Defence Minister Stephen Smith says a tender for major base security upgrades will be released soon.
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Defence Minister Stephen Smith says a tender for major base security upgrades will be released soon.
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Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the Pentagon's role in responding to the attack last year on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where the ambassador and three other Americans were killed. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta adjusts his papers as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the Pentagon's role in responding to the attack last year on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where the ambassador and three other Americans were killed. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013, before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the Pentagon's role in responding to the attack last year on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where the ambassador and three other Americans were killed. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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FILE - This Nov. 28, 2012 file photo shows UN Ambassador Susan Rice leaving a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. Rice has withdrawn from consideration for secretary of state. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)
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FILE - This Dec. 3, 2012 file photo shows Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. The top contenders for the “big three” jobs in President Barack Obama’s Cabinet are white men, raising fresh concerns among Democratic women about diversity in the president’s inner-circle. Their long-simmering worries were rekindled after Susan Rice withdrew under pressure from consideration as the next secretary of state. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
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FILE - In this Jan. 31, 2013 file photo, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington before the Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing. When President Barack Obama declared Hagel would be the first former enlisted man to lead the Pentagon, he seemed to overlook four previous defense chiefs who served at least part of their military years as enlisted men. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Navy gets new helicopter landing dock ship
War veteran Ernie Rudland sees only one obvious similarity between Australia's newest, biggest naval vessel and the ship he served on 70 years earlier: a name.
As a teenager, he was assigned to HMAS Canberra before it was crippled by a Japanese strike and sunk in the Pacific on August 9, 1942, during World War II.
A second Canberra was decommissioned in 2005.
But on Friday, the national capital's name was bestowed on a new vessel - the first Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) - so big it can hold more than 1100 personnel, 100 armoured vehicles and a dozen helicopters.
"There's no comparison at all," Mr Rudland, now 89, said after attending a naming ceremony in Melbourne.
"This is mighty. This is something that you could hardly expect. I'm really stunned at the size of it and the way it's been put together."
At 27,500 tonnes, the ship is one of two LHDs acquired at a cost of more than $2 billion.
Vickie Coates, widow of the late Rear Admiral Nigel Coates, christened the ship at Williamstown dock, surrounded by sailors, politicians and senior defence force staff.
"I name this ship Canberra. May God bless her and all who serve in her," she said to applause and three cheers from the crowd gathered inside its massive hull.
Mrs Coates was chosen because her late husband was the last person to command an HMAS Canberra.
The next commander will have to wait until 2014 when the ship will enter service for defence, humanitarian efforts and disaster relief.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who attended Friday's ceremony, said she was proud to see a Canberra joining the national fleet.
"Canberra and her sister landing helicopter dock ship will give our navy, and our defence force as a whole, an entirely new ability to defend Australia and our interests," she said.
"No HMAS Canberra has ever let us down."
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