She's Down!
The ex HMAS Canberra FFG-02 was scuttled
at 2 pm on Sunday, 4 October 2009
News: 8 pm on Tuesday, 6 October 2009 The ex HMAS Canberra left the Geelong Grain Wharf
at 5.30 am on Saturday, 3 October 2009, under tow by tug to her sinking site.
The vessel and accompanying flotilla traversed The Rip at 2.34 pm. Due to high winds late on Saturday,
the contractors were unable to keep the vessel in position
at the sinking site off Ocean Grove. The ex HMAS Canberra
was moved out to sea for safety overnight.
On Sunday morning the ship was moved back to the sinking site.
Final preparations then began, plus final positioning. At 2 pm on Sunday, 4 October 2009 the ship was scuttled The clearance divers have reported that the ship is upright and has settled correctly!
The ex HMAS Canberra dive site is currently closed to public access.
A 500 metre exclusion zone is now in operation.
A breach of the exclusion zone is an offence under the Marine Act.
While the ex HMAS Canberra FFG-02 has been scuttled, it may be some time before we can dive it.
Around
four years ago DIVA in conjunction with SDFV formed the Victorian
Artificial Reef Society to act as a joint representative of scuba
diving in Victoria to secure and scuttle the HMAS Canberra as an
artificial reef and dive site. The move was very positive and the HMAS
Canberra was eventually gifted to the Victorian State Government to
sink as a dive site.
After
an exhaustive 3 year long process of preparing the wreck as a suitable
dive site and locating the best position to sink the ship we are now
about to realise the dream of having a new warship to dive on.
The HMAS Canberra will be scuttled in Bass Strait near some of our famous WWI Submarines The
agreed site is approximately 1,480 metres (0.8 nautical miles) WNW of
the J4 submarine. The depth will be around 30 metres (98 feet) with the
main deck at 18 metres (59 feet) metres. The combination of the
location of the proposed scuttle site, which will have easy access for
dive boats out of Portsea and Queenscliff and the diver friendly depth
range of 5 – 30 metres will ensure that the HMAS Canberra will be
accessible to all appropriately qualified and certified divers and DIVA
is excited about the positive impact this new dive site will have for
both local and visiting divers.
Above is a diagram which shows how the HMAS Canberra will look once it is on the bottom:
Even
though we have been successful in securing this fine new dive site for
divers visiting Victoria DIVA will continue to search for more suitable
ships for scuttling in the future and the hunt is now on to locate more
suitable ships and other structures to sink both in Port Phillip Bay
and in Bass Strait.
From Warship to Second to None Divers' Playground
Launched in 1 December 1978, the HMAS Canberra FFG-02
was built by Todd Pacific Shipyards Corporation in Seattle, Washington, USA.
The second of six similar FFG-7 Class Guided Missile Frigates,
she was commissioned on 21 March 1981. The HMAS Canberra and her
five sister frigates (HMA Ships Adelaide, Sydney, Darwin, Melbourne
and Newcastle), were the first Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships
to be powered by gas turbines for their main propulsion.
The HMAS Canberra's role was to operate with other maritime forces
to help keep the world's sea lanes open and free by providing protection
for military and merchant convoys. To achieve this she was specifically
designed to simultaneously counter the threats posed by submarines, air,
surface and subsurface launched missiles and enemy warships.
Accordingly, the ship was fitted with long range radar, sonar and electronic
surveillance sensors which were co-ordinated by high speed computers
to provide data for the ship's weapon systems.
The weapons systems of the HMAS Canberra FFG-02 included shipborne and
helicopter borne torpedo delivery systems, surface to air and surface
to surface guided missiles, a rapid firing gun and electronic decoy devices.
This weapons fit was intended to provide an in-depth defence for both
the ship and the force or convoy she was protecting.
The HMAS Canberra was powered by two computer controlled gas turbine
engines operating through a controllable pitch propellor to give the ship
high manoeuvrability and the ability to be "on-line" in less than
one eight of the time required by steam turbine ships.
