Naval Analyses: PHOTO GALLERY #7: HMAS Success, replenishment ship of the Royal Australian Navy

HMAS Success

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit HMAS Success, a modified Durance class Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) serving in the Royal Australian Navy that was docked at Piraeus port. The tanker visited Greece to participate in a variety of celebratory events honoring Anzac Day, on April 25th. Some days earlier HMAS Success had visited Lemnos to present to the local community a reproduction of the 1926 painting by Sir William Russell Flint, held by the Art Gallery of New South Wales Collection, called "The Lemnians". "The Lemnians" reproduction is being gifted from the Lemnian Community in Sydney to the people of their ancestral homeland of Lemnos, a key Australian and Commonwealth staging and evacuation location during the Gallipoli Campaign (1915-16). The painting was carried by HMA Anzac and in a later stage was safely transported with the use of a helicopter from HMAS Anzac to HMAS Success

(from left) Consulate General of Greece in Sydney, Dr Stavros Kyrimis,
Commanding Officer HMAS Anzac, Commander Belinda Wood, RAN,
and President of the Lemnian Association, Mr Con Havas, in front of the
reproduction of the painting 'The Lemnians' at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
To commemorate the Centenary of Anzac, the Australian Lemnian Association,
the Lemnos 1915 World War I Commemoration Committee and the
Consulate General of Greece in Sydney have worked with the Art Gallery of
New South Wales create a reproduction of a 1926 painting by Sir
William Russell Flint called ‘The Lemnians’.

On April 22 the ship docked at Piraeus port in order to be part of Greece's numerous commemorative events to mark to mark the Anzac Centenary services. On Anzac Day today the official Anzac Day service will take place at the Phaleron Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery in Athens. Open to all who want to honor the courage and sacrifice of Australian and New Zealand servicemen and women who fought and died on Greek soil, the service will commence at 11.00 am.

HMAS Success at Piraeus Port (April 24, 2015)

The Durance class is a French design and HMAS Success is the only ship of the class to be constructed outside France, and the only one to not originally serve in the French Navy. Success was laid down by Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney, New South Wales on 9 August 1980. She was launched on 3 March 1984, and commissioned into the RAN on 23 April 1986. The ship is capable of day and night Replenishment at Sea (RAS) to ships alongside and concurrently by her embarked helicopter to other ships in company via Vertical Replenishment (VERTREP). Success is the largest ship to ever be built in Australia for the RAN and the one of the two replenishment ships in Australian inventory. The Australian Department of Defence predicted in 2006 that Success will reach the end of her useful operational lifespan sometime between 2015 and 2017. Following her double-hull refit during the first half of 2011, to meet International Maritime Organisation standards, this was extended to the early 2020s, with the decision on the replacement vessel to be made between 2016 and 2018, and the new ship in service by 2023.

HMAS Success at Piraeus Port (April 24, 2015)

The 157-meter vessel has a displacement of approximately 18,220tons at full load while it can achieve a maximum speed of 20 knots. Success has a total capacity of 10,200 tonnes of cargo: 8,707 tonnes of diesel fuel, 975 tonnes of aviation fuel, 250 tonnes of munitions, 116 tonnes of water, 95 tonnes of components and naval stores, and 57 tonnes of food and other consumables. Fuel and liquid stores can be transferred from four points (two on each side), allowing Success to replenish two ships simultaneously, while solid cargo can be moved via vertical replenishment (with a hangar and helipad for a single Sea King, Seahawk, or Squirrel helicopter), or by boat (a LCVP T 7 is carried on a starboard aft davit). The ship is armed with seven 12.7 mm machine guns, and is fitted for but not with a Vulcan Mk 15 Phalanx CIWS. The sensor suite includes two Kelvin Hughes Type 100G navigation radars. Ship's company is made up of 25 officers and 212 sailors.

The Cargo Control Room

RHIB

The Cargo Control Room amidships

I spent enough time to manage visiting the ship on time because the Gate 12 was closed so I had to make a huge round and to enter finally from Gate 11 and to pass the busy check points, but I must admit that this tour was maybe the most enjoyable tour I had aboard a warship till today. And I have visited really many ships (Russian, Chinese, Greek, Dutch, British, German and more). Thanks to my tour guide Lieutenant (naval flight officer) Clare Nickels my (almost private) visit has been an enjoyable and delight experience. Clare was not only always ready to reply to my questions but in addition to that most of the time she was giving really funny answers, the typical Australian sense of humor which I really enjoy! HMAS Success has not the weapon systems or the sensors to impress a visitor or to make the visit a very interesting one, but Clare proved the opposite. Thank you Clare!