The series follows the exploits and personal lives of the
crew of the fictional Australian patrol boat HMAS Hammersley. On the very positive side, the boat is
represented by real Freemantle class patrol boats in the first season and
Armidale class boats in the subsequent seasons.
The degree of video detail about the boats is stunning and the series is
well worth watching for that alone.
Viewers get what appears to be a very good grasp of the appearance and
capabilities of the boats. Even with no
acting, I could thoroughly enjoy simply watching the video of the boats
sailing, launching RHIBs, conducting boardings, exercising and firing the
Rafael Typhoon remote 25 mm gun, etc. This
is easily the most impressive aspect of the series.
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| Armidale Class Patrol Boat |
Less impressive is the interpersonal relationships among the
crew. They seem a bit contrived and
cartoonish but, hey, it’s TV so you know what you’re getting going in. I would rather have seen more focus on action
situations and less on soap opera relationships but that’s just me.
The main frustration watching the series came from the
constant and pervasive atmosphere of appeasement and passivity. Almost every episode involves threats to
‘heave to or I will open fire’ after which the target refuses and the patrol
boat backs off without taking action.
Never threaten – just do! Again,
I have no idea whether this reflects actual Australian maritime/naval practice
but I suspect it does.
Closely related, in terms of educational frustration, was
the constant micro-managing by the fictional ‘NAVCOM’ headquarters. Every minor action had to be relayed to HQ
and approved. Again, how realistic this
is, I don’t know, but from what I’ve seen of US naval practice it’s quite
likely realistic. The show clearly
demonstrates the inefficiency and folly of this degree of micro-management.
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| Armidale Class Patrol Boat |
The micro-managing extended even to the boat’s Captain
managing his boarding parties. The
boarding party leader constantly had to provide updates and receive approval
for every little action. In real life,
if you’ve trained your boarding party properly, have some confidence and step
back and let the on-scene leader do his job.
To do otherwise is inefficient and, potentially, problematic as it leads
to slow reactions.
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| Boarding Action Using RHIB |
The main motivation for writing this review is the intense conceptual
reaction it produced as I watched (full disclosure, I’ve only seen the first
three seasons, so far). I was
particularly struck with the realization that the boats were nearly ideal for
peacetime, Coast Guard type duties (fishery enforcement, anti-smuggling, small
boat piracy, and the like) but completely unsuited for anything approaching
combat. I have no idea how Australia
actually uses their boats so the series portrayal may or may not reflect actual
practice. Regardless, the boats are NOT
combat vessels in any way, shape, or form.
On the other hand, with a few additions, they would be ideal
for the peacetime Coast Guard type duties shown. The boats cry out for a small UAV and the
episodes graphically demonstrate the tactical need for extended range, aerial
surveillance - as long as the tactical environment is completely permissive and
unopposed. The other capability that was
sorely lacking was a sniper. So many of
the episodes could have been quickly resolved by a sniper. Of course, that would have defeated the
purpose of building tension throughout the episode!
All of this should lead the viewer to a serious
contemplation of the type and need for a low end, peacetime patrol boat as well
as recognition of the limitations of such a boat. The series also offers a splendid opportunity
to ponder larger issues such as command micro-management and a default attitude
of appeasement. All in all, this is an
entertaining series that offers an in-depth look at some naval technology and
practices and should prompt some deeper thinking about naval and Coast Guard
activities. In short, the series is well
worth seeing and I highly recommend it.
