Navantia has launched the first of two new amphibious ships for the RAN; its superstructure will be added in Australia and it will be delivered in 2014. (Aus DoD photo) LHD Launch Paves the Way for Amphibious Transformation (Source: Australian Department of Defence; issued Feb. 18, 2011)
The hull of the first of the Royal Australian Navy’s two new amphibious ships has been launched in Spain, heralding a new era for Australia’s amphibious capability.
Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Russ Crane led the launch and said the event was enormously significant.
“These ships are officially known as Landing Helicopter Docks or LHDs and are the largest the Australian Navy has ever owned,” Vice Admiral Crane said.
LHD01's hull launch was held at the Navantia dockyards at Ferrol in northern Spain with the event having a distinctly Australian feel, as children of Australian diplomats in Spain joined the official delegation, waving Australian flags. A Canberra regional sparkling wine was broken over the Canberra Class ship’s hull. Vicki Coates, wife of the late Rear Admiral Nigel Coates, who commanded the previous HMAS Canberra, was the ‘launch lady’.
Vice Admiral Crane said that with a new generation in technology would come a new way of thinking in terms of how Navy would operate and crew this new capability.
“We are well progressed in our planning for the LHD arrival. I am confident we will have the people and the knowhow by the time the first LHD comes on line. Most importantly for now, this project is on time and on budget.”
Both ships will be based at Garden Island in Sydney. Crewed by all three services, the LHD will mark a significant strengthening of the ADF’s amphibious capability and tri-service culture.
First of class, HMAS Canberra (LHD01) will arrive in Victoria next year where it will be fitted out before being accepted into service in 2014 with sister ship HMAS Adelaide (LHD02) to follow the year after. (ends)
Launch of the First LHD Ship for Australia (Source: Navantia; issued Feb. 17, 2011)
(Issued in Spanish; unofficial translation by defense-aerospace.com)
The “Canberra” received its first seawater christening in Ferrol, in the presence of the chief of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Adm. Russell Crane.
Today at 15:46 hours, at its facility in Ferrol, Navantia launched the first of two amphibious ships for the Royal Australian Navy. Attending were Mrs. Vickie Coates, the ship’s godmother, the commander of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Adm. Russell Crane, and representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, BAE Systems and Navantia, including its new managing director, Luis Cacho Quesada.
Construction of this ship, which was launched two months earlier than scheduled, began with the first metal cut on Sept. 23, 2008, followed by laying of its keel 12 months later, on Sept. 23, 2009. This early launch will provide additional time for its fitting out and its sea trials, in the summer of 2012, after which the hull will be transported to Australia for completion and handover by BAE Systems Australia in Williamstown.
The contract for these two amphibious ships was awarded on Nov. 23, 2007 in Melbourne; they will be handed over to the customer in 2014 and 2015.
The design of the Australian LHDs is derived from that of the “Juan Carlos I,” delivered by Navantia to the Spanish navy last year. (ends)
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