Submarines

Association

Australia

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David Strangward: Submarine Association of Australia (SAA) – National President Duties:

The President of the SAA is the Senior Officer of the association and is responsible for the management and operations of the SAA National Executive.

The President shall;

i. Preside over all National Committee meetings.

ii. Represent the SAA.

iii. Ensure sound fiscal management of Association’s funds and assets.

iv. Encourage representation of the SAA within other service organisations by forging alliances and affiliations where appropriate.

v. Develop and maintain links with the RAN submarine community.

vi. Report to the National Committee on matters that affect more than one Branch of the Association.

vii. Advise the Committee of any period of absence that he will be unable to perform his duties.

viii. On invitation, visit Branches where the Branch agrees to cover fifty percent (50%) of costs.

ix. Provide a written report to the AGM of the SAA.

David Strangward, AM CMDR, RAN (rtd)

I joined the Navy as a Junior Recruit at HMAS Leeuwin in 1974 and on completion of my time there commenced training as an ETS sailor at HMAS Cerberus after which I served in HMAS Torrens until being selected to undertake submarine training in the UK in 1977/78. On return to Australia, I served on a number of Oberon class submarines that included HMAS Otway (twice), Otama, Onslow and Ovens (twice) as I moved through the ranks to CPOETS/SM. I posted to Stirling and was promoted to WOETS/SM and served in Navy Support Command before posting back to HMAS Platypus as the WO Squadron Engineer. In this position, I was honoured to be made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for my services to the submarine squadron in the field of engineering.

After being accepted for a commission, I under took engineering training prior to completing my Certificate of Competency, qualification in HMAS Newcastle after which I was posted to Stirling to undertake Collins Class conversion courses and subsequently completing my Collins Part 3 in HMAS Waller. Having successfully completed my Charge Certificate, I was posted to HMAS Collins as the WEEO and completed what was then the longest SM deployment by an Australian submarine to Alaska. One of the many highlights of this posting was the first Sub Harpoon firing from a Collins Class submarine.

On promotion to LCDR, a short posting to HMAS Watson (SWSC) followed during which I was crash posted to HMAS Farncomb and a deployment to the Far East. In 2001, I was fortunate to be selected to be part of the inaugural Australian team introducing the new torpedo and Combat System to the Collins Class, this project/s are in partnership with USN and I spent nearly three years in Rhode Island. On return to Australia, I took up a position in Canberra managing a number of Capability Upgrade projects for the Collins Class before being selected as a Head of Department in the Anzac Class FFH HMAS Ballarat during which time I was promoted to CMDR. My final years in uniform included postings to Joint Operations Command and then to Navy HQ in Russell working with the newly established Submarine branch. I retired from the Navy in 2015, after 40 years, service and are currently the Engineering Manager in the Off Shore Patrol Vessel project.