HMAS Kanimbla (L 51)
| Career | RAN Ensign |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 24 May 1969 |
| Launched: | 7 February 1970 |
| Commissioned: | 29 August 1994 (RAN service) |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | Active |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 8,534 tons |
| Length: | 159.2 m |
| Beam: | 21.2 m |
| Draught: | 5.3 m |
| Propulsion: | 6 x ALCO V16 diesel engines, 2750 HP each, 3 engines per shaft |
| Speed: | 22 knots |
| Range: | 14,000 miles at 14kt |
| Complement: | 220 + 20 Army |
| Armament: | 1 x 20mm Phalanx Mk15 close–in weapon system, 6 x 12.7mm Machine guns |
| Aircraft: | 4 x Blackhawk or 3 x Sea King |
| Motto: | "Cry Havoc" |
HMAS Kanimbla (LPA-51) was acquired as a training and helicopter support ship, originally built as the Newport class tank landing ship (LST) USS Saginaw for the U.S. Navy by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company at San Diego in California. The ship was acquired by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and commissioned as Kanimbla on 29 August 1994, for use as an amphibious transport ship (LPA). This required the ship to be extensively reconstructed, essentially making it a new vessel, the lead ship of the Kanimbla class. Two LPAs are active in the RAN, Kanimbla and Manoora. Both are based in Sydney.
The ship is named for the Kanimbla Valley, west of Blackheath in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia.
Kanimbla was part of Operation Sumatra Assist, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) humanitarian aid to victims of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. During its subsequent return voyage to Australia, it was recalled for Operation Sumatra Assist Phase II to help victims of the 2005 Sumatran earthquake.
At about 09:30 UTC 2 April 2005, one of the ship's Sea King helicopters crashed while approaching the village of Amadraya in the south of the island of Nias, off the west coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Nine ADF personnel were killed — seven men and two women, from all three ADF services. Two others were recovered alive from the site by the other Sea King operating from Kanimbla and transferred to it for medical assistance in its well equipped hospital facilities. [1] [2]
Kanimbla deployed to the Persian Gulf in 2003 to provide a command and control platform to the Australian Navy Task Group and specialised capabilities to the greater multinational fleet in the invasion of Iraq.
In 2001 she participated in UN Sanction operations against Iraq following September 11.
As of May 25, 2006, HMAS Kanimbla is operating near East Timor in Operation Astute.
For other vessels of the same name, see HMAS Kanimbla.
External links
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