The Smack Track

by Ian McPhedran

  ‘Cheffos’ Able Seamen Simon Betts and Trevor Bird hard at it in the galley sweat box aboard HMAS Darwin in the Indian Ocean in May 2016. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  Boarding team members Able Seamen Lisanne Hyland from Adelaide and Emily McNeill from Goulburn in the cramped female sailors’ mess on board HMAS Darwin. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  Leading Seaman chef Cameron Acreman, who died tragically in Muscat near the end of HMAS Darwin’s 2016 deployment. PHOTO ADF

  A dangerous business as a team from HMAS Darwin prepares to board a suspect dhow in a high sea state in the Indian Ocean. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  Anxious moments for HMAS Darwin’s navigator Lieutenant Scott Benstead and XO Lieutenant Commander Tina Brown as they watch a boarding operation underway in the Indian Ocean in May 2016. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  Large cargo or ‘sambuq’ dhows like this could take more than 24 hours to search for illicit cargo. PHOTO ADF

  HMAS Darwin’s ‘red’ boarding team, led by Lieutenant James Hodgkinson (second left in front), on board a smuggling dhow with NCIS agent Paul Lerza (front centre) and some of the heroin uncovered during a successful boarding. PHOTO ADF

  HMAS Darwin’s Seahawk helicopter ‘Orko’ fills the window of the control officer’s shack as it makes a safe landing during an engine emergency in the Indian Ocean in May 2016. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  Aviation Warfare Officer Lieutenant Clare Nickels following the engine emergency on HMAS Darwin that really focused her mind. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  Officer of the watch on HMAS Darwin Lieutenant Casey Green during a replenishment at sea (RAS) in tricky sea conditions. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  The guided missile frigate HMAS Darwin approaches Victoria Harbour in the Seychelles after a successful 14-day Indian Ocean patrol in May 2016. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  The joy of homecoming shows on the sailors’ faces as HMAS Darwin berths at Garden Island, Sydney, in July 2016, after seven months away. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  Family and friends of the crew of HMAS Darwin, including Chief Petty Officer Andrew ‘Goonga’ Sims, at the welcome home on the wharf at Garden Island after seven long months. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  The author with bags of heroin on the flight deck of HMAS Darwin in May 2016. PHOTO IAN MCPHEDRAN

  About the Author

  IAN MCPHEDRAN is the award-winning bestselling author of five books. Until 2016, he was the National Defence writer for News Limited and during his extensive career as a journalist he covered conflicts in Myanmar, Somalia, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, East Timor, Afghanistan and Iraq. In 1993, he won a United Nations Association Peace Media Award and in 1999 the Walkley Award for Best News Report for his exposé of the Navy’s Collins-class submarine fiasco. McPhedran lives in Balmain with his wife Verona Burgess.

  Also by Ian McPhedran

  Afghanistan Australia’s War

  Too Bold to Die

  Air Force

  Soldiers Without Borders

  The Amazing SAS

  Copyright

  HarperCollinsPublishers

  First published in Australia in 2017

  by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited

  ABN 36 009 913 517

  harpercollins.com.au

  Copyright © Ian McPhedran and Verona Burgess 2017

  The right of Ian McPhedran and Verona Burgess to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  HarperCollinsPublishers

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

  Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand

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  1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF, United Kingdom

  2 Bloor Street East, 20th floor, Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8, Canada

  195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007, USA

  ISBN: 978 1 4607 5292 0 (paperback)

  ISBN: 978 1 4607 0755 5 (ebook)

  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

  McPhedran, Ian, author.

  The smack track / Ian McPhedran.

  Australia. Royal Australian Navy

  Sea-power–Australia–21st century.

  Drug traffic–Persian Gulf–Prevention

  Drug traffic–Horn of Africa–Prevention

  Pirates–Persian Gulf

  Pirates–Horn of Africa

  Illegal arms transfers–Persian Gulf.

  Arms control–Australia

  Arms control–Horn of Africa

  Naval strategy–Australia–21st century.

  Cover design by Philip Campbell Design

  Cover photo courtesy of the Australian Government Department of Defence