I was privileged to attend the HMAS Melville Decommissioning Ceremony in Cairns today. The Melville was a workhorse of the Australian hydrographic surveying fleet and in other operations for over two decades.
During that period, I was invited three times to searide onboard the Melville as a civilian marine scientist to observe mapping operations in the Bass Strait and in the Great Barrier Reef.

HMAS Melville in Cairns