*1964 - I MUST GO DOWN TO THE SEA AGAIN

HMAS SYDNEY III AS FAST TROOP TRANSPORT In 1964 I came to do my two weeks Royal Australian Navy training at sea aboard  the former light Fleet Aircraft Carrier H.M.A.S. SYDNEY III, she had been converted by that time to a Fast Troop Transport and was to do sterling work ferrying our troops and their equipment to and from Vietnam, where we were engaged in company with our Allies. It was my first experience of serving in such a large ship, with none of the sense of shared experience that we had in poor old H.M.A.S. WAGGA. Although only displacing about 19,000 tons, SYDNEY was large to live and work in. As the top photo shows, the flight deck was used as carrying space for large Army vehicles and the large Hangar Deck below it was similarly used with the addition of crated stores. Learning our way around SYDNEY was not easy as the very particular construction of an aircraft carrier makes for a lot of unusual passageways and access points quite unlike a normal vessel, which is more predictable. We were allocated accommodation space toward the ship's bows where we slung our hammocks with other members of the ship's crew. The location was well forárd because the anchor cables -  that is heavy steel chains - passed through the forárd section of the space on their way to the cable locker deep below. The racket was incredible. The key essentials were to learn where the Galley was -to eat, where the Heads were for toilet purposes, where our training assembly points were and where our Action Stations were.The first three were relatively easy, even though the training space changed a few times. However the Action Stations were allotted to different men in various parts of the ship which would not otherwise be familiar . As a result getting there ,AND quickly, took a lot of concentration. My Action Station was on one of the 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft Gun Mountings which were set up in blisters around and below the level of the Flight Deck. During one such exercise , SYDNEY first re-fuelled on of the "Q"Class anti-submarine frigates ( actually conversions of WW II destroyers - the conversion spoiled their looks by enclosing part of the upper deck to create more inboard space). After the refuelling which was an interesting exercise, involving the 'Q"coming onto a parallel course and matching speed, a light line being passed between the two ships, then beneath that a large flexible oil pipe, securing the pipe to the "Q" and, at a given signal commencing the pumping. When complete the exercise was reversed and the "Q"drew ahead and off to Starboard for further exercises which involved a simulated air attack on both ships. It was interesting to be on the mount when the Bofors was fired , but a little disappointing. As I recall it the noise of the gun firing was rather disappointing something like hitting a metal tank filled with water , with a sledgehammer a dull thump! Well it was only a 40mm and hardly up to the "thunder of the guns"on a battleship! The next stage was a simulated fire aboard SYDNEY and the Pipe for the Fire Control Team to Head to a designated space described if I remember correctly , by a number (the Deck) a letter(the lateral frame in the Ship's construction) and another number ) indicating the specific location in that area "Fire in 3 Charlie7 !"or the like.I looked up to the Island , the tall superstructure on the Starboard side of the Flight Deck and saw the Executive Officer Lieutenant Commander Cabban running with the party on an external accessway toward the location. Cabban was to become instrumental in the formation of the Second Voyager Royal Commission which cleared Captain Robertson of H.M.A.S. MELBOURNE of responsibility for the sinking of VOYAGER. We had other less taxing days including a "Banyan"( civilian picnic) ashore on Fraser Island. We saw no Dingos, but the soldier crabs were abundant and interesting to watch. We went across to the Island on one of SYDNEY's large wooden cutters, under the control of an Able Seaman. He was an impressive sight strongly built , stripped to the waist and over 6 feet tall standing in the stern with the Tiller in his grasp.He could have come right out of the days of sail! On another occasion our training room was to be one of the original Pilots Ready Rooms toward the Stern, there was a heavy vibration throughout the Room and it had a regular pattern - there was a simple explanation . The Room was immediately above one of the ship's propellers and the vibration was caused by the water the propeller pushed toward the hull.    HMAS SYDNEY III IN HER GLORY DAYS AS LIGHT FLEET AIRCRAFT CARRIER I cannot let this account pass without commenting on the Pongos! No, I am not talking about dirty socks or laundry! Pongos is the term the sailors use for Soldiers. And we did have several hundred Regulars and Citizens Military Forces embarked. At the time I had with me a  pocketbook for off duty reading entitled "What Roosevelt Thought"( FDR). But I was surprised to find a number of the  Pongos reading Comic Books! Enough said. We did not fraternise. We were just getting accustomed to life aboard when the two weeks were up and , on a "dark and stormy night" SYDNEY ended up sailing the "big box"off Sydney Heads. We could easily tell that this was so as the repeated turns to Port made all too clear. This leg calm, this leg rough, this leg calm, this leg rough as we repeatedly opposed the prevailing sea. It was still teeming rain as we sailed in through the Heads that grey Saturday morning. We came alongside Garden Island Dockyard and the ship was made ready for a major re-fit. Most people were already ashore by the time we came to leave, and because the re-fit was in prospect the forced draught ventilation was turned off. I had never been aboard a large ship in that state before - and I would rather not do it again. It was sad and lifeless , eerie and depressing!As I came ashore it was one of the most drear sights I have ever seen. The rain poured down all across the Harbour like a dark grey veil, the Dockyard was grey, the ships were grey, the cranes were grey!! I could not get away quickly enough.