HMAS Brisbane, QUEENSLAND
Airing Date: Aug 29th, 2005
The Ex-HMAS Brisbane, nicknamed The Steel Cat, is a Charles F Adams class guided missile destroyer (DDG), constructed by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co in the USA.
It was the third ship of this class to be purchased by the Royal Australian Navy, the others being the HMAS Hobart and HMAS Perth. These three destroyers formed the First Australian Destroyer squadron and were based at Sydney's Garden Island naval dockyard.
The ship was launched on May 5, 1966 and commissioned on December 16, 1967. The Brisbane was the second vessel of that name to serve in the Royal Australian Navy. The first was commissioned in 1916 and made her final voyage in 1935 to England where she was sold off to a Sheffield scrap yard.
On July 31, 2005, in a series of 38 controlled implosions, the 133-metre-long ship became Australia's newest dive site, coming to its final resting place 2.5 nautical miles east of Mudjimba Island off Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast.
The smoke stack starts at just three metres below the surface and the ship itself is eight stories high and seven cricket pitches long. You might need two dives to cover it all.
If you have an Open Water Dive Certificate you can explore the upper levels of the wreck. With a Qualified Advanced Open Water dive ticket, divers can go right to the bottom of the wreck however only those who have a specific wreck diving ticket will be able to get into specific areas like the engine room.
As well as the actual ships features, various coral and schools of fish are already starting to call the ship's hull home.
Dive tours are regularly run on the site. With such a large ship Sunreef Scuba Diving Services takes you on two dives on the one trip, to allow you to see more of the sunken vessel.
Further information:
Package to Mooloolaba
From:
$497 ex Sydney
$601 ex Melbourne
$641 ex Adelaide
$896 ex Perth
Based on twin share and includes surcharges, fees and taxes. Conditions apply.
Includes three nights accommodation at the Breakfree Caribbean Resort.
Contact Qantas Holidays on 13 14 15.
Book by 14/11/05
Prices correct at 17/8/05
Diving on the HMAS Brisbane costs $195 a person. This includes two dives, equipment and morning tea.
Contact Sunreef Scuba Diving Services on 07 5444 5656 or visit the website www.sunreef.com.au
Prices correct at 29/8/05
