deployment to the Far East Strategic Reserve. On 9 May, one of the carrier's Sea King helicopters was forced to ditch in the Indian Ocean: Brisbane successfully recovered the aircrew. The ships participated in the naval review at Spithead on 28 June, and Brisbane returned to Sydney on 4 October, entering dock for refit eight days later. This maintenance period lasted until May 1979, and saw the ship's propulsion system converted from fuel oil to diesel, updates to the combat system, and installation of an AN/SPS-40C radar. Apart from a visit to New Zealand, Brisbane spent the rest of 1979 in Australian waters.

During the early 1980s, the destroyer participated in RIMPAC exercises, and made patrols of the Indian Ocean. From 16 August 1982 to 5 August 1983, Brisbane underwent refit, after which, the destroyer remained docked alongside at Garden Island until March 1984. Another refit period occurred between September 1985 to October 1987. In early 1988, Brisbane visited Melbourne for the Moomba festal, then sailed to her namesake city in August to participate in a 'Shopwindow' exercise with ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy. In October, the destroyer was deployed to South-east Asia for three months, returning to Darwin on 8 January 1989. During June and July, the ship made visits to ports in New Zealand, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands. Brisbane attended RIMPAC during April and May 1990, then returned to Australia to prepare for deployment to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Damask.

Operation Damask

Brisbane arrived in the Gulf on 6 December 1990 to serve as part of the naval blockade. Brisbane also earned a second battle honour, "Kuwait 1990–91".

1990s and 2000s

During late 1992, Brisbane was operating in South-east Asia. The ship spent most of 1993 exercising along Australia's east coast, then docked for a refit lasting from August 1993 until May 1994. The destroyer was deployed to South-east Asia for exercises, flag-showing, and port visits on four occasions between 1994 and 1996, then again in late 1998.

During August 1999, Brisbane participated in Exercise Kakadu. During this, a fire broke out in the ship's forward gun turret, which was quickly extinguished.

Decommissioning and fate

Brisbane paid off on 19 October 2001. Among the initial ideas for the ship's disposal was a proposal to donate the destroyer to the Australian National Maritime Museum as a replacement for the Daring-class destroyer . Brisbane was eventually marked for scuttling as a dive wreck off the coast of Queensland. Her bridge and one of her 5 in guns were removed and preserved at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, which were incorporated into the post-1945 galleries, which opened in 2007.

Brisbane was sunk approximately 2.8 nmi off the coast of Mudjimba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, on 31 July 2005 in 27 m of water. Brisbane was filled with 200 to of concrete, and 38 small charges were detonated to breach the hull. Brisbane sank in two minutes and ten seconds, coming to rest with the keel embedded a metre into the seabed and facing the ocean currents, and the uppermost part of the ship 3 m below sea level.

The wreck site has been colonised by sponges, soft corals, and hard corals, while over 200 different species of fish have been sighted in the area. In July 2010, the Queensland State Government was forced to step up patrols of the wreck site because people were illegally using the dive exclusion zone as a fishing site. As part of celebrations for the tenth anniversary of Brisbane scuttling, 92.7 MIX FM conducted the world's first live underwater radio broadcast from the wreck on 31 July 2015.

References

Citations

Sources

; Books

; Journal and news articles

; Websites

References

1. Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 30
2. This was supplemented by two [[5"/54 calibre Mark 42 gun]]s and two [[Mark 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes
3. Sea Power Centre-Australia, ''AWD, Hobart, MFU or DDGH – What's in a name?''
4. Grey, ''Up Top'', pgs. 132, 138–9
5. Grey, ''Up Top'', pgs. 76, 80
6. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 81
7. Grey, ''Up Top'', pp. 130–5
8. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 132
9. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 155
10. Grey, ''Up Top'', pp. 135–8
11. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 135
12. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 125
13. Grey, ''Up Top'', pp. 125–30, 204
14. Grey, ''Up Top'', pp. 140–1
15. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 141
16. Grey, ''Up Top'', pp. 82–3
17. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 82
18. A USN lieutenant was assigned to each ship during deployments to act as a liaison with the Seventh Fleet.Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 144
19. Cooper, in Stevens, ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 204
20. Grey, ''Up Top'', pp. 94–5
21. During this period, there was a surge in Market Time activity, and although ''Brisbane'' was not assigned to that operation, she was asked to provide gunfire assistance on several occasions.Grey, ''Up Top'', pp. 198–9
22. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 199
23. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 200
24. After four days, during which ''Brisbane'' and {{USS. Rowan. DD-782. 6 completed a combined 189 fire missions, the Australian ship was ordered north to I Corps to relieve the American cruiser {{USS. Saint Paul. CA-73. James E. Kyes. DD-787
25. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 202
26. Grey, ''Up Top'', pp. 202–3
27. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 203
28. The ships were deployed to [[Yankee Station]], with ''Brisbane'' and {{USS. Perkins. DD-877. Constellation. CVA-64. 6 and {{USS. Floyd B. Parks. DD-884. Vendetta. D08
29. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 204
30. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 228
31. Shortly after, the destroyer was moved south to Military Region 4. She returned to Military Region 3 on 15 April. The first period on the gunline during that time concluded on 20 April, during which gunfire support operations had occurred on only 11 of the 16 days. The destroyer returned to the gunline on 15 May, with ''Brisbane''{{'}}s commanding officer tasked as the overall commander of gunfire operations; the only time the position was held by a RAN officer.Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 229
32. Kitty Hawk. CVA-63
33. Activity was minimal, and the ship was redeployed to Military Region 4 on 26 June. Foul weather prevented gunfire support operations until 30 June, but the rate of activity increased, with 60 fire missions completed by the end of the three-week period. In mid-July, after a short stint back in Region 3, ''Brisbane'' sailed to Subic for maintenance and leave.Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 232
34. A spike in activity had resulted in the deployment of two gunfire support ships, with ''Brisbane'' and {{USS. Berkeley. DDG-15. Shelton. DD-790
35. ''Brisbane''{{'}}s second Vietnam deployment concluded on 5 September.Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 233
36. Grey, ''Up Top'', p. 96
37. (1 March 2010). "Navy Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours". Royal Australian Navy.
38. (1 March 2010). "Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours". Royal Australian Navy.
39. Hobbs, ''HMAS Melbourne (II)'', pp. 8–9
40. Lind, ''The Royal Australian Navy – Historic Naval Events Year by Year '', p. 292
41. "It's An Honour – Honours".
42. Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', pp. 31–2
43. Royal Australian Navy, ''HMAS Brisbane (II)''
44. Ballantine, ''Navy warships, jets up for sale''
45. Dennis et al., ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History'', p. 127
46. The ship's air search radar was donated to the [[Royal Thai Navy]] in 2002 to help the Thais maintain their naval capabilities.Huxley, in Forbes, ''Sea Power'', p. 265
47. Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, ''The Brisbane, Wreck to Reef... one year on'', pp. 2–3
48. Queensland Government, ''Nature, culture and history''
49. "EX HMAS Brisbane". Snorkel Safari Brisbane.
50. A 2009 study of the value of [[protected area]]s estimated that the wreck had contributed A$18 million to the Sunshine Coast economy.ABC News, ''Dive wreck makes $18m for Sun Coast''
51. Jacobi, ''Government failing to stop illegal fishing at dive site''
52. Sunreef Scuba Diving Services, ''Sunreef and Mix FM to celebrate ex-HMAS anniversary with world-first live broadcast from a wreck''