Did the British Navy sell the Australian Navy a £65 million rustbucket ?

gCaptain - 

When most of the world envisions the British Navy with impeccably dressed officers, calling orders in the shadow of the gallant ensign are supplemented with the hardened might of Lord Nelson’s dauntless fleet.

Today, some in Australia are picturing the feckless gaze of used car salesmen.

Last week the HMAS Choules, a used landing ship dock the Australian Navy recently purchased from Great Britain, suffered an electrical failure during a routine exercise and hobbled back to port on 50 percent power.

The Choules was purchased last year by Australia shortly after Defense Minister Stephen Smith publicly blasted the senior service for not having vessels available for relief work during the 2011 cyclone season.

The plague of unscrupulous owners purchasing rustbuckets and sending them to sea on limited financial ration, is a problem that has long plagued the commercial sector.

Third world navies on shoestring budgets are also known offenders.

But Australia purchased the vessel from Britian, with a first rate navy with a proud history and the technical expertise to support even the most antiquated ship.

So what went wrong ?

Naval experts in the region say the issue boils down to budget constraints.

According to Australian Senator Johnston, “the problem is that whilst we have obvious maintenance and engineering issues with surface ships, we’ve taken money out of the budget so we’ve really thrown petrol onto the flames of what is a very serious problem for an island nation such as ours,” he said.

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