HMAS Success (II) commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) at Pyrmont on 23 April 1986. Success put to sea for the first time as an RAN unit on 5 May. 

Success visited Melbourne in June where it acted as host ship to US Ships Rathburne and Cimarron, and later did passage exercises with the 2 American warships en route to Jervis Bay. Later in the month it began an extended operability trial around Australia during which it visited HMAS Stirling, Fremantle and Darwin, and did numerous evolutions with a variety of RAN vessels, primarily HMA Ships Perth (II) and Canberra (II). 

Success returned to sea on 21 August to rebegin trials and exercises. After replenishment serials with HMA Ships Torrens (II) and Adelaide (II) that day, all major units in the RAN, except for HMA Ships Brisbane (II) and Swan (III), had replenishments from Success. It went on to visit Wollongong and did its first missile transfer with HMAS Darwin on 26 August.

It took part in the fleet concentration period in September before making a diplomatic visit to Vanuatu. It returned to Australian waters at the end of the month to rendezvous with the international fleet which was gathering for the International Fleet Review celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the granting of Royal Assent to the RAN. 

The fleet review was on 4 October. His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, embarked in HMAS Cook with Success the second ship to be passed on Cook’s route. Prince Phillip embarked in Success that afternoon to attend a function in the cargo control room before the ship took part in that evening’s fireworks display. 

HMA Ships Adelaide and Melbourne conduct replenishment from HMAS Success

HMA Ships Adelaide, left and Melbourne, right, conduct concurrent replenishment from HMAS Success during Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2018.

1987

Success took part in the Army exercise FLASHPOINT on 4 May and, 2 days later, a disaster relief exercise being did in Jervis Bay was interrupted by a real emergency. Jervis Bay police requested the assistance of the ship’s Wessex helicopter in rescuing a fisherman who had been washed off rocks in the vicinity of Governor’s Head. The fisherman was safely recovered within 6 minutes of the request being received on board.

Early in the morning of 20 May, while the ship was 2 days into a maintenance period alongside in Sydney, orders were received to prepare to sail to Fiji in support of Operation MORRIS DANCE, the Australian Defence Force’s response to the first of 2 military coups which occurred in the Pacific nation that year. Those crew members who had been granted leave were recalled and preparations for deployment began immediately. Two Wessex helicopters from 816 Squadron and a detachment from Clearance Diving Team One were embarked, along with personnel and vehicles from 104 Signal Squadron.

Success left Sydney for Fiji on 21 May and 2 days later embarked the 103 Squadron contingent, stores and equipment at Norfolk Island as well as Commodore Malcolm Taylor RAN and his staff as the Officer in Tactical Command of the RAN Evacuation Task Group. The ship arrived just outside Fijian territorial waters on the 25th and began replenishment operations with HMA Ships Sydney (IV) and Parramatta (III), and HMNZS Canterbury and transferred Army personnel to HMAS Stalwart. It did another personnel transfer with HMAS Tobruk (II) the following day, airlifting 102 personnel and their equipment from Tobruk to Success. The transfer swelled the number of personnel embarked in Success to 292.

The presence of 3 Fremantle class patrol boats (HMA Ships Cessnock (II), Townsville (II) and Wollongong (II)) required ingenuity as Success had not been designed for the replenishment of that class of vessel. On 26 May a failed attempt was made to refuel Wollongong abeam of the tanker using a modified crane rig based on a rig design successfully used by HMAS Stalwart (II). The following morning a second attempt was made by taking Wollongong in tow at slow speed and passing the fuelling hoses over the patrol boat’s bows from Success’ quarterdeck. While the refuelling rate was slow, the method worked and, coincidently, marked Success’ 100th replenishment at sea since commissioning.

On 22 June Success deployed to the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Western Australia for 17 weeks, with HMAS Torrens (II). After completing its operational readiness evaluation in Jervis Bay, and brief stops in Brisbane and Gladstone, Success took part in Exercise TASMAN LINK in the Shoalwater Bay Training Area from 3 to 5 July. Upon the completion of their TASMAN LINK commitments, Success and Torrens went on to visit ports in Nauru, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea where they met HMA Ships Canberra (II) and Hobart (II), the Philippines where HMAS Onslow joined the task group, and Hong Kong. The task group met HMNZ Ships Canterbury and Southland off Singapore as the group continued towards Australian waters. On 25 August as Canterbury approached Success for a scheduled replenishment both tanker’s port and starboard steering systems failed leaving them drifting. The fault was quickly identified, and power was restored to the port system but efforts to return power to the starboard system proved fruitless. The ship returned to Australia on just its port steering system and arrived at HMAS Stirling on 30 August where work began to fix its steering systems.

The defects were set right in time for the ship to participate in Fleet Concentration Period 87-2 and Exercise VALIANT USHER alongside US Navy (USN) units before returning home to Sydney on 25 September. Over the course of the deployment Success steamed 19 440 nm, dispensed 79 tonnes of provisions, 23 tonnes of ammunition and 13 400 m3 of F-76 diesoline fuel to 15 different ships from 3 nations. 

1988

The new year began with bicentennial celebrations. Success was kept busy in the lead-up to Australia Day conducting replenishment operations with the large fleet that had gathered to conduct the Bicentennial Fleet Entry and Review. It took part in the ceremonial Fleet Entry on 22 January, one of 15 RAN units led into Port Jackson by the flagship HMAS Stalwart (II), while the ship’s Wessex helicopter took part in a fly past of naval helicopters. Success stayed alongside at Darling Harbour during the fleet review on Australia Day with 200 guests of the ship’s company embarked to observe the festivities.

It restarted a routine program of exercises, training and maintenance in February, which included participation in the first fleet concentration period of the year that month. It took part in Exercise FLYING FISH alongside other RAN and French Navy units in March before visiting Melbourne for the Moomba Festival where a detachment of the ship’s company took part in the RAN’s Freedom of Entry parade on 14 March. It returned to Sydney on the 18th where it entered a leave and maintenance period and began preparations for its first RIMPAC deployment.

The ship took part in Exercise TASMAN LINK in Queensland waters in early May. Later in the month a programmed maintenance period was interrupted for the 3rd time in 13 months due to a potential requirement to evacuate Australian nationals due to civil unrest in a Pacific Island nation. On this occasion, Vanuatu. Success shortened its notice for sea to 8 hours on 20 May under Operation SAILCLOTH but was stood down 4 days later as the situation in Vanuatu stabilised. On the 26th it became the first Australian Defence Force unit to be fitted with a GPS satellite navigation receiver, the day before leaving Sydney for Hawaii, via American Samoa, with HMA Ships Hobart, Canberra, Parramatta and, after rendezvousing in American Samoa, Darwin.

RIMPAC exercises began on 24 June involving 45 ships, 200 aircraft and 50 000 personnel, and continued until 19 July. The Australian task group left Hawaii on the 26th and gradually dissipated as it crossed the South Pacific, each vessel taking separate routes back to Australia. Success arrived back in Sydney independently on 10 August and began a leave and maintenance period. Over the course of the RIMPAC deployment the ship had steamed 15 550 nm and had did 83 replenishment evolutions.

Success returned to sea on 16 September and began of month of bicentennial commitments. It went to Brisbane where it took part in a series of receptions celebrating the bicentenary. It left Brisbane on the 23rd and did passage exercises with KD SRI Indera Sakti and ITS Caio Duilio en route to Sydney where they joined the international armada assembling for the Bicentennial Naval Salute. 

On 1 October it took part in the International Fleet Review which featured 60 ships from 15 international navies. The opportunity was taken to conduct multinational exercises upon the conclusion of bicentennial celebrations. Eighteen vessels from 6 foreign navies joined 11 RAN vessels for exercises off the New South Wales coast. 

1989

Success returned to sea on 23 January 1989 for shakedown and workup exercises before participating in the first fleet concentration period of the year in February, and conducting port visits to Brisbane, Newcastle, Melbourne and Hobart in February and March. The ship was dry-docked in Newcastle for maintenance in April and May. It returned to Sydney on 17 May and rebegan a routine program of exercises, training and maintenance the following month.

It took part in Exercise SPLASHDOWN in June in which it acted as a target and training facility for the SAS Regiment and 5 Squadron RAAF. Later in the month the ship visited New Zealand and Samoa where members of the ships company undertook 2 civil aid tasks: the transfer of personnel and equipment by the ship’s helicopter to remote survey sites on the island of Savai’i, and the installation of 2 diesel-powered generators, refrigeration units and lighting at the health centre in the village of Sauano. It went on to visit American Samoa and Papua New Guinea in July before proceeding towards Darwin, conducting exercises with other RAN and USN units en route.

Success took part in Exercise KANGAROO 89 in August. It set a new ship’s record for replenishments at sea in a 24-hour period–13–on 6 August and did 88 separate replenishments over the course of the 14-day exercise.

After KANGAROO, Success joined HMAS Sydney (IV) and US Ships Oldendorf and Robert E Peary for passage to Southeast Asian waters. Success and Sydney arrived in Singapore on 28 August. Over the following 2 months, Success visited Manila, Subic Bay, a second stop in Singapore, Port Klang, Phuket and Penang and did exercises with navy and air force units from the US, the Philippines, the UK, Malaysia and Singapore as well as Australia in various parts of the Malacca Straits and the South China Sea. On 23 September, while en route from Subic Bay to Singapore, Success and Sydney discovered the wreckage of what appeared to be a fishing or, possibly, refugee vessel with, tragically, several bodies in the water. Success stayed in the area overnight conducting recovery operations while Sydney continued to Singapore to participate in the Major Integrated Air Defence Exercise 89-4. Success joined the exercise on the 26th and the following day, the 14 bodies earlier recovered in the South China Sea were 

1990

Success put to sea on 29 January to participate in a fleet concentration period in New Zealand involving navy and air force units from Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Exercises were curtailed, however, due to the intensification of the civil war on Bougainville Island and the passage of Tropical Cyclone Ofa through Western Samoa resulting in the re-tasking of RAN and RNZN units and a consequent increase in the tempo of replenishments by Success. It arrived back in Sydney on 23 February and began preparing for its upcoming RIMPAC deployment.

The task group left Sydney on 26 March and arrived in Hawaii on 8 April. RIMPAC exercises occupied most of April and May and Success left Hawaiian waters on 5 June. It arrived back in Sydney, via Noumea, on 21 June where it entered a leave and maintenance period. During this time the ship underwent flight deck upgrades to enable it to embark the RAN’s new Sea King helicopters. 

Operation DAMASK I

Shortly before midnight on 9 August Success received advice that it was to return to Sydney to prepare to deploy to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation DAMASK following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. 

Success met HMA Ships Darwin and Adelaide (II) on 15 August and the group was designated Task Group 627.4 (TG 627.4). An intensive exercise program was initiated as the ships progressed towards Western Australia focusing on anti-air warfare, damage control and nuclear, biological and chemical weapons defence. 

TG 627.4 entered the Middle East Area of Operations (MEAO) on 3 September joining the Multinational Naval Force (MNNF) which would eventually include warships from 15 nations. After a brief visit to Muscat, Success’s MNNF replenishment operations began on the 7th while interrogating up to 30 merchant vessels per day. 

Success also served as a training platform for boarding parties posing as a merchant vessel with the pseudonym, Al Fatigue. Success’s operational tempo was high conducting replenishment operations and exercises with MNNF vessels from many different navies, as well as its own patrol operations. 

Darwin and Adelaide were relieved by HMA Ships Brisbane (II) and Sydney (IV) in December. Success was awarded the Duke of Gloucester’s Cup as the RAN unit displaying the highest level of overall proficiency in 1990. It was a year in which the ship set a new record for replenishments at sea—356—steamed the equivalent of 2 circumnavigations of the world at the equator, and refuelled ships from the US, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, the Netherlands, the UK and Australia. Success won the RAN’s most prestigious award twice more, in 1999 and 2014.

1991 to 1992

On 30 November 1990 the United Nations Security Council had adopted Resolution 678 authorising the use of force against Iraq unless it withdrew from Kuwait by 15 January 1991. In the days leading up to the deadline, Success was moved to an area in the southern Arabian Gulf known as the Combat Logistics Force holding area where it could conduct replenishments on a ‘racetrack’ or conduct ‘delivery boy’ replenishments in the Northern Arabian Gulf under escort.

The UN deadline of 15 January 1991 passed without incident, but at 2.30 am on 17 January Operation DESERT STORM began. The ship did its last replenishments in the MEAO on 22 January before leaving on 25 January. 

Over the next 2 months the ship was used as a training platform for members of the Special Air service Regiment during Exercise ANCHOR CHAIN. 

After a series of delays Success was moved into the Captain Cook Graving Dock at Garden Island for refit on 5 August.

Success put to sea, for the first time in over 13 months, on 10 April 1992 for a week of contractor sea trials. Most of the next 5 weeks was occupied conducting trials, workup exercises and defect rectification, as well as conducting exercises with RAN and USN units involved in Exercise CORAL SEA.

The most obvious change to the ship because of the refit was the 4-metre hangar extension to enable the accommodation of a Sea King helicopter considerably enhancing the ship’s capability to conduct vertical replenishment of stores and ammunition. A Sea King was embarked for the first time on 14 April and was manoeuvred around the flight deck, and in and out of the hangar to prove the hangar extension and train deck handlers. 

On 1 May, Success joined 11 other Australian and American warships, led by the 80 000-tonne carrier, USS Independence, for a ceremonial fleet entry and review in Sydney Harbour to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea. Following Independence, Success led the first group of ships, comprising US Ships Blue Ridge and Mobile Bay, into harbour and, after rounding Bradleys Head, fired a 21-gun salute in honour of the Governor-General, His Excellency the Honourable Bill Hayden AC, embarked in HMAS Protector (II). The next day a detachment of Success’s ship’s company took part in the Coral Sea March through the streets of Sydney involving 4000 Australian and American personnel. With Coral Sea commemorations completed, Success returned to sea on 4 May to rebegin workup exercises. 

It left Sydney on 18 May and met HMA Ships Hobart, Adelaide and Canberra bound for the west coast of America to participate in Exercise RIMPAC 92. An intensive exercise program was implemented during the transit including first of class flying trials for the ship’s Sea King flight.

Tragically, in the evening of 28 May, 27-year-old Able Seaman Robert Apps was killed when he fell down a lift well during a major damage control exercise. Able Seaman Apps was an experienced, competent and respected sailor.

The Australian ships arrived in San Diego, via Pearl Harbor, on 19 June. The sea phase of RIMPAC began on the 24th and continued for most of July with participating ships in both San Diego and Hawaii. 

Success left San Diego for Australia on 31 July, meeting with Hobart, Adelaide and Canberra the following day. It arrived back in Sydney, via Pearl Harbor, on 27 August and began a leave and maintenance period. The cancellation of Success’ participation in Exercise VALIANT USHER meant that it did not return to sea until 12 October but it quickly settled into a routine program of exercises, training and maintenance. Later that month trials involving a 5 Aviation Regiment Blackhawk helicopter proved aircraft and flight deck compatibility.

1993 to 1996

Success acted as host ship to USS Wabash during the visit of the USS Ranger Battle Group in January 1993 before taking part in a fleet concentration period and Exercise TASMANEX in February. TASMANEX took the participating units cross the Tasman Sea to New Zealand and ended upon their arrival in Auckland on 25 February.

Success, along with HMA Ships Hobart, Melbourne and Derwent, went on to visit ports in Vanuatu, the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia, avoiding Tropical Cyclones Polly and Roger. It took part in Exercise AUSINA in late April and did exercises with naval units from the Philippines, the US and Singapore. It arrived back in Darwin on 6 May where it took part in Exercise KAKADU.

Later that month it provided support to HMAS Sydney’s workup in preparation for the frigate’s deployment to the Middle East in support of Operation DAMASK. It took part in a fleet concentration period in July which included 2 consolidation replenishments with HMAS Westralia, the first time that such an evolution had been undertaken between the 2 tankers.

It took part in Exercise NEW HORIZONS in northern Australian waters in August before heading for Southeast Asia for the second time that year at the end of the month. 

It arrived in Singapore on 28 August and participated in Exercise STARFISH which included participants from Australia the UK, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia. 

The ship left Australian waters in April to participate in Exercise RIMPAC 94. It arrived in Pearl Harbor, via Lautoka, Fiji, on 12 May 1994. Most of the next 2 months was occupied with RIMPAC 94 which included naval forces from Australia, the US, Canada, Japan and South Korea. 

Success received a warning order on 16 September to prepare to participate in Operation LAGOON, the Australian commitment to a South Pacific Peace Keeping Force (SPPKF) being established to provide a secure environment for the Bougainville Peace Conference planned for mid-October.

As well as replenishment operations, Success provided logistic support to SPPKF forces ashore and did regular patrols along the east coast of Bougainville Island. On one occasion the ship’s helicopter came under ground-based small-arms fire. While the aircraft was hit several times, no one was injured. By 18 October it became apparent that the Bougainville Republican Army representatives were not going to attend the conference and the SPPKF was ordered to withdraw. Success left the AO on 20 October.

Success left Sydney at the beginning of March 1995 for Darwin where it took part in Exercise KAKADU 2, which ended on the final day of the month. It went to Asian waters on 3 April with HMA Ships Hobart, Canberra and Sydney and went on to visit Bali, Singapore, Kota Kinabalu, Subic Bay, Hong Kong, Inchon, Yokosuka and Guam and did exercises with naval units from South Korea, the US, Japan and Canada. It arrived back in Sydney, via Gladstone, on 23 June where it resumed a routine program of exercises, training and maintenance through to the end of the year.

Success left Sydney on 15 April 1996 to participate in Exercise RIMPAC. Most of the following 2 months were occupied with RIMPAC commitments. Success operated with naval units from the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Chile. It left Pearl Harbor on 21 June and arrived back in Sydney, via Fiji and Vanuatu, on 12 July.

1997

Success returned to sea on 19 May 1997 to begin a series of post-refit trials off the northern New South Wales and south Queensland coasts. It left Sydney on 14 July for a 3-and-a-half-month deployment which began with participation in Exercise KAKADU III, which included defence force units from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, in the Northern Territory at the end of the month.

After KAKADU, Success left Darwin on 16 August, with HMA Ships Perth and Newcastle, for Southeast Asia. It went on to Subic Bay before the 3 ships made a historic 5-day visit to Qingdao in China. It was the first time that the RAN had visited the People’s Liberation Army - Navy Northern Fleet Base, and was the first RAN visit to China for 11 years.

Success visited ports in South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia and did exercises with naval units from South Korea and Thailand. It also took advantage of the rare opportunity to exercise with 4 ships of a German Navy Task Group that was visiting Asian waters in September. 

The following month the tanker was directed, at short notice, to prepare to deploy to Bougainville in support of Operation BELISI, the Australian Defence Force operation to support the Australian and New Zealand Truce Monitoring Group (TMG) on the island following the signing of the Burnham Truce Agreement. Success left Sydney on 1 December and arrived in the area of operations 5 days later. As well as conducting replenishment operations to other deployed RAN and RNZN ships, it also provided logistic support to TMG forces ashore. It was relieved by HMAS Tobruk on 8 January 1998.

1998 to 1999

On 5 May, while conducting replenishment operations in the Western Australian Exercise Area, Success dispatched a medical team and equipment by helicopter to HMAS Westralia when a fire broke out in the support ship’s main engine room, claiming the lives of 4 members of its crew. Operations in support of Westralia continued throughout the afternoon until the fire was extinguished, and Success and other units anchored in Cockburn Sound overnight. Success returned to eastern Australian waters later in the month.

On 9 June the tanker left Sydney and met HMA Ships Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, once again bound for Pearl Harbor and participation in Exercise RIMPAC. 

The ship returned to sea in the last week of January 1999 and took part in the fleet concentration period in February during which it operated with the USN fleet oiler Yukon. It left Sydney on 9 March with HMA Ships Perth, Sydney and Newcastle and arrived in Guam on the 18th ahead of a busy multinational exercise schedule.

Exercise TANDEM THRUST involved 12 000 personnel from Australia, the US, Singapore, Canada and South Korea and was staged in and around the Mariana Islands at the end of March and into April. The International Air Defence System Air Defence Exercise 2-99 (ADEX 2-99) was off Singapore and involved navy and air force units from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and the UK. On 18 April an Australian F111 aircraft crashed on the Malaysian island of Pulau Aur. A search and rescue operation was initiated, including Success and its Sea King helicopter, in the hope that the 2-person aircrew had ejected before the crash. However, air crash investigators later confirmed that both airmen had died.

Success returned to Pulau Aur with RAAF personnel embarked on 24 August for further operations at the F111 crash site. It left 2 days later and replenished units participating in Exercise STARDEX 2-99 before detaching for Darwin. 

Success was notified that it may be required to deploy to East Timor as violence erupted there in the wake of the region’s independence referendum. It arrived back in Darwin on 1 September and immediately began preparations for a possible deployment to East Timor. 

It did a patrol north-west of Melville Island from the 4th to the 6th in support of Operation SPITFIRE, the ADF operation to evacuate Australians and other foreign nationals from the island. Over the next 2 weeks as it awaited confirmation of its deployment to East Timor, Success did fleet exercises and replenishment operations with Australian, New Zealand and US vessels.

On 18 September, with the Hydrographic Survey Unit and Clearance Diving Team 4 (CDT4) embarked, Success left for East Timor with HMA Ships Adelaide and Anzac. Success arrived in the area of operations the following day, for Operations WARDEN and, later, STABILISE. It dispatched CDT4 ashore to assess the wharf for future operations. 

In addition to replenishment operations, the ship’s main responsibility was logistical support to shore forces including food, water and fuel, while acting as a command post for the Naval Component Commander, Commodore James StapletonRAN. Members of the ship’s company also formed shore-based work parties. Most of its operations were did in the vicinity of Dili but it also did operations at Com on the north-eastern tip of the island, and the Oecussi Enclave. 

It left the area of operations on 28 October. The ship returned to Sydney on 8 November before visiting Melbourne later in the month and conducting a patrol of the Bass Strait oil fields.

2000 to 2002

Success returned to sea in March conducting a routine program of exercises, training and maintenance. It left Sydney on 1 May for Exercise RIMPAC. It arrived in Pearl Harbor, via Fiji, on 22 May. RIMPAC occupied the entire month of June with Success replenishing ships from 5 different nations over the course of the exercise.

It left Sydney on 4 September for Asian waters and visited Hong Kong, Shanghai, Yokosuka, Tokyo, Kure and Guam and, did exercises with naval units from China and Japan. While en route from Guam to Townsville the ship patrolled for Operation BIGEYE 2, a surveillance operation supporting the Federated States of Micronesia. 

Success returned to sea on 5 February though its full participation in the fleet exercise program was frustrated by persistent engine defects. That did not prevent its participation in Exercise OCEAN PROTECTOR at the end of the month but did force its withdrawal from Exercise TASMANEX in March.

It left Sydney once again for Asian waters on 27 March and went on to visit Manila, Hong Kong, Pusan and Okinawa. After leaving Okinawa on 26 April it joined Task Group 76.4 consisting of US Ships Essex, Juneau and Germantown for passage to Brisbane ahead of participation in Exercise TANDEM THRUST in May. The multinational, amphibious exercise TANDEM THRUST involved 27 000 personnel from Australia, Canada and the US and was off the coast of Queensland. 

The ship returned to sea for sea safety training and post-refit trials on 4 March 2002, and began work up exercises later in the month. It visited Melbourne and Hobart in April with members of the ship’s company participating in Anzac Day commemorations in various locations around Tasmania.

It left Sydney at the end of May for Southeast Asian waters. It visited Jakarta and Phuket, providing logistic support to Australian ships engaged in Operations SLIPPER and RELEX. It made a brief visit to Darwin in July before continuing to Cairns where it took part in a joint Army-Navy ship-shore fuel delivery trial. It arrived back in Sydney on 26 July.

It left Sydney on 18 August, and took part in the Five Power Defence Arrangements Exercise STARDEX 02 off Singapore at the start of September. Success went on to visit Singapore and Sattahip, where it did exercises with units of the Royal Thai Navy, before returning to Sydney on 5 October.

Success visited Adelaide at the end of October to coincide with ‘Navy Fortnight’ events, which also saw its Sea King helicopter visit Mount Gambier, Naracoorte, Goolwa and Kingston. It continued to Western Australia in November conducting exercises with other RAN ships as well as HMNZS Te Kaha

2003 to 2006

The tanker returned to sea on 12 February and rebegan a routine program of exercises, training and maintenance including participation in Exercise TASMANEX later in February and a visit to Melbourne in March. It returned to the west in April to conduct border protection operations as part of Operation RELEX.

It left Sydney for Darwin on 13 July and participation in Exercise KAKADU in which 2000 sailors and aviators from Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Papua New Guinea and France took part. 

Success took part in Exercises CROCODILE and PACIFIC PROTECTOR off the Queensland coast at the end of August and into September. 

On 12 January 2004 the ship’s company were recalled from leave to prepare for sea to support HMAS Warramunga in Operation CELESTA, the patrol of Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the vicinity of Heard Island. Warramunga had intercepted the Uruguayan registered fishing vessel Maya V illegally fishing for toothfish in the Southern Ocean. 

Success took part in Exercise TASMANEX in Bass Strait and off the Australian east coast later in the month. It visited New Zealand in March and returned to Sydney, via Norfolk and Lord Howe Islands, on 27 March where it entered a leave and maintenance period.

It returned to sea on 31 May and began preparations for its RIMPAC deployment the following month. It left Sydney for Hawaii, with HMA Ships Newcastle and Parramatta, on 7 June and arrived at Pearl Harbor, via Fiji, on the 25th. RIMPAC 04 ran through most of July and included 18 000 personnel, 35 surface vessels, 7 submarines and 90 aircraft from Australia, the US, Canada, Chile, Japan, South Korea and the UK. Success left Hawaii on 27 June and met the other ships of the Australian task group the following day. The tanker arrived back in Sydney, via Auckland, on 13 August.

It left Sydney on 13 September for Asian waters where it would operate under the tactical control of USN’s Commander Task Force 73. Over the following 4 weeks the ship was based at Singapore and also visited Phuket and Penang. It returned to Australia in early November and formally returned to RAN tactical control on the 12th. On its return it took part in anti-submarine exercises in Western Australian waters.

The ship returned to sea on 2 May 2005 for engineering trials, and shakedown and workup exercises. It visited Brisbane during the month where it replenished 2 USN ships en route back to the US from the Middle East. It took part in Exercise TALISMAN SABRE in June.

The ship visited Newcastle in August and Melbourne in September, bookended by patrols of the Bass Strait oil rigs as part of Operation ESTES. It left Sydney on 10 October and visited Brisbane and Darwin before conducting a patrol in support of Operation RELEX II in the vicinity of Christmas Island in November. 

The tanker returned to sea on 17 January 2006 ahead of participation in Exercises OCEAN PROTECTOR, TASMANEX and TASMAN LINK at the end of January and into February. It also joined HMA Ships Sydney and Stuart in visiting Hobart for the Royal Hobart Regatta in February.

Following a maintenance period in March and April, Success returned to sea on 8 May for trials and shakedown exercises before leaving on the 11th for Southeast Asia where it conducted replenishment operations with USN units. 

On the morning of 24 April the ship was ordered to proceed to Timor Leste as part of Operation ASTUTE, the ADF operation to help return stability to the country.

Success arrived off Dili on the 25th and took up a position 10 to 15 nm north-east of the city. That evening, HMAS Adelaide, from its position close to Dili, reported gunfire, explosions and fires ashore. From its position further offshore, Success observed what was believed to be tracer rounds and several large fires lighting the sky over Dili. It joined Adelaide in taking up a patrol line outside Dili Harbour at dawn on the 26th as Australian troops were landed by RAAF Hercules aircraft that morning.

Success stayed on station for 2 days with replenishment operations becoming more frequent as more RAN units arrived. It was released from ASTUTE in the evening of the 27th and began passage to Singapore to continue USN support tasking, replenishing USN units involved in earthquake relief operations in Java en route. The tanker arrived in Singapore on 31 May before conducting replenishment operations with USN units primarily in the Sulu Sea.

It operated in northern Australian waters in June and July in support of Operations RELEX II and CRANBERRY, and later, Operation RESOLUTE. On 14 July Success and HMAS Dubbo apprehended 7 foreign fishing vessels illegally fishing within Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone. 

In November it was instructed to return to Fleet Base East and prepare to deploy in support of Operation QUICKSTEP, the ADF contingency operation to evacuate Australians from Fiji in the face of an emerging coup. QUICKSTEP was later expanded to include Tonga, when civil unrest and rioting broke out there.

Success arrived back in Sydney early in the morning of 8 November and headed for Fiji the same morning. It met the other ships of the task group, HMA Ships Newcastle and Kanimbla, on the 12th and CTG 636.1 transferred to Kanimbla. Over the next month the tanker did replenishment operations and personnel transfers with the other ships of the task group while patrolling Fijian and Tongan waters, and making logistic visits to New Caledonia and Auckland. 

2007 to 2009

The ship left Sydney on 29 January 2007 for Darwin and the following month began patrols in support of Operation RESOLUTE. On 19 March Success began a Southeast Asian deployment, where it would provide logistical support to the USN.

The tanker did replenishment operations with USN units near Okinawa in early April before visiting Da Nang, where members of the ship’s company did a working bee at a school in Hoi An south of Da Nang, and Singapore. It operated with the USS Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group in the Indian Ocean en route to Fremantle before returning to the Australian east coast at the end of the month. 

Success left Sydney on 19 May 2008 for a 15-week deployment. It patrolled northern Australian waters in support of Operation RESOLUTE at the end of the month and into June. 

Success left Darwin on 12 June with HMAS Anzac to participate in Exercise RIMPAC 08. RIMPAC exercises occupied most of July and included 20 000 personnel, 35 warships, 6 submarines and over 100 aircraft from 10 participating nations. 

It returned to sea on 7 October and went north to Queensland waters where it took part in the multi-jurisdictional counterterrorism Exercise MERCURY. 

Success began a Southeast Asian deployment on 27 March 2009. On 19 April it participated in the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) 60th Anniversary International Fleet Review. Ships from 14 nations took part in the review. Success left Qingdao on the 26th and went on to visit Hong Kong and Singapore. It took part in Exercise BERSAMA SHIELD and conducted exercises with naval units from the Philippines, India, China and New Zealand.

Success took part in Exercise TALISMAN SABRE off the coast of Queensland in July, and on 7 August left Sydney initially bound for Manado, Indonesia. On the 11th, however, it was diverted from its passage to take part in Operation KOKODA ASSIST, the search for the missing 13 members, 9 of whom were Australian, of Papua New Guinean flight CG4684. 

Success arrived at Manado on the 19th, the day of the International Fleet Review marking the 64th anniversary of Indonesian independence. Ships from 38 nations took part with Australia represented by Success and HMA Ships Darwin and Leeuwin

2010 to 2015

The tanker left Sydney for Southeast Asia on 8 April and visited Cairns and Singapore. It then took part in Exercise BERSAMA SHIELD 10 at the end of April and into May alongside other naval units from Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand. After the exercise, Success went on to visit Singapore and Kota Kinabalu before returning to Sydney on 28 May.

It participated in Exercise KAKADU at the end of the August, and Exercise SINGAROO and Fleet Training Period North in September.

It left Darwin for Southeast Asia on 20 September with HMA Ships Arunta, Toowoomba and Tobruk. Success visited Makassar, Port Klang and Singapore, took part in Exercise BERSAMA PADU, and did passage exercises with units of the Indonesian Navy.  

Success took part in the RAN International Fleet Review (IFR) commemorating the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the RAN Fleet Unit in October 1913. While it was unable to take part in the ceremonial fleet entry it did host the IFR reception in the evening of 4 October with 400 guests embarking for the event. 

The vessel left Sydney on 17 February 2014 for Darwin and began patrols in northern Australian waters in support of Operation RESOLUTE at the end of the month. It escorted HMAS Ballarat, which was experiencing engineering defects, to Fremantle in March. The 2 ships berthed at Fremantle on the 15th and 3 days later Success was ordered to outchop from RESOLUTE tasking and assist in the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. It left Fremantle in the morning of 19 March as part of Operation SOUTHERN INDIAN OCEAN.

It arrived in its designated search area on the 22nd and posted additional lookouts round-the-clock. Over the course of the search and rescue operation, Success operated with several other ships from Australia, Malaysia, China and the US. The surface search for missing flight MH370 ended on 28 April and Success was released from Operation SOUTHERN INDIAN OCEAN. 

It left Sydney for Hawaii on 13 June to take part in Exercise RIMPAC. RIMPAC exercises ran through most of July and on this occasion involved 49 surface warships, 6 submarines, 200 aircraft and 24 000 personnel from 22 participating nations. 

It went to sea on 13 October in preparation to deploy to the Middle East Region (MER) in support of Operation MANITOU. 

In addition to its normal fleet support role, Success did patrol, surveillance and boarding operations. Its Seahawk helicopter flew surface search sorties most days and the ship made logistic visits during and between patrols to ports in the UAE, Oman and Djibouti. It also did replenishment operations with numerous ships from the various countries of the multinational task force including Spain, France, Turkey, the UK, Germany, the US, Italy and the Netherlands.

Success was assigned to NATO’s anti-piracy Operation OCEAN SHIELD at the end of March 2015, operating in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa. It met HMAS Anzac and HMNZS Te Kaha in April and transited the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean to participate in centenary of Anzac commemorations in Greece. The ship visited Moudros, the location of the Allied base during the Dardanelles campaign, and Athens and did exercises with Greek warships. The tanker transited the Suez Canal on 3 May back to the MER to continue MANITOU operations. 

2016 to 2017

Success went to East Time in June, carrying humanitarian assistance supplies. On arrival, members of the ship’s company helped at the Bairo Pite Medical Clinic, run solely through donations and by volunteers. While medical staff provided medical assistance, other members of the crew undertook general maintenance at the centre.

It went on to visit Jakarta, Singapore, Langkawi, Sattahip, Phuket, Penang and Chennai and did replenishment operations and exercises with naval units from the US, Malaysia and India. It did patrols of the oil rigs of Australia’s North West Shelf in support of Operation NORTHERN SHIELD at the end of August and into September, and did replenishment operations with US, Japanese and Canadian vessels in northern Australian waters for Exercise KAKADU.

The ship returned to sea on 30 January 2017 to participate in Exercise OCEAN EXPLORER in Western Australian waters. Following a brief visit to Melbourne Success arrived at Stirling on 10 February. OCEAN EXPLORER began a few days later and continued into March

The ship returned to Sydney at the end of March where it began preparations for Exercise TALISMAN SABRE. It did exercises with HMA Ships Darwin and Parramatta, and ESPS Cristobal Colon in early May before proceeding to Darwin. It did further exercises with Cristobal Colon and the French ships Mistral and Courbet before returning to Sydney at the end of the month.

Damage caused by a flood the forward pump compartment forced Success to remain alongside longer than scheduled; however, it returned to sea on 29 June and joined a task group that included 7 other RAN vessels, and went north to Queensland waters to participate in TALISMAN SABRE. The exercise continued through most of July and included 33 000 personnel from Australia and the US, as well embedded personnel from New Zealand, Japan and Canada.

Success visited Honiara where it took part in commemoration services marking the 75th anniversary of the loss of HMAS Canberra (I). It embarked 90 guests, including the Governor-General of the Solomon Islands, His Excellency Sir Frank Kabui, and the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, the Honourable Manasseh Sogavare, to conduct a commemoration ceremony over the wreck of Canberra

On 9 December, Success’ Commanding Officer, Commander Grant Zilko, attended the decommissioning ceremony of HMAS Darwin. During the ceremony, Commander Zilko accepted the ‘First Lady of the Fleet’ trophy as the mantle of the oldest commissioned ship in the RAN was passed from Darwin to Success.

HMAS Success flying the decommissioning pennant.

HMAS Success flying the decommissioning pennant while sailing into its homeport for the final time. (Darryl Bullock collection)

2018

The First Lady of the Fleet returned to Sea on 21 February 2018 and began post-refit trials, and shakedown and workup exercises. It left Sydney on 29 March to begin a five-month deployment which would include participation in Exercise BERSAMA SHIELD 18, INDO-PACIFIC ENDEAVOUR 18 and RIMPAC 18. The Australian task group consisted of Success and HMA Ships Anzac and Toowoomba.

Over the first 2 months of the deployment, Success visited Subic Bay, Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore, and took part in Exercise BERSAMA SHIELD, primarily in Malaysian waters, in May. During its passage from Subic Bay to Ho Chi Minh City it exchanged identities with the PLAN frigate Xuchang as it crossed the South China Sea. The Chinese vessel was part of a PLAN task group conducting exercises in the area. Xuchang and the corvette Liupanshui stayed in the vicinity for the duration of the passage. It once again exchanged identities with Xuchang after leaving Ho Chi Minh City for Singapore. All of its communications with the Chinese were cordial but these encounters reflected the disputes regarding freedom of navigation in the area.

The tanker visited Cairns at the end of May before embarking on INDO-PACIFIC ENDEAVOUR 18 (IPE 18). The IPE 18 Task Group included HMA Ships Adelaide, Melbourne and Toowoomba, and was intended to deepen Australia’s engagement and cooperation with regional security forces. Around 1000 ADF personnel were involved, as well as embarked forces from the US, Sri Lanka and Tonga and took part in training exercises, humanitarian and disaster relief planning, community engagement activities and discussions on regional security issues. The task group visited Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Success left Cairns on 30 May and visited ports in Vanuatu, Samoa and Papua New Guinea. The ship delivered humanitarian assistance stores while members of the ship’s company did maintenance at hospitals, aged care facilities, youth centres, schools and medical centres, did training exercises with the Samoan Police Maritime Wing, and facilitated workshops. IPE 18 bookended Success’ participation in Exercise RIMPAC which was did in July and included participants from 25 nations. The tanker returned to Sydney on 24 August and entered a leave and maintenance period.

It returned to sea on 23 October and did exercises off the New South Wales coast before proceeding north to Port Moresby in November for Operation APEC ASSIST, the ADF commitment to provide maritime security support to Papua New Guinea during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders forum. It returned to Sydney on 23 November where entered a leave and maintenance period for the remainder of the year.

Final year of operations and decommissioning

Following an extensive maintenance program to prepare for its final calendar year in commission, Success returned to sea on 17 February 2019 to participate in Exercise OCEAN EXPLORER in Western Australian waters at the end of the month and into March. Success stayed in Western Australia conducting exercises and undergoing maintenance before its final Freedom of Entry march through the streets of Fremantle on 9 March.

The ship left Fremantle with HMA Ships Canberra, Newcastle and Parramatta on 11 March for its last overseas deployment, INDO PACIFIC ENDEAVOUR 2019. Over the course of the deployment Success visited ports in Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. It did exercises with naval units from Sri Lanka, India and Indonesia, and took part in its final major international exercise, AUSINDEX 19. 

Success arrived back in Cairns on 31 May where it began decommissioning preparations ahead of its final month in commission. It did its final replenishment at sea serial on 4 June, transferring fuel to FNS Vendemiaire and HMA Ships Melbourne and Newcastle. It visited Brisbane and Jervis Bay before arriving back in Sydney on 16 June.

HMAS Success (II) decommissioned in Sydney on 29 June 2019. It steamed just over 997 854 nm over the course of its commission. 

Specifications

Type
Role Combat Logistics
Pennant
OR304
International Callsign
VLNN
Motto
Strive To Win
Builder
Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, NSW
Laid Down
9 August 1980
Launched
3 March 1984
Launched by
Her Excellency Lady Stephen, wife of the then Governor-General of Australia
Commissioned
23 April 1986
Decommissioned
29 June 2019
Dimensions & Displacement
Displacement 18,000 tonnes (full load)
Length 157.2 metres
Beam 21.2 metres
Draught 8.6 metres
Performance
Speed 20 knots
Range 8600 nautical miles
Complement
Crew 220
Propulsion
Machinery 2 x SEMT-Pielstick 16 diesels
Armament
Guns
  • 1 x Vulcan Phalanx Mk 15 CIWS (for selected deployments)
  • 7 x 12.7mm machine guns
Radars 2 x Kelvin Hughes Type 100G
Helicopters
  • 1 x AS 350B Squirrel or
  • 1 x Seahawk
Awards
Battle Honours
  • KUWAIT 1991
  • EAST TIMOR 1999-2000
Resources
News Articles
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