"HMAS Canberra visit" Topic

The navy opened the HMAS Canberra to the public at the Port of Townsville yesterday.
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You don't see that many of these in Townsville these days:
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And of course, the obligatory Bushmaster:
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How effing big does a truck have to be in Australia to earn the "Oversized Load" rating?!?

I'm Jealous.

Damn, time gets away from one. It only seems like yesterday it arrived at Williamstown to be fitted out.
I remember driving over the Westgate and seeing it sitting there with things hanging off it.

The Aussie navy has a carrier!

Wow! The Royal Navy are still building theirs …

MajorB,

Not a carrier as such but a 26000 tonne LHD (Landing Helicopter Dock) and second is under construction. Role closer to the RN commando "carriers". Each could operate fixed wing jets but the principal idea is that each transport up to a battalion sized battlegroup with armour, scouts, IFVs, artillery, engineers and helos (mix of Eurocopter Tigers, Eurocopter-90 Taipans and Chinooks). Possibly could get some F35Bs but this would reduce the intended load.

Cheers, Frank

A bit different to the last Canberra I was on! (02)
Cheers
Col

Hrm… so the Canberra is bigger than an Iwo Jima-class, but much smaller than a Tarawa-class.

Something I don't understand, why does the Canberra have such a small aircraft capacity? Even the smaller Iwo Jima-class can carry 50% more helos!

A lot of its space is dedicated to transporting tanks, vehicles and landing craft. Maybe the reason? Not sure.

Something I don't understand, why does the Canberra have such a small aircraft capacity?

It's not a carrier, mate, it's an AMPHIB OPS dock. Any aircraft embarked would be tailored for support of the current mission rather than being the main purpose of the ships, whether they're doing disaster relief, being transported to an AO or going over a hot beach. As Frank and Blue pointed out, it's more towards the RM concepts than USMC.

Expect 80% of the use to be disaster relief in our area, with the ships well equipped to act as floating hospitals and relief supply distribution hubs as well as command posts.

Cheers.

Dal.

@Dal: Yes, I understand that the Canberra is an LPD with a full-size helo deck, not an aircraft carrier.

The Juan Carlos I that they based the Canberra on carries 25 helos at full capacity. With a mixed load, like you'd see when ferrying Marines around, JC1 carries 11 Harriers or F35Bs, 12 NH90s, and that would leave 6 empty takeoff/landing spots.

The Mistral-class can carry 16 NH90 helos (or Blackhawks) or ~35 smaller helos.

So why is the aviation capacity of the Canberra so much smaller than her predecessor and competitor designs?

OK, I misunderstood what you were asking. And I don't know why the number of aircraft is smaller, sorry. I only talked to that project a couple of times, not about their aircraft.

As I'm feeling particularly cynical today, may I suggest it's either budget cuts or room was needed to make the wardroom and messes big enough to accommodate three warring camps (Army, RAN and RAAF) without blood being spilled?

Dal.

As I'm feeling particularly cynical today, may I suggest it's either budget cuts or room was needed to make the wardroom and messes big enough to accommodate three warring camps (Army, RAN and RAAF) without blood being spilled?

I must be feeling rather cynical, too, because I would totally believe that is the reason!

"How effing big does a truck have to be in Australia to earn the "Oversized Load" rating?!?"
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I have one in 1/285 (or 1/300) scale. Have an Aussie landing force of M1A1 AIM, ASLAV 25, Bushmasters, M113AS4, etc.

"How effing big does a truck have to be in Australia to earn the "Oversized Load" rating?!?"

Off topic, but this one certainly qualifies!
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