His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove, AK MC (Retd) Governor General of Australia presented HMAS Success with the Royal Australian Navy’s most prestigious annual award for outstanding performance, the Gloucester Cup.
Friends and family joined Ship’s Company and Commander Australian Fleet, Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer, for the ceremony which took place whilst the ship, fondly known as “Battle Tanker”, was alongside Fleet Base East in Sydney.
The Governor General said that Success had excelled beyond all others in all aspects of operations, safety, reliability and unit level training, setting in the process new benchmarks for performance.
Highlighting a year of outstanding milestones during 178 days at sea, the Governor General said that Success remained on station for 49 days in sometimes difficult weather conditions as part of the ongoing search for Malaysian Airlines Flight 370.
The current Commanding Officer of Success, Captain Justin Jones RAN, accepted the Cup on behalf of the Ship’s Company and paid tribute to his predecessor Captain Allison Norris, who commanded Success during the search for MH370.
In living up to its name, Success, whose motto is “Strive to Win” also took out the coveted Spada Shield which is awarded to the top Royal Australian Navy Surface Force unit.
As the holder of the Gloucester Cup, Success is entitled to attach a gold five-point star on each side of the Bridge structure.
The Gloucester Cup was instituted in 1946 by the then Governor-General, the Duke of Gloucester and is highly valued by the recipient and the accomplishment is widely respected throughout the Navy.
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Image: Australian Navy