A Tour of HMAS Choules in Tassie.... by Lyn R and Anne Hnr

Firstly from Lyn R.....

It was Election Day last Saturday but who gave that a thought when we (my husband, Max, and I) were invited onboard the HMAS Choules, docked in Hobart on a 3 day layover, for a private tour of the Ship.  

We drove to our highlands shack on Friday afternoon and hoped that the night wouldn't bring the below zero temps of -6 of the previous night and very icy roads the next morning as we had an early start for the 2 hour drive to Hobart.  Thankfully the below temps didn't eventuate and WO Phil, our guide, was very flexible in a start time so we arranged a meeting at 11am.

Max, Lyn, Anne and Graham

We met Anne Hnr and her husband, Graham, and after security formalities were done, met Warrant Officer Phil and Commanding Officer Brendan who showed us the way to the Ship.  Alongside, it was huge and the gangway stairs seem to go on for ever.  

Anne managed well in her moon boot and I managed to get through the whole tour seemingly unaffected after a long health battle.  What an amazing Ship, lots of space, clean and more to my liking, the corridors were mostly uncluttered.  I say mostly, as when we were in the junior sailors mess quarters, mesh bags held pairs after pairs of boots and if they weren't in the mesh bags, they were on the floor or hooked over the railing.  Apparently they are left in the corridors instead of taking up space in the cabins, or is it to minimise cabin odour.  Oh how Max could have caused 5 minutes of absolute chaos and mayhem amongst these boots but he was on his best behaviour so he gritted his teeth and walked on by.

The cabins were quite spacious and the first cabin I walked into had a Barbie/I'm a Girly Girl quilt I had made and hanging by the doorway was the matching laundry bag.  It is such a humble experience to see a quilt and /or laundry bag being used on the Ship and as we wandered along the corridor we saw numerous laundry bags hanging just inside cabins or in the laundry room and one or two quilts laying on the racks of crew who had allowed us entry to their cabin.    

My biggest surprise was walking into a cabin and seeing another laundry bag I had made and the quilt laying on the bottom of the bed.  But when WO Phil said "this is my cabin" I was so surprised to meet him in person and see the quilt on the bed that I became quite emotional. Even though I had sent through a list of names to Jan-maree of the quilts I had done for HMAS Choules, I had no idea that one of our 'guides' for the tour was one of my quilt recipients.  Of course we had to take a photo of the quilt and he explained to the others why he chose to have the quilt made into thirds so he could fold it different each day.  

WO Phil also told and showed us that he was quite a clever sewing enthusiast himself, having sewed a mermaid outfit for his daughter's fancy dress theme recently.  He told us he loves sewing whenever he can and just maybe Aussie Hero Quilts will have another volunteer join the ranks one day in the future.  A beautiful bright crocheted rug draped an armchair in the cabin was crafted by his wife so there is a lot of talent in that family.   Unfortunately the sewing machine which is onboard the Ship is currently broken - I did expect one to be set up in the Officer's Mess or WO Phil's cabin.

Our tour continued through the Mess Halls and Kitchens, well stocked to cater for anywhere between 200 up to 500 crew when there is a full Ship.  The food, ready for lunch, looked very appertizing and the kitchen areas were spotlessly clean.    

More stairs to climb and we were shown the Officers Mess and the plaque of Officer Claude Choules, whom the HMAS Choules is named after.    

In March this year HMAS Choules rescued a Lithuanian national boater whose vessel had become tossed about due to bad weather in the Coral Sea  off the coast of Queensland during Cyclone Alfred.  WO Phil told us that after the rescue of this boater, and whilst HMAS Choules was navigating a treacherous path in and around the cyclone,  he, the boater and another officer were sitting in the Officers Lounge when the Ship leaned precariously to one side, sending cups in the kitchenette flying off the shelf.  WO Phil got up to help the other Officer clean up the projectile cups and in doing so, was propelled, along with the couch he was sitting on, across the floor.  The boater, sitting on another couch nearby didn't move, most likely as he had endured as worse sea conditions in his own boat before rescue.

Outside on deck, HMAS Choules has a large flight deck which can accommodate both Navy and Army aircraft and a docking well in the stern capable of operating a LCM-8 or two LCVP landing craft.   

From the deck, you had sweeping views of Hobart City and Mt Wellington but it was very windy and getting a good photo of us standing beneath the flag proved to be a little difficult, especially if you wanted the flag opened fully.   WO Phil showed us a video and explained to us how landing craft operations worked and it was very interesting to watch the video showing them bringing aboard vehicles and unloading.  There were only a couple of vehicles onboard on Saturday but the space and enormous and seeing it filled with vehicles would be amazing.  

A tour of the Ship wouldn't be complete without seeing the Bridge where all the important work is done and the views out to sea are spectacular.    No maps are used nowadays, everything is done by computer.  Again a walk through the Ship and some of the walls just needed a bright quilt or two to brighten the space up but maybe WO Phil could be persuaded to take on this task.

If  you go up many stairs, you have to come down them and Anne's suggestion of a lift brought forth that there is indeed 4 lifts onboard but none specially for use by pedestrians so it was a careful retrace of the stairs to where we first started the tour.    

What an amazing opportunity again to be able to tour a Navy Ship and HMAS Choules was a vastly different Ship to our tour of HMAS Hobart last year.  We are incredibly thankful to Jan-maree and Aussie Hero Quilts who arranged this tour.  Days after my husband Max is still talking about it.  

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And from Anne Hnr

Anne’s addendum to Lyn R’s report: 

Max, Lyn, Anne, Graham and Commanding Officer Brendan

Last weekend HMAS Choules visited Hobart for a long weekend.  There was an open evening for about 500 members of the public on Friday night, and on Saturday, Lyn R and I, together with our husbands, were fortunate to be guests of CO Brendan and CWO Phil for a private tour of the ship.  And what a ship!  The ship is huge and very high, there were a lot of steps to board.  I was particular aware of this as I was wearing a moonboot, having recently fractured a bone in my foot.  However, this did not deter me, and we certainly went up and down many, many stairs as we toured the ship. 

As background, HMAS Choules is an amphibious Bay Class Landing Ship Dock (LSD) ship capable of carrying over 300 troops, 23 Abrams tanks, 150 light trucks, 2 landing craft, and is also capable of operating Navy helicopters.  She is named after Claude Choules (1901-2011), who initially served with the Royal Navy, enlisting in 1916, aged 15, transferring to the Royal Australian Navy in 1926.  He served in both World Wars and discharged after 50 years in 1956.  Claude died in 2011, aged 110, and was acknowledged as the last veteran, who had seen active service, from World War I.  He is still at sea, as his ashes are held onboard.

The CWO had asked the crew to leave out their laundry bags and quilts if possible so we could see them in action, and we saw quite a few including the Buffer’s stunning quilt and laundry bag set, made by Ann S, with crests from all the ships he has served on.  The LB was framed on the wall, clearly it was not going to be used for dirty washing, but he also had two generic Aussie Hero LBS which were well used.

We also visited the CWOs cabin, where Lyn’s beautiful quilt and LB were admired.

Towards the end of the tour, we  proceeded down into the depths of the ship, where the vehicles are stored. The area was huge and cavernous and it would be an amazing sight full of army equipment.  Vehicles can be loaded on to the top rear deck by crane, then lowered down into this space on a lift.  The rear of the ship opens out and landing craft and amphibious vehicles can float/drive up onto the ‘steel beach’ to load and unload goods and passengers. 

Finally, we made it back up to the main deck and down the stairs to the wharf. We had a fantastic tour, and we are very grateful to the CO and CWO for their time and enthusiasm.  And thankyou to Jan-Maree for organising it behind the scenes.  I should also add that both our guides and other crew we met thanked us for what we do and it is clear that Aussie Hero Quilts is genuinely appreciated.  

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Great reports Lyn and Anne! 

Till next time.... keep spreading the word and happy stitching! 

Jan-Maree xx