SA Quarterly Lunch
2023-03-23 12:00 - 14:30 (Australia/Sydney) | Adelaide Naval, Military & Air Force Club, 111 Hutt St, Adelaide, AR, 5000
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CATCH UP WITH OLD MATES AND MEET SOME NEW.
Cash bar and pay for food when ordering.
Dress – jacket & tie
Advise organiser of intention to attend by 16 March

Melbourne Monthly Drinks
2023-03-29 17:00 - 18:30, 2023-04-26 17:00 - 18:30, 2023-05-31 17:00 - 18:30, 2023-06-28 17:00 - 18:30 | Young & Jackson Hotel, 1 Swanston St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
NO HOST SOCIAL GATHERING FOR MEMBERS AND LIKE-MINDED GUESTS.
Drinks at regular bar prices.
Just turn up on the day.
Dress – Casual

ACT AGM & Monthly Lunch
2023-04-03 12:00 - 15:00 | Orion Room, Southern Cross Club, Woden, 92-96 Corinna Street, Woden, ACT, 2606, Australia
THE ACT DIVISION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING WILL BE HELD COMMENCING 12.00 TO BE FOLLOWED BY A SET LUNCHEON MENU.
A great opportunity to contribute to your club as well as catch up with old friends and make some new.
Main meal plus tea or coffee.
Cost $30 pay on the day.
Drinks at bar prices.
Dress – smart casual
Details will be notified by email.
Members wishing to attend this event should contact the Event Organiser (details below) at least a week before the event to reserve a place.

Sydney Lord Nelson Pub Lunch
2023-04-11 12:00 - 14:30 | Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel, 19 Kent Street, The Rocks, NSW, 2000, Australia
NO FINER SETTING FOR A GROUP OF FORMER OR SERVING MARINERS THAN THE ICONIC AND HISTORICAL LORD NELSON BREWERY PUB.
A main course lunch of your choice plus open bar for $60 cash on the day.
Now with exclusive use of the upstairs dining area.
Always popular and limited places so book early once you receive the email notification giving details of menu choices.
Dress – smart casual

WA Meeting & Dinner
2023-04-13 17:45 - 20:30, 2023-06-08 17:45 - 20:30, 2023-08-10 17:45 - 20:30 | Fremantle Sailing Club, 151 Marine Terrace, Fremantle, WA, Australia
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CATCH UP WITH OLD MATES AND MEET SOME NEW – GUESTS WELCOME.
Guest speaker to lead discussion period will be advised.
Cash bar and pay for food when ordering.
Details will be provided by email well in advance of event.
Advise organiser of intention to attend at least one week in advance.
A donation of $5 per attendee at our evening meetings will go into our bank coffers for expenses and donations.

ACT Monthly Lunch
2023-05-01 12:00 - 14:30 | Orion Room, Southern Cross Club, Woden, 92-96 Corinna Street, Woden, ACT, 2606, Australia
CATCH UP WITH OLD FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES OR MEET SOME NEW.
Main meal plus tea or coffee.
Cost $30 pay on the day.
Drinks at club prices.
Dress – smart casual
Members wishing to attend this event should contact the Event Organiser (details below) at least a week before the event to reserve a place.

WA Luncheon
2023-05-11 11:45 - 14:30 | Fremantle Sailing Club, 151 Marine Terrace, Fremantle, WA, Australia
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CATCH UP WITH OLD MATES AND MEET SOME NEW.
Cash bar and pay for food when ordering.
Visits may be arranged to maritime-interest sites followed by the luncheon – these will be advised separately.
Advise organiser of intention to attend one week before date.

USS Canberra Will Join the U.S. Fleet in Australia to Honour Namesake
2023-05-25 08:00 - 17:00 | WA
SAN DIEGO – The future USS Canberra (LCS 30) will join the U.S. Navy active fleet on July 22 with the U.S. Navy’s first international commissioning ceremony at the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Base East in Sydney, Australia.
Canberra is the first U.S. Navy warship to be commissioned in an allied country. It is the second U.S. Navy ship to bear the namesake of Canberra.
“I can think of no better way to signify our enduring partnership with Australia than celebrating the newest U.S. Navy warship named for Australia’s capital city, and commissioning her in Royal Australian Navy Fleet Base East surrounded by many of the Australian ships we have worked alongside for years,” said Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro. “I look forward to this momentous day for the ship, crew, sponsor, and all our partners in government and industry who worked tirelessly to give the future USS Canberra the celebration it deserves.”
Australian Chief of Navy, Vice Adm. Mark Hammond said this historic event encapsulates both the depth of the historical ties, and modern day partnership between the Royal Australian Navy and the U.S. Navy.   9 “This is a unique demonstration of respect by the U.S. for the Officers and Sailors of the Royal Australian Navy,” said Hammond. “It is an opportunity to reflect on our shared history, and on a friendship forged while fighting side-by-side. On August 9, 1942 the RAN heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra was severely damaged off Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands) while protecting the U.S. Marines fighting ashore. In a surprise attack by a powerful Japanese naval force, Canberra was hit 24 times in less than two minutes and 84 of her crew were killed including Captain Frank Getting”
“I look forward to welcoming the U.S. Navy, and the crew of USS Canberra to Australia and we are honoured to host the U.S. Navy’s first international commissioning. It will be a historical event to see the USS Canberra and HMAS Canberra alongside each other in Sydney. As we look to the future, the strength of our partnership remains a cornerstone of a secure, stable, free and open Indo-Pacific Region.”
The first USS Canberra (CA-70/CAG-2) was named at the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in honour of the Australian heavy cruiser HMAS Canberra for the ship’s courageous actions during the Battle of Savo Island that took place Aug. 7-9, 1942. The new Baltimore-class heavy cruiser was renamed Canberra from Pittsburgh on Oct. 16, 1942, and was commissioned on Oct. 14, 1943.
Canberra will soon begin the transit for the Navy’s first international ship commissioning making stops along the transit in Indo-Pacific nations prior to its arrival in Sydney for commissioning.
A visit to the Australian capital city of Canberra is planned the day after commissioning, continuing the U.S. Navy tradition of building a strong relationship with namesake communities.
The ship’s sponsor is Australian Senator, the Honourable Marise Payne, the former Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs who attended the ship’s keel laying ceremony in Mobile, Ala. in 2020. The ship was christened on 5 June 2021, by Alison Petchell, the Australian Government’s Defence Assistant Secretary for Industrial Capability Planning in the Nuclear Submarines Taskforce and former Minister Counsellor for Defense Materiel, on behalf of Senator Payne. The ship arrived for the first time at its homeport of San Diego last year.
The first U.S. Navy ship named after a foreign capital, Canberra (CA-70) was sponsored by Lady Alice C. Dixon, the wife of Sir Owen Dixon, then Australian Minister to the United States. Following World War II, Canberra was placed out of commission and in reserve on March 7, 1947. Five years later, the ship was selected to be the U.S. Navy’s second guided missile cruiser. The ship was re-commissioned on June 15, 1956, as guided missile heavy cruiser CAG-2.
With its new designation, Canberra transported President Dwight D. Eisenhower and later was the ceremonial flagship for the selection of the Unknown Serviceman of both World War II and Korea interned at Arlington National Cemetery, was the Commander of the Atlantic Fleet Cruiser Force flagship, conducted an around the globe goodwill cruise, provided medical assistance to the crew of the Turkish merchantman Mehmet Ipar, was the Commander Task Group 136.1 flagship that was charged with maintaining a blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis, and served in Korea and Vietnam. To highlight the ship’s role in naval gunfire support following operations in Vietnam, Canberra was re-designated to original classification and identification number CA-70 on May 1, 1968.
Canberra received seven battle stars for her service in World War II. The ship was decommissioned on Feb. 2, 1970, and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on July 31, 1978.
The present day USS Canberra is the 16th Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy. LCS are designed to be fast, optimally-manned, mission-tailored, surface combatants that operate in both littoral and open-ocean environments. LCS integrate with joint, combined, crewed, and unmanned systems to support forward-presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence missions around the globe. The future USS Canberra was built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. Source: SeaPower

TAS Monthly Drinks
2023-06-02 16:30 - 18:00, 2023-07-07 16:30 - 18:00, 2023-08-04 16:30 - 18:00, 2023-09-01 16:30 - 18:00 | Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, Marieville Esplanade, Sandy Bay Tasmania 7005, Sandy Bay, TAS, 7005, Australia
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO MEET UP WITH OLD FRIENDS AND POTENTIALLY MAKE SOME NEW.
No host event – bring a nautical friend
Casual drinks at bar prices
Pay your own way
Dress – smart casual

ACT Guest Luncheon
2023-06-05 12:00 - 15:00, 2023-07-03 12:00 - 14:30 | Orion Room, Southern Cross Club, Woden, 92-96 Corinna Street, Woden, ACT, 2606, Australia
BRING A GUEST OR TWO
Drinks and two course lunch
Cost approx $45 pp pay in advance. Email notice will confirm.
Drinks at club prices.
Dress – smart casual
Members wishing to attend this event should contact the Event Organiser (details below) at least a week before the event to reserve a place. Email before event will provide more detail.

China Illegally Entered Vietnam’s Waters. Russia Is Raising The Stakes.
2023-06-10 08:00 - 17:00 | WA
A 2014 photo how a Chinese coast guard ship being blocked by three Vietnamese Coast Guard Vessels. Photo: AP
When you’re in a geopolitical dispute with your bigger, stronger neighbor, the last thing you want is Russia taking their side. That’s exactly what’s happening to Vietnam in the South China Sea. Vietnam and China 7 have had a longstanding row involving the reach of Vietnam’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In recent weeks, a Chinese research ship and five escort vessels defied Vietnam’s orders to leave its EEZ, in an area near gas blocks operated by Russian firms. The episode exemplifies China’s increasing aggression in the South China Sea. It also reveals an important aspect of China’s “partnership” with Russia. China’s incursions into Vietnamese waters are nothing new. In 2017, China threatened to attack Vietnamese outposts unless Vietnam stopped drilling operations in a disputed area. The Spanish oil firm Repsol, which had been exploring in partnership with state-owned PetroVietnam, complied. During 2019, in a months-long standoff, Chinese vessels harassed Vietnamese hydrocarbon survey efforts in Vanguard Bank. In June 2020, China pressured PetroVietnam to cancel production-sharing contracts with Repsol for two blocks. A month later, PetroVietnam rejected a drilling contract with NobleNE +5% Corporation for another nearby block. Both decisions cost PetroVietnam financial and reputational damage. Concurrently with other attempts to establish “jurisdiction” over neighboring waters, China has ramped up its incursions into Vietnam’s EEZ. Since January 2022, Vietnam has observed Chinese Coast Guard vessels patrolling through energy exploration blocks operated by Russian firms within Vietnam’s EEZ more than 40 times. This month’s episode follows a similar one in March in which Chinese Coast Guard ships sailed through areas operated in part by Russia’s state-controlled Zarubezhneft and Gazprom. China denied knowledge of any patrols in those blocks. When Vietnam demanded the ships leave earlier this month, they were in a block operated by Vietgazprom, a joint venture between Gazprom and PetroVietnam. In response to the episode, a Chinese spokeswoman commented that “Relevant ships of China carry out normal activities under China’s jurisdiction. It is legitimate and lawful, and there is no issue of entering other countries’ exclusive economic zones.” China appears to be using its research activities to cement its illegal claim to “jurisdiction” over neighboring waters outside the boundaries established by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which China is a signatory. It is denying that it has entered Vietnam’s EEZ. Employing a strategy known as legal warfare or lawfare, China has similarly claimed jurisdiction over areas of the Philippines’ EEZ and even the Taiwan Strait—claims which have no basis in international law. It has even used a spy vessel to conduct “research” in the Philippines’ internal waters. Vietnam is getting tougher on China. Late last year, Vietnam settled a 12-year maritime boundary dispute with Indonesia, setting the stage for tensions with China. The Vietnam-Indonesia agreement was based on UNCLOS. Although China is a signatory to UNCLOS, it rejects application of the treaty to most of the South China Sea, and instead claims most of the South China Sea based on calculated misinterpretations of international law. In 2016, an arbitral tribunal invalidated China’s sweeping claims and ruled that maritime boundaries in the South China Sea must not exceed those established by UNCLOS. China has rejected the ruling, has spoken out strongly against its neighbors when they refer to it publicly, and has condemned Vietnam when it has threatened a similar lawsuit. China has resisted Vietnam’s attempts to follow and enforce international law. China expanded its patrols right before Indonesia and Vietnam signed their agreement in December. Chinese vessels have also patrolled the nearby Tuna gas field in Indonesia’s EEZ, and Indonesia deployed a warship in January to monitor a Chinese ship there. The fields that China has been entering this spring are close to the Vietnam’s strategic boundary with Indonesia’s EEZ, as well as other blocks claimed by China. Previously, China tried to insert into the negotiating text of ASEAN’s proposed South China Sea Code of Conduct a stipulation that neighboring states must conduct all economic activity in the South China Sea by themselves and not in cooperation with companies or countries from outside the region. This requirement would severely restrict state sovereignty and be nearly impossible to follow for states without the capital and technology to explore alone. It would also pave the way for China to become their default partner of choice—enabling China to more easily assert “jurisdiction.” Vietnam must continue to fight China’s attempts to restrict its sovereignty and choke its revenue. For all of its differences with the West and its Southeast Asian neighbors, Vietnam agrees with them on the 8 importance of UNCLOS. Vietnam and its neighbors should work to continue to settle their maritime disputes in accordance with UNCLOS, supported by the United States and other law-abiding nations. By establishing and enforcing UNCLOS as the governing principle of maritime boundaries in the South China Sea, a coalition of supporters of international law can push back against China’s aggression. The episode also reveals an important facet of the new “partnership” between China and Russia. Russia has become more reliant on energy sales to China since Russia invaded Ukraine. While it is unclear what the “no-limits” partnership means, China’s incursions into Russian-operated gas fields, even those jointly operated with Vietnam, shows that Russia will tacitly approve as China violates international law. Russia’s backing makes it even more important that law-abiding nations rally around UNCLOS and international law. When two superpowers line up against the international legal order, law-abiding nations must push back hard to keep it from crumbling. Source: Forbes Aerospace & Defense INS Vikrant will be Fully Operational by November 2023: Na

Victoria Quarterly Lunch
2023-06-14 12:00 - 14:30 | Angliss Restaurant, 555 La Trobe Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
VICTORIA DIVISION QUARTERLY LUNCH IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CATCH UP WITH FORMER COLLEAGUES AND MEET SOME NEW FRIENDS.
Cost of $40 covers two course lunch. Beverages at bar prices.
This is a combined lunch with NWOA. Go to NWOA website at this link to book by 7 June.
Dress – Jacket & Tie

WA Luncheon
2023-07-13 11:45 - 14:30 | Anzac House, 28 Saint Georges terrace, Perth, WA, 6000, Australia
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CATCH UP WITH OLD MATES AND MEET SOME NEW – GUESTS WELCOME.
May be turned into visit plus luncheon.
Cash bar and pay for food when ordering.
Details will be provided by email well in advance of event.
Advise organiser of intention to attend at least one week in advance.

NSW Mid-Winter Lunch
2023-07-23 12:00 - 16:00 | Kirribilli Club, 11 Harbourview Crescent, Lavender Bay, NSW, 2060, Australia
THE KIRRIBILLI CLUB WILL BE WELL KNOWN TO MANY MEMBERS AS A RELAXED ENVIRONMENT OFFERING FINE FOOD AND BEVERAGES. THE NOC FUNCTION AREA HAS A BALCONY WITH VIEWS.
Partners and guests welcome.
The all inclusive cost includes canapes on arrival, entree and main plus a 4 hour drinks package.
Close to Milson’s Point railway station and the Luna Park Milsons Point ferry terminal.
Advise organiser of attendance and any dietary requirements by 16 July.
Dress – smart casual
Cost – TBA

VIC Monthly Drinks
2023-07-26 17:00 - 18:00, 2023-08-30 17:00 - 18:30 | Young & Jackson Hotel, 1 Swanston St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia

ACT Member Lunch
2023-08-07 12:00 - 14:30, 2023-09-04 12:00 - 14:30 | Orion Room, Southern Cross Club, Woden, 92-96 Corinna Street, Woden, ACT, 2606, Australia

Brisbane Quarterly Lunch
2023-09-13 12:30 - 14:30 | United Services Club, 183 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill, QLD, 4000, Australia
A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CATCH UP WITH FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES
Pay own way on the day
Dress – smart casual
Advise organiser of intention to attend by 7 September

WA Luncheon
2023-09-14 09:45 - 14:30 | WA
A SPECIAL VISIT + CATCH UP WITH OLD MATES AND MEET SOME NEW.
Cash bar and pay for food when ordering.
Visit to Police Air Wing at Jandakot followed by lunch at venue TBA
Meeting place TBA
Advise organiser of intention to attend one week before date.

VIC Quarterly Lunch
2023-09-21 12:00 - 14:30 | Young & Jackson Hotel, 1 Swanston St, Melbourne, VIC, 3000, Australia
VICTORIA DIVISION QUARTERLY LUNCH IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CATCH UP WITH FORMER COLLEAGUES AND MEET SOME NEW FRIENDS.
Guests Welcome
Cost to be advised. Pay on the day.
Dress – Smart Casual
