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| Ex RFA Largs Bay now HMAS Choules |
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Minister for Defence Stephen Smith today announced that the Royal Australian Navy’s newest ship, the ex United Kingdom Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Largs Bay will be commissioned as HMAS Choules.
This name is in honour of Mr Claude Choules, the last known veteran to have served on active service in the First World War.
Mr Choules served in both the Royal Navy during the First World War and the Royal Australian Navy in the Second World War. He represented the last living link with those who had served in the First World War.
Mr Choules passed away in Perth, Western Australia, on 5 May this year at the age of 110.
The Prime Minister said that the naming of HMAS Choules recognised the service of a loyal and dedicated man in two different Navies over 40 years.
Mr Choules and his generation made a tremendous sacrifice for our freedom that we will never forget.
Minister Smith said that Mr Choules was very proud of his Navy service and was a well-regarded Western Australian.
HMAS Choules is scheduled to arrive in Australia in December to be commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy.
As with Mr Choules, HMAS Choules will serve Australia having completed service in the fleet of the Royal Navy.
The purchase of HMAS Choules from the United Kingdom was announced on 6 April this year.
HMAS Choules is a Landing Ship Dock commissioned into service in 2006.
It became surplus to United Kingdom requirements as a result of the UK Government’s 2010 Defence Strategic Review.
The ship weighs 16,000 tonnes, it is 176 metres long and 26 metres wide. Its flight deck has room for two large helicopters and can also carry around 150 light trucks and 350 troops.
HMAS Choules is a proven capability having provided humanitarian relief as part of the international response to the Haiti earthquake in 2010.
The ship was been acquired for £65 million (approximately $100 million).
Sea trials conducted in April confirmed the materiel state of the ship and that the acquisition was value-for-money.
The HMAS Choules is expected to be operational in early 2012.
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Today at Fleet Base West the Prime Minister and the Minister for Defence announced that the ex Royal Fleet Auxilliary Landing Ship Dock Largs Bay is to commission into the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Choules.
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| Portrait of Claude Choules at HMAS Cerberus in 1936. |
Many of you will recall that former Chief Petty Officer Claude Choules passed away in May of this year, our centenary year. He died in Perth at the age of 110. This was a significant moment when the world lost its last living link with those who had served in WW1.
Claude Choules was born in England two days after the birth of Australia's Navy in March 1901. Like the ship that will bear his name, Claude started his Naval service in the Royal Navy, in his case in 1916. He came to Australia on loan in 1926 and soon decided to transfer to the RAN. He was a member of the commissioning crew of HMAS Canberra (I) in 1928 and in 1932 became a Chief Petty Officer Torpedo and Anti Submarine instructor.
During WW2 Claude was the acting Torpedo Officer in Fremantle and the Chief Demolition Officer on the west coast. He transferred to the Naval Dockyard Police after the war so that he could continue to serve, He finally retired in 1956.
In thinking about our past during our centenary year I have been struck by the stories of the tens of thousands of everyday Australians who have made the Navy what it is today. While we honour individual acts of heroism, these others also deserve some form of recognition for their service. In naming the ship after Claude Choules we not only acknowledge his forty years of service in peace and war but the contribution of all who have faced the unremitting hazards of the sea and the challenges of conflict in the last century. The naval service demands endurance and self-sacrifice and, by its nature, much goes unseen. The Navy’s history has included many fierce battles but it is also marked by the patient and devoted patrol, surveillance and escort work which has ensured that Australia and its allies have been able to use the sea to achieve victory. Our sailors past and present have gone about the vital work that we do without fuss or fanfare, often in extreme danger, generally under less than ideal conditions but always with their own unique combination of humour and devotion to duty. Claude Choules, as much as any, epitomises this tradition.
The pennant number of HMAS Choules will be L100, further reinforcing the link to the centenary of the Royal Australian Navy and those who have served in it throughout our history. HMAS Choules will be an exceptional addition to the fleet. The ship will commission in Australia later this year.
Vice Admiral Ray Griggs, AM, CSC, RAN