Community
26 April, 2024
Life under the sea in Collins Class submarine
AFTER a week in Cairns to commemorate ANZAC Day and give the community a peek into life on board a missile submarine, the HMAS Dechaineux and its crew are ready to bid farewell to Cairns.
The 78m-long missile submarine and its crew of 66 seamen and women from HMAS Stirling in Perth docked in Cairns last weekend and have closely engaged with the community after marching at ANZAC Day parades and launching an open day on Tuesday for the community to tour Dechaineux.
HMAS Dechaineux executive officer Lt. Cmdr. Max (surname withheld) said it had been exciting to visit Cairns during ANZAC Day and hold an open day.
“Dechaineux is the fourth of our six Collins Class submarines, she’s just over 20 years old now but she’s a great submarine to be posted to and we’re currently on a circumnavigation deployment of Australia,” he said.
“On our open day (April 23) we had a total of 250-300 people, and so we had some tours of the Dechaineux.
“One thing about subs is that people think that they’re a very secretive part of defence. We’re not, so this is why we wanted to let people see what a submarine is like.
“Life in a submarine is a pretty different life to anything you can experience outside of defence. We work six-hour shifts, and we can be at sea for weeks at a time but it’s excellent, we go through amazing ports around the world and have a good balance between life and work.”
Sub Lt. Monica (surname withheld) said being part of a submarine crew was an experience like no other.
“I’ve been with the Dechaineux since July 2023, and it’s a little bit different to a normal life as expected, but you get to be with the crew who’s like your family, see really cool places, and explore the whole world,” she said.
“I’m stoked to be in Cairns and I love to be able to celebrate ANZAC Day here.”
