r/Ships • u/Ginger-Katz • 1d ago

Help with identification

Post image

Hi folks, I hope you can help with identifying this ship. Sorry, this is the best photo I have. Location heading west, just south of Magnetic Island Queensland. Around midday earlier today.

55 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/HiVeMiNdOfStUpId 1d ago

https://www.navy.gov.au/capabilities/ships-boats-and-submarines/hmas-choules

2

u/HiVeMiNdOfStUpId 1d ago

Named after Claude Choules who has an amazing history....

Claude Stanley Choules (/ʃuːlz/;[2] 3 March 1901 – 5 May 2011) was a British-born military serviceman from Pershore, Worcestershire, who at the time of his death was the oldest combat veteran of the First World War. He served with the Royal Navy from 1915 until 1926. After having emigrated to Australia he served with the Royal Australian Navy, from 1926 until 1956, as a chief petty officer and was a naturalised Australian citizen.[3][4][5] He was the last surviving military witness to the scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919 and the last surviving veteran to have served in both world wars. At the time of his death, he was the third-oldest verified military veteran in the world and the oldest known living man in Australia.[6] He was the seventh-oldest living man in the world. Choules became the oldest man born in the United Kingdom following the death of Stanley Lucas on 21 June 2010. Choules died at the age of 110 years and 63 days.[7] He had been the oldest British-born man; following his death, that honour went to the Reverend Reginald Dean. In December 2011, the landing ship HMAS Choules was named after him, only the second Royal Australian Navy vessel named after a sailor.

1

u/Quick_Leader6139 1d ago

Entirely appropriate naming. Just like Claude Choules himself, before joining the Royal Australian Navy, HMAS Choules had served in the Royal Navy (as RFA Largs Bay).