HMAS Coonawarra

HMAS Coonawarra is a Royal Australian Navy base located in Darwin, Northern Territory and is home to twelve fleet units of the Royal Australian Navy.

History
During World War I Darwin port had been used as a coaling station for naval ships, but it was not considered a naval base. Later, during the 1930s, the RAN constructed oil fuel tanks on the harbour front, holding about 90,000 tons of oil. All were destroyed in the Japanese attack on Darwin on 19 February 1942.

The first naval depot at Darwin was established in January 1935. This was a naval reserve depot, commanded by Lieutenant Commander H.P. Jarrett. At this time, Darwin was part of the Naval Reserve District of Queensland. In 1937, the Naval District of the Northern Territory was separated from the Queensland District, and the first District Naval Officer, Lieutenant Commander J.H. Walker, was appointed. In 1939, under the recommendation of the Committee of Imperial Defence, a high-powered radio transmitter was constructed. The period leading up to World War II saw a build up of personnel, the establishment of fuelling facilities, a boom depot and later the Navy paid for improvements to Darwin's water supply in order to provide an adequate supply of water for visiting naval ships.

At the outbreak of World War II, the Naval depot in Darwin was named HMAS Penguin, and on 1 August 1940 was formally commissioned as HMAS Melville. Throughout World War II, the Wireless Transmitting Station provided essential communications service in support of Allied Operations in the South West Pacific regions. The base suffered significant damage during the Japanese bombing raids on the city.

After World War II, the base continued to be known as HMAS Melville. The development of Darwin during the 1950s and 1960s saw the size of Melville shrink, the problem was intensified by the continued growth of naval personnel in Darwin. It was decided to decommission Melville and relocate the RAN's Darwin base to naval Wireless Transmitting Station Coonawarra. Although the base was transferred over and commissioned at HMAS Coonawarra on 16 March 1970, facilities at Melville remained operational until their destruction by Cyclone Tracy on 25 December 1974.

Over recent years Coonawarra has been expanded into a modern naval facility.

Incidents
Early on 30 November 2012 an armed intruder stole fourteen firearms from an Armidale class patrol boat moored at the base. Two pump-action shotguns and twelve semi-automatic pistols were stolen. The balaclava clad intruder overwhelmed a crew member before using cable ties to restrain them.

The firearms were all recovered on 1 December when the Major and Serious Crime Squad raided a Darwin city unit at about 2:30pm. One man was taken into custody.

Facilities
The wharf can accommodate six vessels, berthed three abreast. Services such as fuel, electrical power, compressed air, sewerage out, oily waste suction, and defuelling is available at the berthing points. The facility has the capability to dock a vessel with a draught of up to two metres at any tide, is capable of lifting or lowering a vessel up to 750 tonnes at a rate of 420 mm per minute, and is designed to withstand cyclones.

Ships Stationed
Armidale class
 * HMAS Armidale
 * HMAS Larrakia
 * HMAS Bathurst
 * HMAS Albany
 * HMAS Pirie
 * HMAS Maitland
 * HMAS Ararat
 * HMAS Broome
 * HMAS Maryborough
 * HMAS Glenelg