A Sirius milestone
Auxiliary oiler HMAS Sirius toppled a significant milestone last week reaching her 500th replenishment at sea (RAS – pronounced raz) on 7 September.
CAPTION: HMAS Toowoomba trails as HMAS Sirius conducts a dual replenishment at sea, refuelling HMAS Darwin (left) and HMAS Melbourne (right) simultaneously during Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2017. Photo by Leading Seaman Peter Thompson.
HMAS Melbourne had the privilege of being the 500th ship refuelled by HMAS Sirius, in an operation that also saw HMA Ships Parramatta and Toowoomba refuelled in a triple RAS.
The ship’s Executive Department marked the occasion with a handcrafted RAS 500 flag flown from the recovery line.
HMA Ships Adelaide and Darwin, also topped up within the same 24-hour period.
The activity also saw two personnel transfers operations via helicopter, demonstrating the newly reinstated capability for aircraft operations after a seven-years lapse.
Midshipman Niamh Reading, who is currently embarked on Sirius for the deployment and is completing her Naval Officer Year One engineering familiarisation, said the hard work was worth the experience she has gained.
“The 500th RAS was an incredible milestone to participate in, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many sailors onboard,” she said.
“Having only posted to Sirius in the past month, I feel honoured to be a part of this achievement and I look forward to contributing to reaching various other objectives with the crew while deployed on IPE 17.”
Sirius is providing support for Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2017.
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