HMAS Brisbane : Gun Plot Room : Door

The door from the gun plot room is a rectangular metal door with rounded corners. The front face is a pressed metal sheet. The top right hand corner has a diagonal section painted painted red, and there is a silver metal plate with a Z in the middle. Below this plate is a nomenclature plate which reads: `Door Size 26x66 Hand L.H, Type W.T. Material: Med Steel, Test Pressure 5#P.S.IFSN ' (no number). Mfg by the Overbeke-Kain Co, Buships DWG 805-1400066-C #320, Component ID'. There is a silver handle on the right hand side of the door and two large brackets/hinges on the left. There are eight brass plates around the edge of the door, which are used in conjunction with the eight dog-latches attached to the door-frame. The rear side of the door is reinforced with a heavy L channel around the edges, with five welded horizontal T beams. On the back of the door there is another Z plate, as well as three warning stickers. The stickers read DANGER: 440 VOLTS, DANGER: HIGH VOLTAGE MULTIPLE SOURCES and WARNING: THIS COMPARTMENT CONTAINS CLASSIFIED MATERIAL with a list of who may enter. Below the warning stickers there is a plastic black GUN PLOT sign and a yellow sticker that reads: `GUN CONTROL is being able to sink your target.'

This component was removed from HMAS Brisbane after the ship was de-commissioned in 2001. The door provided entry to the Gun Plot Room. HMAS Brisbane [II] was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy in December 1967 and was the second vessel of that name to serve in the RAN. Known officially as DDG-41, Brisbane was the third of the RAN's American-built "Charles F. Adams" class guided-missiles destroyers. This class were the first major Australian warships designed and built in America, and were constructed by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co. The original complement of the Brisbane was 20 officers and over 300 sailors. Main armament was two 5-inch/54 calibre guns and anti-submarine torpedoes. The Ikara missile system was subsequently added. In later service the ship was known by the nick-name ‘the Steel Cat’. The HMAS Brisbane saw operational service in two conflicts. During the Vietnam War the ship undertook two tours of duty with the United States Seventh Fleet, in 1969 and again in 1971. The ship’s major task was to provide gunfire support for the land campaign. During the Gulf War (1990-91), Brisbane was one of four Australian warships to serve a tour in Gulf waters. The Brisbane arrived in the Gulf in December 1990 and operated there until March 1991, performing a number of roles. Apart from contributing to the anti-aircraft defences in the carrier screen, the ship also kept watch for mines and ensured that small civilian craft kept well away from the carrier group. Later, during Operation Desert Storm, the Brisbane controlled fighter combat air patrols and tanker aircraft. The ship’s final role was as an escort for US replenishment ships. In 2003 HMAS Brisbane was retired from service in the Royal Australian Navy. The Brisbane was the last steam powered ship in the RAN. HMAS Brisbane was sunk as a recreational dive wreck off the coast of southern Queensland in July 2005.