Phil Beacall
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Status: Offline | The Royal Australian Navy has commissioned HMAS Choules in memory of the last known veteran of both world wars.
The Royal Australian Navy has commissioned HMAS Choules in Fremantle on 13 Dec 2011 in memory of the last known veteran of both world wars.
Claude Choules was Australia’s oldest man when he died in a Perth nursing home in May at the age of 110.
British-born Mr Choules served in the Royal Navy during World War I and witnessed the scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow.
He was born in 1901 and had signed up for the Great War at just 14 years of age.
After the war he moved to Perth and joined the Royal Australian Navy, working as a demolition officer at Fremantle Harbour during World War II.
The 16,000-tonne HMAS Choules can carry 160 personnel and will be docked in the eastern states.
Its commanding officer, John Cowan, says the ship’s name honours a great man.
"Like Claude Choules, it is not an exaggeration to say that all members of the ship’s company, no matter where they were born or when they came to this country, are fully committed to serving Australia through the best years of their lives, now and into the future," he said.
"Our namesake’s example of dedication, unselfishness and his sense of duty serves as a constant reminder to our obligation to honouring his legacy."
Mr Choules’s grandson Malcolm Edinger says his grandfather would have been honoured.
"He’d be saying I don’t deserve it or he’d be very humbled definitely," he said.
"He was never a man that put himself out to be bigger or better than anyone else, so he’d be very humbled and I think he’d be greatly surprised actually."
HMAS Choules was formerly known as RFA Largs Bay and served as a landing ship with Britain’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary from 2006 until its sale earlier this year. | | Report Post |
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