Decommissioned: HMAS Benalla makes her final approach into HMAS Cairns, Queensland, on June 16. Photo: Lauren Pugsley
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A small ceremony at HMAS Cairns in Queensland honoured more then three decades at sea for the HMAS Benalla II.
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The Australian Royal Navy ship, and its partner the HMAS Shepparton, were the final Paluma-class vessels to be decommissioned, making way for more advanced replacements.
The two coastal service ships, designed for hydrographic survey operations, worked in tandem in the shallow waters of northern Australia.
Unsurprisingly the naming of the vessel was front page news in the Benalla Ensign on March 28, 1990.
Commissioned: The HMAS Benalla was officially named at a ceremony in Port Adelaide in March 1990.
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Benalla Ensign
The article featured a photo of Mayoress Judy Bennison who inspected the ship and cut the cake to celebrate its commissioning and naming.
Mrs Bennison was given the role of officially naming the vessel after it was commissioned by its commanding officer Lieutenant David Errington.
She was not alone on the visit and was joined by a ‘party’ of Benalla City Council representatives which included Mayor Ted Bennison; Cr Brian and Mrs June Greed; Town Clerk Bill Jaboor and Mrs Sonia Jaboor.
Mrs Bennison addressed the ceremony and said the people of Benalla were thrilled to hear the ship was named in honour of the town.
“The Navy, and indeed the Australian people, were very proud of the great service given during World War II by Corvette HMAS Benalla,” She said.
The Corvette she was referring to was not a classic muscle car, but rather the class of ship which was the original HMAS Benalla, which had set sail in 1949.
It was decommissioned in 1957 before being sold to a private company the following year.
There is no news, as yet, if there is to be a HMAS Benalla III. However rest assured if there is we will once again find some space on page 1 to let the Rose City know.
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