Ready, aim, fire at our mates

Joseph CatanzaroThe West Australian

The sailor lowered his binoculars and pointed at a dark smudge staining the distant horizon, the indistinct shape quickly resolving itself into the silhouette of a vessel straddling the border between sea and sky.

"That's the ship," he said, words snatched away on a stiff sea breeze.

Sailors sprang into action and boots clattered on the metal deck of HMAS Toowoomba as the other vessel approached, powering through the deep blue waters of the south Arabian Sea to tower over the sleek profile of the smaller Royal Australian Navy frigate.

Hunched over the centreline compass on the bridge, the Toowoomba's navigator Lt Adam Pearce directed the helmsman to bring the ship within 36m of the 210m long floating behemoth now matching pace at 13 knots alongside, close enough to see two of its sailors aim rifles loaded with plastic grappling hooks at the Australians.

"This is the most dangerous thing two ships can do," Lt Pearce said. "We're only about 40m apart, there's 50,000 tonnes of warship between us, and if something goes wrong we could quite easily hit each other."

The two sailors aboard US supply ship USNS Richard E. Byrd fired almost simultaneously, sending ropes attached to the projectiles arcing over the churning white water between the ships to land on the Toowoomba's bow and stern.

With the lines grabbed and secured by the Toowoomba's crew, steel cables winched to 25 tonnes of pressure followed.

Rarely seen by those not on an operational deployment, this is a replenishment at sea, a technically challenging but vital operation that allows coalition warships to stock up on fuel and supplies without taking time out from their mission to battle piracy and terrorism in Middle Eastern waters.

For the 192-strong crew of the WA-based Toowoomba, the replenishment at sea came just as they crossed into pirate territory in the Gulf of Aden, north of Somalia, about to embark on a final 29-day patrol of the region after almost six months in the Middle East.

With the ships locked firmly together, a giant tube called a probe was extended from the Richard E. Byrd and plugged in to the Toowoomba by her crew, the slack black hose growing rigid as 160,000 litres of diesel and 30,000 litres of aviation fuel began to refuel the Australian frigate.

Leading Seaman Christopher Bobbin, 28, likened the process to filling up at the petrol station.

"The only difference is you've got wires connecting you to a giant moving fuel pump with the ocean in the middle," he joked.

On the Toowoomba's flag deck, sailors manning 50-calibre machineguns vigilantly scanned the horizon for threats.

"This is when we're most vulnerable," Lt Pearce said.

From the stern of the US supply ship a Puma helicopter took off, transferring a heavy bag to the Toowoomba's flight deck.

Down in the Australian ship's junior sailors' mess the contents of the bag, 132kg of mail from home, was distributed to eager hands.

With barely concealed haste, Able Seaman Wade Cullinan, 30, ripped open the wrapping on his Father's Day present from son Beau, smiling as he pulled out a canvas painted by the two-year-old.

"Getting mail lets you know people at home care and that they are thinking about you," he said.

Beneath a searing sun back up on the flag deck, one of the sailors cranked up the stereo, sending a friendly blast of Australian rock'n'roll across the water at the departing US supply vessel.

His ship fuelled and fully armed, the Toowoomba's captain, Cdr Andrew Quinn, said the frigate was now "bombed up and ready to go."

With an eye on the horizon, he directed her deeper into the Gulf, for the final patrol before the ship heads home.

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