The HMAS Melbourne

[RobertM408]

In 1969 the RAN was offered the HMS Hermes with its Vixens and Buccanears. At the times Hermes carried 12 Sea Vixen fighters, 8 Buccanears and 5 Wessex helicopters, all squeezed into a tiny flagship. It would have been interesting how the RAN would have gone with the Buccs which would probably have been far superior to the F-111's for the intended deterrence. Australia also considered the USN Shangri-la about 1967 to carrry about a dozen F-4 Phantoms.

[Thespeakerofmanytru8]

LOL they killed more of they're allies than any enemy. This ship would have been shredded by any serious opposition it might have met in the early 80's. Typical Aussies though, they want to be a big boy but they can't quite pull it off.

[JBofBrisbane]

Anyone who ever served on an Australian naval vessel will tell you that they are never referred to as "The HMAS (insert name here)". "The Her Majesty's Australian Ship Melbourne" doesn't make sense. It is just "HMAS Melbourne" or even just "Melbourne".

[ZONEntertainment]

There are no more carriers, as far as i'm concerned, the most of the facts say they were all destroyed in WWII. The closest thing we have now is an amphibious assault ship, built in Spain, optimized for helicotpers instead of its original purposed Jet Fighters; And this is not even in service yet. I'm pretty sure its still sailing over here from spain. We have no carriers, 3 destroyers, 12 frigates, 20 patrol boats, 6 submarines and one amphibious assault ship.

[flammabletube]

@ZONEntertainment Sorry but you are wrong aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney was used during the vietnam war but was mainly used as a supply ship nicknamed the Vung Tau Ferry

[redr1150r]

I worked on them in the U.S. Navy. Simple, easy to maintain, always up for the next days flight schedule. I also worked on T-28s & S-2s, and finished up my career with F-14s. The first plane I worked on in the Navy was a Lockheed Constellation EC-121K, that was already 3 years older than I was. I work on Coast Guard H-60 rescue helicopters, but will soon be assigned to the HC-144 department. I was also on the Forrestal & Nimitz.

[res05aum]

Great vid I have over 200 traps in the A4 and still think it is the sweetest Attack bird ever, 

[redbaroniii]

These are some of the best pilots in the world.

[MagicpotatoAus]

I WOULD SO JOIN THE NAVY IF THESE SHIPS WHERE STILL HERE !!

[Bopenn]

I like this music! what is the name of this song?

[ebglider91]

@Bopenn Sorry, I have no idea.

[JG11Bear]

Nice to see some video of a Sea Venom in your vid.

Do you have any more footage of the Sea Venom operating off the Melbourne?

[ebglider91]

@JG11Bear

No, sorry :(

[JG11Bear]

Great footage eglider91.

Do you have any more footage of the seam venom operating off the Melbourne? Saw a few shots in your video.

[jlipsen]

LOL its WWII footage

[ebglider91]

There were A-4s in WW2? Must have been top secret then...

[laiosto]

@ebglider91 didn't you know that they flew off the Nazi navy's super Nuclear carrier the GrossPenisKopf? It took top secret Aussie propaganda artists the whole war to change the footage so you can watch what we have here,A-4s(actually Blohm & Voss BV 336's) in RAN service on the HMAS Melbourne (The aforementioned Kriegsmarine GrossPenisKopf).Duh! Don't you know anything?

[highihigh]

@jlipsen do your fuckin research prick

[highihigh]

MY old man was a soppie for 6 years on this ship, he loved every minute of it, knows most of the blokes who where on it too1 

[macattack563]

my grandfather was on board the melbourne when it crashed into the voyager.

[Motoguzzi750]

We lost something when we lost the Melbourne. Sad day. However carriers are expensive assets..and to only have one...

[jrrm3]

was that a sea-vixen ? Isn't that the navy variant of a vampire? Rare footage anyway, so thanks for posting.

[ebglider91]

It's a Sea Venom, which is developed from the de Havilliand Venom which itself was developed from the Vampire.

[doofus02]

I still think the defence of Australia should be conducted as far away from her shores as possible. An aircraft carrier could help with that, and would be a reassuring presence to any regional allies. But what do I know, I'm not a budget-writer or whatever you call'em.

[matapan50]

i agree; IMO Australia should have two fully capable, conventional carriers, 1 on active service, 1 in re-fit, (like the French did with their 2 carriers years ago) so that Australia can do precisely what you talk about; start hitting an enemy far out @ sea.

[ebglider91]

Unless the Government re-introduces National Service in Australia we're not going to have the manpower for two carriers. They have enough trouble crewing the current fleet.

[TCFan25]

Two collisions at sea... holy f#$%!!!

[caseyjones2222]

i remember the Melbourne coming to Pearl Harbor and their Band, the USN Band and USMC Band having some good parties!

[Panzerargento]

Neat video, very nice, quite similar to the argentine carriers with A-4 and Sea tracker.

[McTonker]

You numb nuts.... Look on Wikipedia and see where She was built and by who and spot the irony of that statement comming from an Argentinian (I'll give you a clue.... Las Malvinas).

[romansandal]

no need to be so confrontational mc tonker.

he is right, she was very similar to 25 de Mayo (argie carrier). Same aircraft, size, etc, and they were both built in the UK (like many argie ships in 82)

[SCHRUBBE1966]

australia definetly should have a carrier. I'm not really sure why they don't.

[cadam007]

cause apparently carriers are for projecting powerr and australias main role now is for peacekeeping and defence of our shores

[nomadnametab]

I agree. Australia does need to have a carrier . If she's gonna be the regional power then she needs some ability to project that power. God knows NZ has thrown in the towel on defense and couldn't contribute squat, and if the US gets tied up elsewhere whose gonna help out, the Nippos?

[ebglider91]

There's no arguement from me about that. A squadron or two of STOVL F-35Bs for the new Canberra class assault ships will hardely break the budget and can only improve Australia's defence.

[AussieAviator]

We're forgetting one important fact: as from late November 2007, a majority of imbecilic voters from the Australian population, elected a socialist Labor government into Parliament. Defence spending a procurement will amount to nowt !

Labor always sacrifice Defence first.

[kisurfer]

Fuck labor! Bring back john howard! All Krud ever does is go on fkn talkshows.

[Cyberwwwizard]

egglider91, check wiki as it says F35's are to be deployed.

[grim0033]

The kiwis were right to throw in the towel. Australia is a non entity suffering from small man syndrome, yet they think they will be a major player in the next big world conflict? Mate australia has a proud history as does new zealand, but our defence force is way too small to defend the country, so extra expense is wasted. The kiwis have the right idea.

[semtex84]

bull fucking shit.

lets just leave the door open then huh?

stupidest idea ever.

[grim0033]

yes lets leave the door open. Do you know that the army estimates that a full scale invasion from china, or say indonesia would see the top half of australia captured in three days?

We can't defend this country its just too big. So why waste money on shit thats going to allow us to hold out for what another day or two? Numbers beats tech everytime. Oh yeah i forgot to add, an infantry major told me that the indo's could walk in with baseball bats because we dont have enough bullets to shoot

[semtex84]

LOL Indonesia cant launch a full scale invasion of Australia!

how do you think they're going to get here? walk?

Our navy and air force would destroy their navy and airforce in hours.

They cant land troops if they cant move them.

The Japanese estimated in 1941 that it would take three divisions to attack an Australia population of 10 million. let alone the men required to take on 24 million people.

The idea isn't to halt the attack there and then, its to buy time for our allies to show up.

[matapan50]

@semtex84 how much is this talked about in Australia? I read yours & grim0033 comments. Is there a belief in Aus. public that the country is eventually going to be invaded? Actually invaded by an outside enemy? If so, & if God forbid it ever actually happened, US intervention would be huge. Massive. Any foreign power, including China, cannot calculate an invasion of Australia w/out including the cost of direct confrontation w/USA up to & including nukes. Hope it never happens.

[semtex84]

the biggest fear for Australia's future is China

Indonesia has 200 Million people but are about 20yrs behind our military. (but catching up)

We're in the process of fitting our subs out with tomahawk missiles to counter any stupid ideas they get.

and yeah the ANZUS treaty between Australia, The United States and New Zealand would be activated, not to mention all the European ties we have.

It would be a very silly idea for any country to attack us, the response would be devastating.

[ebglider91]

Hi matapan50, the only people who are actually worried about an invasion are crackpots. The military doesn't believe it can happen anytime in the forseeable future, and seems to be more worried about possible large conflicts between our neighbours and our role as the 'regional policeman' with peacekeeping tasks. The most recent Defence 'white paper' report makes this pretty clear. So no, there isn't a widespread belief that an invasion will happen, and certainly not one from Indonesia.

[matapan50]

They're right of course in concern for neighbors in region, potential for big war somewhere. And your forces have the peacekeeping experience; from everything i've heard, keeping in mind i'm 9000 miles away, the Aus.-led Timor force did good job in '99. Anyway hope Australia doesnt have to ever face anything like a foreign invasion, or mass descent by millions of refugees because of some war being fought somewhere to your north.

[usebah]

The Melbourne may well sail again as one of the two 28,000 tonne displacement naval amphibious assault ships being built in Spain. The ship has an option to be fitted out with ski ramps, which would be compatible with the JSF F-35 C model. But we'll have to see if the Government has the hootzpa to sail an Aircraft Carrier for this country like the old days.

[matapan50]

These ships are being built right now?

[ebglider91]

Yes, construction has begun on the 2 LHDs. Entry into service is still a long way off (around 2014-2015)

[matapan50]

Some may not agree but i think is very good news. Now if Lockheed-Martin will get it's act together maybe JSF will actually fly. If/when it does, would like to hope Australian gov'mt. would see the sense of outfitting the ships to operate them.