Stuart Mayer News

With great fanfare, more than 1,500 officers and sailors have lined the decks of HMAS Canberra in the Australian Fleet’s 2017 Ceremonial Divisions. Sydney Harbour provided a spectacular backdrop as personnel from East based ships and shore establishments gathered in their finest summer uniform. The divisions were reviewed by Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer who said the occasion marked a successful – and significant – year. “This year we have reintroduced the destroyer to the Australian Fleet with the commissioning of HMAS Hobart,” he said. “We have deployed maritime task groups in complex multinational exercises such as Talisman Sabre and used them to excellent effect in the inaugural Joint Maritime Task Group deployment Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2017.

HMAS Arunta has sailed into her home port of Fleet Base West in Rockingham, Western Australia, after completing the longest Middle Eastern deployment of an Australian Navy vessel since the first Gulf War. Senator for Western Australia, Linda Reynolds; Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer; and family and friends of the ship’s company welcomed the Anzac class frigate home after her nine-month deployment to Operation MANITOU. During her deployment, Arunta intercepted more than 1310 kilograms of illegal narcotics with a street value of more than $186 million according to Australian Crime Commission figures. Commanding Officer, Commander Cameron Steil, said the commitment and professionalism of the 191 crew were the keys to the success of the mission.

Three Indian warships sailed into Fremantle to participate in a week-long naval exercise off the Western Australian coast. Exercise Australia India is a regular bilateral maritime exercise aimed at developing a deeper understanding and cooperation between the two navies. Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, said the Exercise was a concrete example of India and Australia working more closely together to increase maritime security. “Australian and India share a commitment to a stable and prosperous Indian Ocean region,” Rear Admiral Mayer said. “Exercise Australian India is a terrific opportunity to increase our interoperability and enhance the professional interaction of two great navies.

HMAS Darwin has been recognised as the Navy’s most senior commissioned ship, with the presentation of a newly created perpetual trophy, the First Lady of the Fleet. Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, presented the trophy to Darwin in January, with the most senior female sailor in the Fleet, Warrant Officer Jo Jordan, and engineer of the award Warrant Officer Andrew Jocumsen, and creator of the title, Flag Officer Lieutenant Alexandra Rayner, watching on. The idea for the trophy was developed by Fleet Command Warrant Officer Stephen Downey. He said with new ships coming online, the award recognises the importance of senior ships and the experience they bring.

One of the Royal Australian Navy’s largest maritime warfare exercises has begun in several locations off the New South Wales coast. Exercise OCEAN RAIDER involves 11 warships and submarines, aircraft and more than 1,500 personnel from Australia and the United States in a three week program of maritime activities. It is the first year Navy has staged OCEAN RAIDER, which along with OCEAN EXPLORER and OCEAN HORIZON are designed to train and certify the fleet in task-group-level joint sea combat. Commander of the Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer said Navy’s aim was to generate and deploy self-supported, sustainable maritime task groups by 2018 and OCEAN RAIDER was an important step toward achieving that goal.

There was a sombre tone at HMAS Stirling, in Western Australia, as the 191 men and women serving in HMAS Arunta said goodbye to loved ones and joined the frigate to depart for close to nine months in the Middle East. Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer was on the wharf to wish the ship safe passage and following seas as she transited to the mission under Operation MANITOU. “You will continue a proud tradition of making a difference, enhancing security, fostering trade and commerce in support of Government aims,” he said. The ship will be the 64th Royal Australian Navy ship to the Middle East since 1990 and will be the first in an extended rotation which will see greater time on task for Australian ships.

After five successful narcotic seizures in the Middle East and 203 days away from home, Royal Australian Navy frigate, HMAS Melbourne was welcomed back to her homeport of Sydney today. Around one thousand family and friends joined the Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, and Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, CSC and Bar, RAN, to welcome the ship’s company home from duties as part of Operation MANITOU. Minister Payne said the 223 men and women on board have made their families and Australia proud. “Melbourne made a significant dent in the profits of smugglers running drugs for terrorists,” Minister Payne said. “The frigate seized 977 kg of heroin valued at approximately $390 million.

Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull joined Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Tim Barrett, AO, CSC, RAN, and friends and family at Garden Island, Sydney, to farewell the 229 Royal Australian Navy personnel onboard HMAS Darwin as the ship sailed for the Middle East region. Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, CSC and Bar, RAN, spoke to the assembled crowd and noted that while most Australians were spending the festive season with their loved ones, Darwin was deploying on an important mission…

The Royal Australian Navy operated Sail Training Ship (STS) Young Endeavour sailed into Fremantle today, completing a year-long circumnavigation of the world. Assistant Minister for Defence Darren Chester was in Western Australia to welcome the seafarers back to Australian soil and personally congratulate members of the Royal Australian Navy crew and the 24 young Australians who sailed the ship on the last leg across the Indian Ocean from Cape Town, in South Africa. “A circumnavigation of the world is a remarkable achievement for all involved, from Commanding Officer Lieutenant Commander Gavin Dawe, to each member of the Young Endeavour 2015 World Voyage crew,” Mr Chester said.

The Royal Australian Navy operated Sail Training Ship Young Endeavour set sail from Sydney today for a 12-month voyage, circumnavigating the globe. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, Darren Chester, attended the departure from Fleet Base East, and spoke with members of the Royal Australian Navy crew and the 24 young Australians who will sail the ship on the first leg, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. "The navy crew and young Australians who set sail from Sydney today represent every Australian state and territory.

After months of preparation, HMAS Success departed Garden Island in Sydney today for a six-month deployment to the Middle East Region to provide logistic support for coalition forces as part of Operation MANITOU. Senator the Hon Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, representing the Minister for Defence, and Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, CSC and Bar, RAN, joined family and friends on the wharf to farewell the ship, which will spend Christmas on operations. Commanding Officer Success, Captain Justin Jones, RAN, said while the auxiliary oiler’s focus will be different to frigates previously deployed on MANITOU, their contribution to global security will be just as important.

The crew responsible for intercepting and destroying billions of dollars worth of narcotics, including the largest seizure of heroin in the history of the Combined Maritime Forces, has returned home. HMAS Darwin and her 232 person crew docked at Garden Island, Sydney today after seven months of successful maritime security operations in the Middle East Region. Hundreds of family and friends of the ship’s company were on the wharf to welcome the warship back to her home-port. Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, CSC and Bar, RAN joined Darwin the night prior to arrival and said the ship had made a tangible contribution to global security. “Darwin intercepted and destroyed over $2.1 billion of narcotics during her deployment,” RADM Mayer said.

The Royal Australian Navy’s newest maritime combat helicopter, the MH-60R Seahawk ‘Romeo’, has successfully fired its first ‘Hellfire’ missile in the United States. The AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile was fired by Navy’s 725 Squadron from aircraft currently deployed to the United States Navy’s Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Centre off the Florida coast. Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, said the Seahawk Romeo’s cutting edge mission systems provided a formidable naval platform. “Navy’s next generation submarine hunter and anti-surface warfare helicopter will be the cornerstone of our working Navy’s aviation combat capability.

The Commander of the 1100 strong Australian contingent, Commodore Stuart Mayer says it’s the first time the United States has provided another country with the opportunity to plan and execute the maritime aspect of this exercise. The world’s largest Maritime exercise has officially begun with elements of the Australian Navy, Army and Air Force joining the military forces of 21 other nations in Hawaii. Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2012 has brought together 25,000 sailors…

The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2012 is the 23rd exercise in the series that began in 1971. RIMPAC 2012 will feature the first demonstration of a U.S. Navy "Great Green Fleet," during which U.S. surface combatants and carrier-based aircraft will test, evaluate and demonstrate the cross-platform utility and functionality of biofuels.