Memorial plaque unveiled

The Royal Australian Navy Submarine Force last week paid tribute to fallen heroes whose tragic loss 30 years ago improved safety procedures and training.

More than 20 submariners, who are based at Garden Island, stood shoulder-to-shoulder at The Naval Memorial Park in Rockingham on Friday for the unveiling of a memorial plaque, in honour of Able Seaman Christopher Passlow, Able Seaman Hugh Markcrow and Seaman Damien Humphreys.

The three seamen died while they were serving in submarines in 1981 and 1987.

Force commanding officer Commander Brett Westcott said the young men’s deaths — the first Australian deaths at sea since World War I — served as a stark reminder of the complex and unforgiving environment faced by today’s submariners.

Cdr Westcott said submarines remained at the heart of the strategic balance of power, but it was the machines’ operators who truly mattered.

“To serve your country is a special calling and the possibility of losing one’s life is always lurking in the subconscious,” he said.

“Today, we carry the loss of these three men in our hearts — and honour their strong and tangible legacy.”

Cdr Westcott said the supply of emergency breathing air for submariners was introduced after the death of 20-year-old Able Seaman Passlow, who succumbed to a toxic gas leak on board HMAS Onslow off Sydney in March 1981.

He said the subsequent deaths of Able Seaman Markcrow, 25, and Seaman Humphreys, 20, who were lost overboard as HMAS Otama was submerging near Sydney Harbour in August 1987, had led to the introduction of more stringent prediving procedures.

“These three men were not from Rockingham and were never based here, but a simple plaque in this peaceful place will remain here, because our submariners are here.”

HMAS Onslow survivor Dave Colman, who joined dozens of former submariners from across the country in paying his respects to the men, said the death of his colleague Able Seaman Passlow had remained in his thoughts throughout his years of service.

Representatives from HMAS Stirling, The Naval Association of Australia Rockingham Subsection and Port Kennedy RSL and others laid wreaths at the the memorial plaque in honour of the fallen servicemen.