HMAS Melbourne (III) decommissioning

[red750]

HMAS Melbourne (III) has returned to her name port prior to decommissioning. She was commissioned on Feb 15, 1992. She was open to the public on Sunday, but I was not able to get there. However, I was in Port Melbourne today while my wife attended her monthly matinee concert, and took the following photos. I was surprised how small the guided missile frigate is. For some reason I expected a somewhat larger vessel, not that I know anything about boats or ships. The frigate was on the western side of Station Pier and the Spirit of Tasmania was on the eastern side. The Spirit is not large itself when compared to the cruise liners that visit the port, but as one of the photos shows, it is nearly twice the size of the Melbourne. She will be decommissioned on October 26th.

 

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Being on the western side of the pier meant that her stern was toward the beach.

 

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[Old Koreelah]

The life span of warships seems to be getting very short; many of us get more years service out of our cars.