Lieutenant Commander Mike Flynn
Commanding Officer (CO) played by Ian Stenlake
LIEUTENANT COMMANDER MIKE FLYNN, the Commanding Officer of HMAS Hammersley, is 38 when we meet him, having joined the Navy at the age of 17 and worked his way up through the ranks. He is a man who by turns can be a laid-back larrikin or dangerous when crossed.
Five years ago, as an instructor on a short course, he met and had a brief, passionate affair with one of his students, a young Lieutenant named Kate McGregor. They both knew they’d crossed a professional line, she was ambitious, he was astounded that he could have let it happen, and they parted.
Lieutenant Kate McGregor
Executive Officer (XO) played by Lisa McCune
LIEUTENANT KATE MCGREGOR, the Executive Officer of HMAS Hammersley, is 28. See her on the Bridge, and she is cool, beautiful, reserved, aiming for a perfect 10 in everything she does. This is the professional Kate, the one who was nicknamed ‘Princess Perfect’ at ADFA, the one who aimed for success and won the Sword for best Navy cadet in her final year. But this is not all there is to her, for she is a woman of secrets, a woman on the run from her own past, a woman who has reinvented herself and never wants to go back to where she came from.
Kate comes to the cramped life aboard Hammersley from the relative comfort of a big ship, and is having to learn a whole new set of skills. As XO on a Patrol Boat she will lead boarding parties onto stinking fishing boats, work closely with non-commissioned senior sailors like the Coxswain and Buffer, and share a cabin with the Navigation Officer, Lieutenant Nikki Caetano, who seems to think she’s the CO’s favourite daughter and that Kate is her new and wicked stepmother.
Lieutenant Nikki Caetano
Navigator (‘Nav’) played by Saskia Burmeister
LIEUTENANT NIKKI CAETANO, the Navigation Officer of HMAS Hammersley, is 26 and comes from a warm, extended Italian-Australian family which makes her perfectly suited to life on a patrol boat. She loves the camaraderie and sense of family which Navy life brings. The youngest of her family, with four elder brothers, she is comfortable on the male dominated boat, and before the arrival of Kate, revels in the attention she gets as the only female on the ship.
Especially from a particular seaman by the name of Josh ‘ET’ Holliday. From the moment she set eyes on him Nikki was in lust, but it’s career-threatening to fraternize with co-workers on a ship so she’s doing her best to ignore the sparks between them.
Charge (Andy Thorpe)
Chief Petty Officer Marine Technical/ Chief Engineer played by John Batchelor
CHIEF PETTY OFFICER ANDY THORPE is, at 42, both the oldest and most senior sailor below decks on board the Hammersley. He joined the Navy as an apprentice at age 16 and has, on and off, spent the past 20 years on Patrol Boats. Andy is a sort of walking manual and history book, for there’s nothing he doesn’t know about diesel engines and the Navy itself. He’s a not-so-old old man of the sea, full of Navy lore and legend.
Buffer (Pete Tomaszewski)
Petty Officer Bosun played by Jeremy Lindsay Taylor
PETTY OFFICER BOSUN PETE TOMASHEVSKI, 31, Hammersley’s Buffer, runs the upper decks. Hard as nails, soft as butter, a pillar of strength aboard, a drinking man ashore, he’s a lifer who loves the structured life of the Navy. Pete is representative of the senior sailors who, certainly to their own way of thinking, form the backbone of the Navy.
Under the tough exterior, Buffer is a lonely guy who would like a girlfriend to love and care for. He is hugely envious of ET’s easy way with women – particularly with Nikki whom Buffer has a major crush on - and loves listening to the ship’s Chef talking about his upcoming wedding. Buffer is a romantic and despite all his bluff and machismo, he’s a big softie who wears his heart on his sleeve.
Swain (Chris Blake)
Petty Officer Naval Police Coxswain played by Matthew Holmes
PETTY OFFICER CHRIS BLAKE is 30 and the ship’s Coxswain or Swain. His job category is Naval Police Coxswain (NPC) but this describes only one of his duties aboard. He is simultaneously the ship’s police officer, in charge of discipline, the ship’s chief medic (the Chef is his assistant in this area) and the most skilled helmsman. When the Hammersley is going alongside a wharf, it is Chris who is at the helm.
Chris married young, a girl from his own neighbourhood, and they are expecting their first child.
Robert J Dixon
Radio Officer played by Kristian Schmid
ABLE SEAMAN COMMUNICATOR ROBERT J. DIXON, 27, is the crew member trained in communication and information systems and their maintenance and he is the ship’s link to the outside world. This means he could easily become a source of gossip, but that is not Robert’s style. If anything he is somewhat paranoid about telling anybody anything. For him, information is power and he wields it.
ET (Josh Holiday)
Leading Seaman Electronic Technician played by David Lyons
LEADING SEAMAN JOSH ET HOLLIDAY, 26, Jack the Lad, sexy as all get out, an adrenalin junkie, sometimes over-confident to the point of cutting corners or making a mistake, is HMAS Hammersley’s Electronic Technician (Communications), aka E.T.
On board ET carries very big responsibilities and is another ship stopper – the ship cannot sail without him. He is responsible for the maintenance of all electronics and electrical kit, including, radios, radar, telephones, internal broadcast systems, microphones, navigation lights, weather fax machine, echo sounder, even the toaster. This work takes him all over the ship and he interacts with everyone, but also he spends a lot of time on the bridge where his special sea duty position is echo sounder operator, right alongside Navigation Officer Nikki Caetano, a place where ET is delighted to be.
Chefo (Toby Jones)
Able Seaman Cook played by Josh Lawson
ABLE SEAMAN COOK TOBY JONES, 27, variously known as Chefo or Chef, doesn’t eat to live, he lives to eat, and despite having to turn out 72 meals a day from a tiny galley, and that’s not counting snacks, he loves his job. Surprisingly, given the work load, cooking is not his only job – he’s the second medic on board after the Swain, and he also goes on deck to handle lines, or launch sea boats.
Because everyone comes to the galley to get meals at least three times a day, Toby is the centre of all gossip on the ship and he’s not always careful about whether what he retails is strictly true or not.
Billy “Spider” Webb
Seaman Bosun’s Mate played by Jay Ryan
ABLE SEAMAN BILLY 'SPIDER' WEBB, the new recruit to HMAS Hammersley is a tender 18 years of age when we first meet him. Impressionable and enthusiastic, Billy, or’ Spider’ Webb as he’s nicknamed, can’t wait to travel the world and wear the uniform with pride.
This wide-eyed kid is at the very start of a long love affair with the ocean and a journey that will broaden his perspective on the world through the experiences and challenges that he meets.
Image and text © McElroy All Media
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