Defence’s 2 January announcement that HMAS Adelaide had been succeeded in command of the ADF Joint Task Group for Operation Tonga Assist 2022 by sister ship HMAS Canberra spelt the conclusion of what will have been a seven-week deployment impacted by equipment issues. Adelaide left Brisbane for Tonga on 20 January and will return to Sydney on 11 March.
Questions about a major electrical power failure that stranded the 27,000-tonne Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD) in Tonga after delivering humanitarian supplies following the 14 January volcanic eruption and tsunami were finally answered in Senate Estimates on 17 February – nearly three weeks later, Australian Defence Magazine reports.
