LPA Kanimbla - Background
During the early 1990s a Defence project was initiated to investigate the acquisition of a new ship suitable for the ADF to provide for the sea training of naval personnel and amphibious support for Army. The priority for amphibious capability had been increasing over the past ten years and more recently due to growing economic and political instability throughout the region. Defence supported a proposal to replace the role limited Royal Australian Navy training ship, HMAS JERVIS BAY with a new build dual role training and helicopter support ship. JERVIS BAY (not to be confused with the new fast catamaran JERVIS BAY currently employed assisting the peacekeeping force in East Timor) was decommissioned in 1994 and sold to overseas interests.
In December 1992 the Defence Training and Helicopter Support Ship (THSS) project was established to examine the acquisition of a new ship suitable for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to provide for sea training of naval personnel and amphibious support for the Army. The Training Helicopter Support Ship (THSS) Project, cancelled in the 1993 Budget, was to acquire one purpose-built new ship to meet a predetermined capability requirement in combination with the existing ADF amphibious capability represented by HMAS TOBRUK.
In May 1993 the proposal was abandoned in the context of the August 1993 budget when the then Minister for Defence decided that the project to construct one ship at a cost of $500m could not be sustained by the Defence program in context of the August 1993 budget. Consequently the proposal to build a ship was cancelled, although options to acquire a secondhand ship from other navies remained a possibility. The reconstituted project sought to meet this requirement with two LPAs which, taken together, would have been roughly equivalent to the new ship but without augmentation from HMAS TOBRUK which was to be decommissioned.
Subsequently, in November 1993, a team from Headquarters Australian Defence Force (HQADF) visited the USA to assess the suitability of three classes of amphibious ships, which were surplus to US requirements. The Newport Class Landing Ships Tank (LST) were judged to offer the most appropriate and cost effective capability for the ADF for sea training and helicopter support. The assessment concluded that the LSTs could be readily modified to each carry four helicopters operating from 3 landing spots, 450 troops and their vehicles and equipment. The other two classes of ships offered were rejected on the grounds of vessel size, high maintenance costs and crew requirements.
In December 1993 the Australian government approved in principle, at a cost of $70m, the acquisition of two ships of the Newport Landing Ship, Tank (LST) class, the ex-USS SAGINAW, and ex-USS FAIRFAX COUNTY. Both vessels were built in 1971 with machinery and technology of 1950s and 1960s design.
In May 1994 the US Navy conducted satisfactory sea trials of the selected ships, including a full power trial, in the presence of a RAN technical team. The team also conducted inspections of both LSTs, to the extent practicable in operational US Navy vessels, and concluded that it would be reasonable to expect a further 20 years life from the ships, given that they were structurally sound and generally in a satisfactory condition. There was awareness by Defence that the scope of repair work, in particular corrosion repairs, might increase when the ships were subjected to a detailed hull survey. In June 1994 the Chief of the Navy (CN) endorsed the Ship Condition Report and requested ministerial concurrence to the acquisition. The ships were purchased in 'as is' condition in August 1994 with HMAS MANOORA and HMAS KANIMBLA arriving in Australia in September and November 1994 respectively.
On arrival in Australia a detailed inspection of the vessel's condition by Australian Defence Industries (ADI) revealed extensive hull corrosion which required an expenditure of $31.5m for repair and refit work. Following an open tender, Forgacs Dockyard in Newcastle was chosen as the prime contractor to conduct the repair and refit work (Phase 2 of the project) for both vessels. The contract with Forgacs Dockyard was signed in May 1996 for $55m. Both HMAS MANOORA and HMAS KANIMBLA were delivered in mid 1996 to Forgacs Dockyard at Newcastle.
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