
The HMAS Melbourne (III) was decommissioned on Saturday 26th October, berthing at Garden Island, Sydney, for the last time. It was a poignant ceremony, especially for the two-hundred men and women who served aboard the ship.
The ship has over two decades of service to this nation. She was deployed on operations across the globe, including the Middle East eight times, and earning battle honours for her service in East Timor and the Persian Gulf1.The ship’s motto is ‘she gathers strength as she goes’2 which is as fine a motto as you’ll ever hear and, given her capability right to decommissioning, rings perfectly true.