HMAS Manoora (L 52) - Operational History

Operational History

In April 1999, while the modification was being completed, personnel from Manoora, Kanimbla, and Sydney bases assisted the New South Wales Department of Agriculture in containing an outbreak of Newcastle disease in Mangrove Mountain poultry farms. Manoora entered service in January 2000. Manoora and HMAS Tobruk were deployed to the Solomon Islands in June 2000, to rescue civilians following a coup d'état. During September and October, Manoora was involved in security operations for the 2000 Summer Olympics. In November, she returned to the Solomon Islands to support the International Peace Monitoring Team following the signing of the Townsville Peace Agreement, remained in the region until late December, then returned for a second deployment between March and June 2001.

In late August 2001, Manoora became involved in the 'Tampa Affair', a political incident caused when the Australian government forbade the Norwegian cargo ship MV Tampa, carrying asylum seekers rescued from a damaged vessel in the Timor Sea, from entering Australian waters. The 438 asylum seekers were transferred from Tampa to Manoora, which then delivered them to detention centres on Nauru.

From late February to late June 2002, the ship operated in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Slipper, the Australian involvement in the War in Afghanistan. The ship returned to the Gulf in May 2003 under Operation Falconer, the Australian commitment to the invasion of Iraq, and spent a month in the region before sailing home with Australian personnel and equipment embarked. During the return voyage, the ship rescued eight Iraqi fishermen from the middle of the Gulf. During late June, Manoora provided medical assistance to the fishing vessel Golden Sun . In July 2003, Manoora sailed to the Solomon Islands with 300 personnel from 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment; the start of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands. The ship remained in the region until late October, serving as a logistic and medical support base, and as a venue for meetings. In September, Manoora was used to recover an Iroquois helicopter of the Royal New Zealand Air Force downed off Guadalcanal.

Manoora undertook an extensive refit during 2004, allowing the vessel to carry the heavier M1 Abrams tank.

During 2006, the ship was deployed to East Timor.

On the morning of 13 March 2009, Manoora was one of seventeen warships involved in a ceremonial fleet entry and fleet review in Sydney Harbour, the largest collection of RAN ships since the Australian Bicentenary in 1988. Manoora was one of the thirteen ships involved in the ceremonial entry through Sydney Heads, and anchored in the harbour for the review.

Following a review of the RAN battle honours system, completed in March 2010, Manoora was retroactively awarded the honour "Persian Gulf 2002", in addition to the six honours inherited from the previous ship of the name.