![]() ![]() The UN deadline of 16 January 1991 passed without incident, but at 2:30am on 17 January Operation DESERT STORM began. ![]() Right: The leader of the National Party, Mr Tim Fischer, addresses the ship's company of HMAS Brisbane on Christmas Day 1990, accompanied by the Commanding Officer, Captain CA Ritchie, RAN. Left: The leader of the National Party, Mr Tim Fischer, being strapped into HMAS Sydney's Seahawk helicopter by the observer, LCDR 'Irish' McNeil, for transfer to HMAS Brisbane. Her crew was rescued by the Omani patrol vessel Mussadan and the merchant ship Sumara before Demetra Beauty sank. A scheduled port visit to Dubai was delayed in early January 1991 when, over the course of 36 hours, Brisbane came to the assistance of three separate merchant vessels, one of which, MV Demetra Beauty, claimed to have struck a mine in the Gulf of Oman but refused any assistance which required anyone to board and inspect her hull. Brisbane spent Christmas alongside in Bahrain before recommencing patrol duties on 27 December. The two ships conducted patrol operations in the Central Gulf. They sailed through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Arabian Gulf for the first time on 16 December, Brisbane's 23rd birthday. They rendezvoused with HMA Ships Success (II), Darwin and Adelaide (II) that morning and conducted a thorough handover after which they commenced Maritime Interception Force (MIF) duties. The most prominent structural change was the installation by dockyard workers of a pair of Phalanx Close-in-Weapons Systems (CIWS) for greater protection against missile attack.īrisbane and Sydney arrived in the MEAO, via Fremantle and Diego Garcia, on 3 December 1990. To improve efficiency of boarding operations the old sea boats were replaced with two new rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) which were to prove their worth during subsequent boarding operations in the Gulf. Besides satellite communications equipment and electro-optical surveillance systems, these improvements included new electronic warfare equipment better chaff decoy rounds radar absorbent material (RAM) panels to reduce the ship's radar cross section and extra firefighting and damage control equipment. Under the Australian codename Operation DAMASK, HMA Ships Adelaide (II), Darwin and Success (II) were the first to sail, with Brisbane and Sydney (IV) tipped to follow later.Ī number of Brisbane's on board systems were upgraded. On 10 August 1990 the then Prime Minister RJ Hawke affirmed Australia's commitment to send RAN warships to the Persian Gulf as part of a Multinational Naval Force assembling to enforce sanctions on Iraq following its invasion of neighbouring Kuwait. Brisbane again visited her namesake city at the beginning of August where members of her crew formed a working bee at Tufnell House, presenting the home with a cheque for $3000 and a new television, the proceeds of which were from the Hawaiian charity bike ride.īrisbane arrived back home in Sydney on 6 August where an unscheduled upgrade began to better prepare the destroyer for a potential operational deployment to the Arabian Gulf. She arrived back in Sydney, via Pago Pago and Noumea, on 21 June and participated in Exercise PITCH BLACK off the Northern Territory in July. Brisbane remained in the Hawaiian exercise area after RIMPAC, later setting a course for home on 31 May. RIMPAC exercises began on 16 April and continued throughout the month until 8 May. ![]()
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