AUSTRALIAN NAVY FOUNDATION DAY "CRESWELL ORATION"
103rd. ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
Address by Rear Admiral Raydon W Gates CSM RAN on 1st March 2004 - 103rd. Anniversary of the Australian Navy's Foundation Day (1st March 1901)

(c) CopyrightR W Gates March 2004

"2004 Creswell Oration"
by
Rear Admiral Raydon W Gates CSM RAN - Maritime Commander

GOVERNOR, MR JOHN LANDY, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I AM HONOURED INDEED TO BE PRESENT TODAY TO DELIVER THE CRESWELL ORATION FOR 2004. IN DOING SO, I MUST PASS ON THE APOLOGIES OF CHIEF OF NAVY, VICE ADMIRAL CHRIS RITCHIE WHO HAD INITIALLY ACCEPTED THE NAVY LEAGUE'S KIND INVITATION BUT THEN WAS UNABLE TO ATTEND.
I APPLAUD THE NAVY LEAGUE'S ENTHUSIASM IN CONCEPTUALISING AND MAINTAINING THE ENERGY REQUIRED TO HOST SUCH AN IMPORTANT EVENT ON THE NAVY HISTORY CALENDAR. IT IS APPROPRIATE INDEED THAT WE MARK THE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION OF WILLIAM ROOKE CRESWELL TO OUR PRESENT DAY NAVY IN THIS MANNER.
I NOTE THAT I AM THE FOURTH TO DELIVER THIS ORATION. COMMODORE JIM DICKSON PRESENTED THE FIRST IN 2001. JIM GAVE A TERRIFIC INSIGHT INTO THE POLITICAL MACHINATIONS, BOTH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IN AUSTRALIA, BEHIND SHAPING A NEW NAVY. HE HIGHLIGHTED THE SHEER ENERGY OF CRESWELL AND THE VISION OF THIS COUNTRY'S FIRST TWO PRIME MINISTERS. HE ALSO REINFORCED HIS VERY STRONG OPINION THAT TODAY, 1 MARCH, IS OUR 103 RD BIRTHDAY, AND NOT THE WIDELY HELD BELIEF THAT WE DIDN'T HAVE A NAVY UNTIL THE TITLE "ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY" WAS CONFERRED IN 1911.
REAR ADMIRAL BRIGGS LOOKED AT CRESWELL THROUGH THE PERISCOPE IN 2002 - A DEVICE HE HAS SPENT A SIGNIFICANT TIME LOOKING THROUGH DURING HIS DISTINGUISHED NAVAL SERVICE. PETER PAID TRIBUTE TO CRESWELL BUT SUGGESTED THAT HIS COMPATRIOTS ON THE NAVAL BOARD - THE ENGINEER CAPTAIN WILLIAM CLARKSON AND THE LOGISTICIAN PAYMASTER-IN-CHIEF ELDON MANISTY, WERE "THE MIDWIVES WITHOUT WHOM THE SUCCESSFUL BIRTH (OF THE AUSTRALIAN NAVY) WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED".
THEN LAST YEAR COMMODORE BRIAN GIBBS DELVED INTO THE DETAIL ABOUT CRESWELL HIMSELF, HIS YOUTH, TRAINING AND EXPERIENCES, AND HIS IMPRESSIVE ACHIEVEMENTS THROUGH A VERY FULL LIFETIME. AS AN ASIDE, I WAS SOMEWHAT TAKEN BY READING OF CRESWELL'S POSTING TO HMS LONDON STATIONED AT ZANZIBAR FROM 1875 TO 1878 ENGAGED ON OPERATIONS AGAINST SLAVE TRADERS.
I COULD NOT HELP BUT THINK OF THE COMPARISONS BETWEEN CRESWELL'S "MANY BRUSHES WITH ARAB DHOWS" AND OUR OWN FLEET WHICH HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN ALMOST CONSTANT BRUSHES WITH ARAB DHOWS THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST OVER THE LAST 13 YEARS MY REFLECTION HERE SERVES TO SITUATE MY TASK HERE TODAY.
YOU HAVE ENJOYED THREE TERRIFIC ORATIONS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS AND I DARE TO SUGGEST THAT YOU KNOW THE MAN, WILLIAM CRESWELL, MUCH BETTER THAN ME.
THE COURSE I INTEND TO SHAPE THEN, IS TO EXTEND THE BRIEF A LITTLE AND, NOTING MY POSITION AS MARITIME COMMANDER AUSTRALIA, BUILD ON THE RELEVANCE OF CRESWELL'S WORK FOR THE FLEET OF TODAY. IT IS A GOODTIME FOR ME TO REFLECT!
I HAVE BEEN THE MARITIME COMMANDER FOR JUST OVER EIGHTEEN MONTHS. ONE OF THE VERY PLEASANT DUTIES OF A MARITIME COMMANDER IS TO CO-HOST, ALONG WITH THE COMMANDING OFFICER, THE COMMISSIONING CEREMONY FOR NEW SHIPS. DURING MY TENURE I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN THE COMMISSIONINGS OF HMA SHIPS STUART, YARRA AND PARRAMATTA AND THE SUBMARINE RANKIN. IN OUR NAVY, THE COMMISSIONING ENCAPSULATES THE OLD AND THE NEW - IT REFLECTS ON THE PAST BUT LOOKS TOWARDS A BRIGHT FUTURE OF THE NEW SHIP. THE CEREMONY ESSENTIALLY SETS THE TONE FOR THAT VESSEL AND IMBUES IT WITH THE TRADITIONS AND VALUES AND STORIES OF ITS NAMESAKES. OF THE FOUR NEW VESSELS I HAVE MENTIONED, I WISH TO FOCUS ON TWO - YARRA AND PARRAMATTA. BOTH THESE VESSELS ARE THE FOURTH TO PROUDLY BEAR THEIR NAME. YARRA, THE LAST OF OUR HUON CLASS MINEHUNTER COASTALS WAS COMMISSIONED IN MARCH 2003. SHE IS SOON TO DEPLOY TO THE SOLOMON ISLANDS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE OPERATION TO STABILISE THAT REGION. PARRAMATTA WAS COMMISSIONED ON 4 OCTOBER 2003 - A SIGNIFICANT DATE INDEED.
I VISITED PARRAMATTA JUST OFF CHRISTMAS ISLAND IN DECEMBER LAST YEAR AND CAN REPORT THAT THE SHIP DID A FANTASTIC JOB CONTRIBUTING TO BORDER PROTECTION OPERATIONS. PARRAMATTA I AND YARRA I, ALONG WITH HMA SHIPS AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE, ENCOUNTER, SYDNEY AND WARREGO ENTERED SYDNEY HARBOUR ON 4 OCTOBER 1913 (THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMMISSION PARRAMATTA IV ON 4 OCTOBER COULD NOT BE MISSED!).
WHAT A PROUD MOMENT THIS MUST HAVE BEEN TO WILLIAM CRESWELL WHO HAD BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN REINVIGORATING THE SOMEWHAT DILAPIDATED COLLECTION OF SHIPS GROUPED TOGETHER AFTER FEDERATION AS THE COMMONWEALTH NAVAL FORCES (CNF) ON 1 MARCH 1901. CRESWELL WAS APPOINTED AS DIRECTOR OF NAVAL FORCES IN DECEMBER 1904 - AND FOR THE FIRST TIME THERE WAS A CLEAR HEAD OF CNF. CRESWELL'S DESCRIPTION OF THE CNF AS BEING "ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE" MAY HAVE BEEN DAUNTING TO MANY BUT FOR CRESWELL IT PRESENTED AS A CHALLENGE. HE RECOMMENDED AN AMBITIOUS SCHEDULE OF ACQUISITION FOR AUSTRALIA AND THEN FOUGHT AT HOME AND AT THE ADMIRALTY FOR THIS TO OCCUR. CRESWELL OBVIOUSLY HAD THE EAR OF PRIME MINISTER DEAKIN AS IN 1907 THE PM SET ASIDE 250 000 POUNDS FOR HARBOUR AND COAST DEFENCE. LUCKILY FOR US, AND ONE CAN ASSUME WITH CONTINUED PERSERVERANCE BY CRESWELL, THE NEW PRIME MINISTER ANDREW FISCHER IN 1908 ANNOUNCED A THREE-YEAR ACQUISITION SCHEME BASED ON UP TO 23 DESTROYERS.
THE TWO NEW RIVER CLASS DESTROYERS, PARRAMATTA AND YARRA WERE COMMISSIONED ON 10 SEPTEMBER 1910 AT GREENOCK, UNITED KINGDOM. WHEN THESE SHIPS AND SISTER SHIP WARREGO, ALONG WITH THE NEW BATTLECRUISER AUSTRALIA, THE LIGHT CRUISER SYDNEY, AND CRUISERS ENCOUNTER AND MELBOURNE, ENTERED SYDNEY HARBOUR ON 4 OCTOBER 1913 IT MUST HAVE BEEN A VERY PROUD MOMENT INDEED FOR CRESWELL TO OBSERVE THE FRUITS OF HIS FORCE STRUCTURE LABOURS - AND, FOR THE FLEET OF 2004, THAT ENTRY INTO SYDNEY HARBOUR IS A VERY REAL LINK WITH OUR HERITAGE. CRESWELL'S STAR CONTINUED TO RISE OVER THE NEXT DECADES AND IT IS TESTAMENT TO THE MAN THAT THE PERIOD HE SERVED IN THE AUSTRALIAN NAVY FROM FORMATION THROUGH TO 1922 WAS ONE OF THE MOST TUMULTUOUS PERIODS OF MODERN TIME.
FOR AUSTRALIA WE WERE ON A COURSE OF NATION-BUILDING, FOR THE WORLD IT WAS A PERIOD OF WAR ON AN UNPRECEDENTED SCALE FOLLOWED BY THE POST-WAR DEPRESSION. I CONSIDER THAT MUCH OF CRESWELL'S TIME WOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN UP WITH MATTERS OF PREPAREDNESS AND FORCE STRUCTURE. CERTAINLY MY DAYS ARE FILLED WITH HOW TO BEST DELIVER TO GOVERNMENT NAVAL FORCES THAT ARE PREPARED TO DO WHAT MAY BE ASKED OF THEM. TODAY, AFTER MANY YEARS OF THEORISING AND REVIEWING THE HARD LESSONS OF HISTORY, WE DEFINE PREPAREDNESS AS BEING THE PRODUCT OF READINESS AND SUSTAINABILITY - THAT IS A FORCE'S ABILITY TO BE COMMITTED TO OPERATIONS WITHIN A SPECIFIED TIME AND THEN BE SUSTAINED ON OPERATIONS. WHETHER HE CALLED IT PREPAREDNESS, READINESS OR JUST PLAIN COMMON-SENSE, IT IS CLEAR THAT THE NAVY CRESWELL HAD CONTROL OVER IN 1914 WAS READY TO DO THE JOB. DR. DAVID STEVENS, IN HIS EXCELLENT THIRD VOLUME IN THE AUSTRALIAN CENTENARY SERIES, DESCRIBES THE AUSTRALIAN NAVY RAIDING GROUP HUNTING FOR THE GERMAN EAST ASIATIC CRUISER SQUADRON UNDER COMMAND OF VICE ADMIRAL VON SPEE IN THE VERY EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR. ALTHOUGH THE RAID ON RABAUL PROVED FRUITLESS, VON SPEE'S SQUADRON HAVING ALREADY DEPARTED, THIS WAS A SIGNIFICANT OPERATION. STEVENS WRITES, "A NIGHT ATTACK ON A POORLY CHARTED ENEMY HARBOUR 1860 MILES FROM SYDNEY WAS NO EASY MATTER, AND FOR THE RAN TO HAVE UNDERTAKEN IT WITHIN DAYS OF THE OUTBREAK OF WAR WAS A MEASURE OF THE HIGH STANDARD OF READINESS ALREADY INSTILLED IN THE FLEET".
IT IS SIGNIFICANT, FOR ME AT LEAST, THAT BOTH PARRAMATTA AND YARRA WERE INVOLVED IN THIS RAID! CRESWELL THEN OVERSAW THE EXPANSION OF HIS FLEET OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS FROM 16 VESSELS TO A CREDIBLE 37 SHIPS. NOT ONLY DID CRESWELL ENSURE THE FLEET WAS READY AT THE START OF THE WAR, HE CONTINUED TO SHAPE AND THEN DELIVER TO THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT A NAVAL FORCE PREPARED TO DO THE JOB ASKED OF IT. IF I CAN DEPART THE SELF-RELIANCE THEME TO CONCENTRATE ON THE CONCEPTS FOR AN AUSTRALIAN MARITIME STRATEGY - AS SEEN THROUGH CRESWELL'S EYES AT THE START OF LAST CENTURY.
I HAVE ALREADY MENTIONED THE MAN'S VISION IN LOBBYING HARD FOR THE HARDWARE NEEDED TO MAKE A CREDIBLE AND SELF-RELIANT NAVY - BUT THAT COUNTS FOR LITTLE WITHOUT THE INTELLECTUAL RIGOUR TO UNDERPIN THE FORCE STRUCTURE. CRESWELL WAS, OF COURSE, A PRODUCT OF HIS UPBRINGING, TRAINING, AND ROYAL NAVY EXPERIENCE. IT IS CLEAR TO ME, FROM HIS WRITINGS, THAT CRESWELL WAS A THINKER - AND A STRONG PROPONENT OF A MARITIME STRATEGY FOR AUSTRALIA. OF COURSE CRESWELL WASN'T THE ONLY ONE THINKING OR WRITING ALONG THESE LINES - AND I ACKNOWLEDGE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HENDERSON PLAN OF 1911 IN SHAPING A LONGER TERM VISION FOR AUSTRALIA'S MARITIME DEFENCE. MY FOCUS THOUGH IS OF COURSE ON CRESWELL'S CONTRIBUTION TO THIS DEBATE AND I WILL CONTAIN MY COMMENTS ACCORDINGLY.
IN 1902 CRESWELL WROTE OF THE ABSOLUTE REQUIREMENT FOR AUSTRALIA TO BE A MARITIME STATE. HE SAID "IT IS A TRUISM THAT THE DEFENCE OF THE FRONTIER OF A STATE SHOULD BE IN THE HANDS OF ITS FRONTIERSMEN. IN AUSTRALIA OUR SEAMAN ARE OUR FRONTIERSMEN". HE DIPPED HIS OAR INTO THAT AGE-OLD BATTLE BETWEEN ARMIES AND NAVIES AS WELL AND REINFORCED THE FRAGILITY OF AUSTRALIA'S TRADE SECURITY WHEN HE WROTE "THE SPECTACLE OF SOME 5,000,000 ANGLO-AUSTRALIANS, WITH AN ARMY SPLENDIDLY EQUIPPED, UNABLE TO PREVENT THE BURING OF A CARGO OF WOOL IN SIGHT OF SYDNEY HEADS, IS THE ONLY CONSEQUENCE OF A POLICY OF NAVAL IMPOTENCE". STRONG, COLOURFUL WORDS INDEED - BUT THEY STILL RING TRUE TODAY.
WE ARE A MARITIME NATION - WE DO DEPEND ON THE SEA FOR OUR WEALTH AND TRADE - AND WE DO NEED TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT OUR VITAL NATIONAL INTERESTS. I DON'T INTEND TO JOIN THE ARMY VERSUS NAVY DEBATE, APART FROM SAYING THAT WE HAVE A CLOSE, SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP TODAY AND "JOINT" OPERATIONS ARE OUR MODUS OPERANDI - BUT WILL MERELY STATE THAT WHAT CRESWELL RECOGNISED 100 YEARS AGO IS ECHOED IN OUR MODERN DOCTRINE AND OUR CURRENT GOVERNMENT STRATEGIC PAPERS.
IT IS A FACT THAT OUR GEOGRAPHY AND RELIANCE ON TRADE HAS DRIVEN THE NEED FOR A NAVY IN THIS COUNTRY SINCE EARLY SETTLEMENT - CRESWELL CHAMPIONED THE CAUSE A CENTURY AGO. CRESWELL SEIZED UPON THIS THEME AGAIN IN 1909 WHEN, RECOGNISING THE RAPIDLY CHANGING STRATEGIC CIRCUMSTANCES, HE WROTE THAT "IN A NAVAL WAR …. COMMERCE DESTRUCTION WILL ALWAYS BE ATTEMPTED". I CANNOT CONFIRM THAT HE HAD RANKED HIS FOUR POINT ARGUMENT IN ORDER OF PRIORITY - BUT 'THE SECURITY OF TRADE' TOPIC INTRODUCED HIS PAPER ON THE PROPOSALS FOR A FLEET UNIT. ALTHOUGH OUR STRAETGIC CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE CHANGED RAPIDLY IN RECENT YEARS, I STILL MAINTAIN THAT PROTECTION OF OUR ECONOMIC LIFELINE IS FUNDAMENTAL TO THE PROSPERITY, AND THEREFORE SECURITY, OF THIS NATION.
BEFORE I DRAW MY THREADS TOGETHER, I WOULD LIKE TO REFLECT ON NAVY'S CONTRIBUTION TO OPERATIONS OVER THE LAST EIGHTEEN MONTHS. THE LEVEL OF ACTIVITY HAS BEEN QUITE ASTOUNDING - TASK GROUPS DEPLOYED TO THE MIDDLE EAST BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER THE IRAQ WAR; CONTRIBUTION TO RESTORE STABILITY TO THE SOLOMONS; OUR ONGOING CONTRIBUTION TO FISHERIES SURVEILLANCE, BOTH IN THE NORTH AND IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN; INTERDICTION OPERATIONS SUCH AS THAT BY STUART AGAINST THE NORTH KOREAN DRUG SMUGGLER "PONG SU"; AND OF COURSE THE ONGOING COMMITMENT TO BORDER PROTECTION.
IT HAS BEEN QUITE AN AMAZING TIME TO BE MARITIME COMMANDER AND I ACKNOWLEDGE THE INCREDIBLE WORK DONE BY ALL MY OFFICERS AND SAILORS. OF PARTICULAR NOTE IS THE WAY WE IN NAVY CAN RESPOND TO JUST ABOUT ANY TASKING THE GOVERNMENT PASSES OUR WAY. WHETHER IT IS CLOSE TO SHORE OR AS IN THE RECENT EXAMPLE, IN EXTREME WEATHER CONDITIONS OF THE SOUTHERN OCEAN, JOINT AND COALITION ACTIVITIES OR MORE TRADITIONAL POLICING ACTIVITIES, WE ARE PREPARED.
OUR ABILITY TO ACT IN THIS MANNER IS TESTAMENT TO OUR BEGINNINGS, 103 YEARS AGO. CRESWELL'S VISION AND HIS STRONG MESSAGE ADVOCATING SELF-RELIANCE IS ENDURING AND HAS BEEN THE BEDROCK OF OUR NAVY. AS DAVID STEVENS NOTES, "EVEN DURING PERIODS WHEN AUSTRALIA PLACED GREAT RELIANCE ON ITS GREAT AND POWERFUL FRIENDS FOR ULTIMATE SECURITY, THERE HAS REMAINED AN APPRECIATION OF THE VERSATILITY OFFERED BY THE POSSESSION OF INDEPENDENT MARITIME FORCES - AND SURFACE WARSHIPS IN PARTICULAR … MOREOVER, MARITIME FORCES POSSESS HIGH LEVELS OF READINESS, AND CAN PLAY A USEFUL ROLE ACROSS A BROAD RANGE OF TASKS; FROM HUMANITARIAN AND PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS RIGHT THROUGH TO A SHOW OF FORCE AND GENERAL WAR".
CRESWELL RECOGNISED THIS IN THE FORMATION OF AUSTRALIA'S NAVY AND I CERTAINLY RECOGNISE IT AS MARITIME COMMANDER IN THE 21ST CENTURY. I HAVE MENTIONED CHANGING STRATEGIC CIRCUMSTANCES AND MY FLEET'S HIGH WORKLOAD DURING MY TENURE. A VERY SIGNIFICANT EVENT OCCURRED DURING THE IRAQ WAR OF WHICH CRESWELL WOULD HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY PROUD. I SPEAK OF THE RAN'S COMMAND OF THE COALITION TASK GROUP IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE ARABIAN GULF JUST TWELVE MONTHS AGO DURING THE ACTUAL CONFLICT. I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT CONTRIBUTION TO COALITION OPERATIONS BY WAY OF COMMITTING FORCES IS VERY DIFFERENT TO ASSUMING COMMAND! OF COURSE, WHAT MANY DO NOT REALISE, IS THAT THIS DID NOT OCCUR OVERNIGHT. OUR CONTRIBUTION TO THAT REGION HAS BEEN ALMOST CONSTANT SINCE THE FIRST IRAQ WAR IN 1991.
AS A NAVY WE HAD DEMONSTRATED REGIONAL FAMILIARITY, WE HAD IMPRESSED WITH OUR FIRST-RATE PROFESSIONALISM, AND WE HAD COME TO THE PARTY WITH THE ABILITY TO BE READY AND SUSTAINABLE. CAPTAIN PETER JONES, LIKE THE RAN TASK GROUP COMMANDERS BEFORE HIM, WAS A KEY FIGURE IN PRE-WAR PLANS AND HAD PROVEN TO UNITED STATES NAVY COMMANDERS THAT HE COULD EXCEL IN COMMAND. AS IT UNFOLDED, CAPTAIN JONES COMMANDED UP TO TEN SHIPS FROM FOUR DIFFERENT COUNTRIES DURING INTERCEPTION OPERATIONS THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD OF CONFLICT - AND ALL FROM AN AUSTRALIAN PLATFORM, HMAS KANIMBLA.
THIS WAS TRULY AN EXAMPLE OF CRESWELL'S SELF-RELIANT, PREPARED, AUSTRALIAN NAVY! THE NAME CRESWELL IS NOW SYNONYMOUS WITH SERVING IN THE AUSTRALIAN NAVY FOR YOUNG OFFICERS.
IT SEEMS A VERY SHORT TIME INDEED FROM MY GRADUATION FROM HMAS CRESWELL IN 1974 TO MY TIME AS COMMANDER OF THE FLEET. I PUT IT TO YOU THOUGH THAT, AS IT WAS IN MY TIME, JUNIOR OFFICERS ARE MORE FOCUSSED ON THE WEEKEND'S FOOTBALL MATCH THAN DRAWING THE LINK BETWEEN THE COLLEGE NAME AND THE MAN WHO COULD BE CONSIDERED FATHER OF THE NAVY. PERHAPS THERE IS A ROLE HERE FOR THE NAVY LEAGUE!
MY INTENTION DURING THIS ORATION WAS TO DRAW THE LINK BETWEEN THEN AND NOW. I HAVE HIGHLIGHTED BOTH CRESWELL'S AND MY LINK TO THE SHIPS PARRAMATTA AND YARRA. THESE NAMES HAVE EACH SERVED THIS COUNTRY PROUDLY FOUR TIMES OVER 103 YEARS. SIGNIFICANTLY WE COMMISSIONED PARRAMATTA IV ON THE SAME DAY THAT THE FIRST, "THE CRESWELL", FLEET ENTERED SYDNEY HARBOUR IN 1913.
JUST AS CRESWELL WAS CONCERNED WITH THE PREPAREDNESS OF HIS FLEET IN THE DAYS BEFORE WWI, SO TO HAVE I BEEN AS I ANSWERED THE GOVERNMENT'S TASKING TIME AND TIME AGAIN OVER THE LAST EIGHTEEN MONTHS.
CRESWELL WORKED HARD TO INSTITUTE A FORCE STRUCTURE CAPABLE OF DOING MUCH MORE THAN HARBOUR PROTECTION - MY ABILITY TO CONTRIBUTE PREPARED FORCES TODAY IS THE PRODUCT OF HIS VISION. BY DRAWING OUT A COUPLE OF SHORT EXAMPLES FROM CRESWELL'S WRITING, I AIMED TO DEMONSTRATE THE FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENT FOR A NAVY, THEN AND NOW, TO PROTECT TRADE AND AUSTRALIA'S ECONOMIC PROSPERITY.
I ALSO COMMENTED ON THE NOTION OF SELF-RELIANCE IN THOUGHT, AS WELL AS IN FORCE STRUCTURE. CRESWELL'S DRIVE AND DETERMINATION WAS AS MUCH TO DO WITH BREAKING SOME OF THE ASSUMED-RELIANCE TIES TO THE ROYAL NAVY, AS IT WAS TO DO WITH PURCHASING HARDWARE.
TODAY WE CAN CHOOSE TO COMMIT TO ALLIANCES OR COALITIONS, OR WE CAN ACT INDEPENDENTLY. AND FINALLY, AS I AM ENORMOUSLY PROUD OF HIS ACHIEVEMENT, I HIGHLIGHTED THE OUTSTANDING SUCCESS OF THE RAN COMMANDER OF THE COALITION TASK GROUP DURING THE IRAQ WAR.
I REGARD THIS AS THE TANGIBLE FRUITS OF CRESWELL'S LABOUR.
GOVERNOR, MR LANDY, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME TODAY AS I RELAYED SOME OF MY THOUGHTS ON VICE ADMIRAL WILLIAM ROOKE CRESWELL. I BELIEVE HE WAS ARGUABLY OUR MOST SIGNIFICANT AND INFLUENTIAL FOREFATHER - A MAN WHOSE VISION FOR A SELF-RELIANT NAVY WITH A BALANCED FORCE STRUCTURE, READY TO UNDERTAKE TASKING BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY, HAS ESTABLISHED THE FOUNDATIONS FOR THE NAVY OF 2004.
VICE ADMIRAL CRESWELL CAN RIGHTLY ASSUME THE TITLE AS 'FATHER OF THE AUSTRALIAN NAVY'.