In the second major decommissioning this year, Australia will take out of service the amphibious ship HMAS Kanimbla that has been laid up since September 2010.

Minister for Defense Stephen Smith and Minister for Defense Materiel Jason Clare made a joint announcement saying the ship has been under "an operational pause" for nearly a year "due to unseaworthiness concerns."

The Ministry of Defense's assessment of the future of the Kanimbla included a review of is operational capability, its physical condition and a major cost and risk assessment of keeping it operational.

"The outcome of this assessment is that the most cost effective and lowest risk option is to decommission the Kanimbla," a Ministry of Defense statement said.

"The cost to complete the extensive remediation work required on Kanimbla is estimated to be up to $35 million. The Kanimbla would not, on that basis, be available for operations until at least mid-2012."

The decision to take the Kanimbla out of service comes three years ahead of the vessel's planned decommissioning.

The Kanimbla was built by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company. The keel was laid down in 1969 for the U.S. Navy as Newport class tank landing ship USS Saginaw.

The Australian navy bought the vessel in 1994 for conversion into an amphibious warfare transport ship. It entered service in 1999 and has seen action in the Iraq War and the response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

In February the Australian government announced that the Manoora would be decommissioned on the advice of the Chief of Navy who said the ship was "beyond economical repair to bring it back into operational service, given the vessel's remaining planned life."

The Manoora was formally decommissioned in May. The ship was initially the Newport class tank landing ship USS Fairfax County. It was decommissioned by the United States in 1994 and sold to Australia that year.

But the government is boosting its amphibious ship element with the purchase of the Largs Bay, an amphibious helicopter landing dock ship, from the U.K. navy. In April the government in Canberra announced it had successfully acquired Largs Bay for around $100 million.

The U.K. Department of Defense commissioned the Largs Bay in 2006. The vessel was built by Swan Hunter in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, northern England and named after Largs Bay in Ayrshire, Scotland. It was commissioned into the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in November 2006 and patrolled the seas around the British south Atlantic colony the Falkland Islands in 2008.

The vessel was put up for sale after it became surplus to requirements as a result of the U.K. government's 2010 Defense Strategic Review.

The Largs Bay will be commissioned into Australian naval service as Choules in honor of Claude Choules, the last known veteran to have served on active service in World War I.

British-born Choules died, aged 110, in his sleep at a nursing home in Australia in May.

Choules joined the U.K. navy at the age of 15 and transferred to the Australian navy in the 1920s, serving until retiring as chief petty officer in 1956.

The Choules is expected to arrive in Australia in December for a commissioning ceremony in Fremantle, in the state of Western Australia.

Tweet

Related Links Naval Warfare in the 21st Century