Ships in Jervis bay.

Late yesterday afternoon I went around to Hole in the Wall and took a few pictures of the Atoll 2,   a beautiful, 2 masted sailing boat,  tucked in close to the shore seeking shelter from the southerly winds. The conditions were not ideal for taking photographs,  dark and overcast, raining and misty, but the bay looked absolutely beautiful all the same.

Moored near the Atoll 2 was the DMS navy support ship,  Seahorse Horizon. Built in 1984, the ship was initially operated by the National Safety Council of Australia as MV Blue Nabilla. She was purchased by the RAN in 1990 for use as a surveillance, training, and diving support vessel and renamed, HMAS Protector, she was used as a  Royal Australian Navy (RAN) trials and submarine rescue ship.  During her military career, Protector supported the trials of the Collins-class submarines, and was involved in a search for the shipwreck of the World War II cruiser HMAS Sydney.  The ship was decommissioned in 1998 and, while still owned by the Commonwealth, she is provided to Defence Maritime Services to allow them to support Navy activities under contract.  Renamed Seahorse Horizon, the ship is operated by Defence Maritime Services out of HMAS Creswell as a training and Fleet support vessel. REF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Protector_(ASR_241)

Seahorse Horizon behind Hole in the Wall.

The Huskisson side of the bay was shrouded in thick mist almost obscuring the land , out of the mist appeared two largs ghost like shapes, hard to discern, but as they moved closer you could make out the distinctive shapes of two large navy ships.

The ship in the foreground is the second of two Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) ships, HMAS Adelaide .    The ship in the background is the Adelaide-class guided-missle Frigate HMAS Darwin. Both ships, slowly and carefully moved about the bay in the misty conditions,  the Adelaide finally coming to a halt in front of HMAS Creswell before dropping it’s anchor,   the Adelaide almost dissapeared into the gloom  near  Honemoon Bay.

Very early this morning I took this photograph of HMAS Adelaide under lights near Hole in the Wall.