Hawkesbury to the Huon

For something a-little different...

My last post was about the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment - the name coming from its location in the Hawkesbury River area. (See Further in the Field)

The Hawkesbury name, along with several other Australian rivers including the Yarra, Diamontina, Gascoyne, Huon and Norman, have also been used to name the Royal Australian Navy Huon class ships.

This ship class are minehunters and were built in Newcastle for the Royal Australian Navy. They are no any ordinary ship as they have a unique hull which is designed to flex inwards if an undersea explosion occurs nearby. This hull is made of a fibre-reinforced plastic which due to its unique design offers several advantages in low magnetic and noise levels as well as underwater shock resistance.

These ships are continually mapping Australian waters to make sure they are safe, particularly our shipping channels. This is good news and plays an important role in helping to safeguard the large number of merchant vessels that carry alot of our agricultural produce to our overseas export markets.

The safety of our merchant ships is not something that you regularly think about when we talk about our Australian agricultural exports but it is good to know that the Royal Australian Navy is out there performing this role.

HMAS Huon - Royal Australian Navy minehunter which my brother has been posted to during his training.
(Photo from Royal Australian Navy)

This is particularly relevant for me as my brother, MIDN Nixon, has just been posted to HMAS Huon for the next few months so he will be part of the crew on patrol around our coastline for the next few months.

Good luck! And thank you to our Royal Australian Navy and our defence forces for all the work they do.