THE HISTORY

Two Men Missing at sea, - Believed Drowned

This was the newspaper headline early in 1960, after a fruitless search by the Police search and rescue vessel, "William Fisk," which at that time was moored in the Patawalonga Basin, at Glenelg, not far from where the lock gates are now installed.

The late Ron Harris, a Somerton builder, and a handful of friends, who were regular fishermen at the then notorious Cape Jervis, saw the need for an organised body to form a Search and Rescue Group to assist the police on occasions where persons are reported missing at sea. The idea of forming this group was the nucleus of today's body of dedicated volunteers.

An approach was made to the S.A. Police Department, which readily saw the value to the State of having a group of boats and trained personnel available at call 24 hours a day every day of the year. Police Department experience in the handling of emergencies was made available to the volunteers and from this beginning the South Australian Sea Rescue Squadron Inc, was officially formed on the 9th of May 1960.
 

In the early days, it was not unusual for up to 5 boats to put to sea for a search, and return many hours later to find the "lost" party had returned safely to shore. The Squadron had no radio communications to the craft.

It was in 1962 that the Squadron was able to purchase the first radios - handheld sets with a range of just 5 miles in perfect conditions! Rarely did we get perfect conditions. Three years later, the Squadron purchased long-range high frequency radios, with a practical range of 200 miles. Now the business of Search and Rescue took on a new meaning. A Mobile Field Command Unit (M.F.C.U.) could at last contact craft from shore.

The M.F.C.U. was a basic caravan shell donated by Radio Station 5AD in 1965, and was fitted out by Sea Rescue Squadron members. This gave shore side facilities to searchers such as navigation and plotting, radio communication, local area lighting and provision to make hot drinks for the crews returning from sea. It was the initial Operations Centre for all call outs and training exercises and was subsequently sold to S.E.S. Barmera in 1989.

A Field Command Unit is still used on many operations and exercises, though this is now in the form of a Toyota Hi-Ace van, with the Field Command Officer in charge.

In the 1960's, the Squadron had no building of its own and the Holdfast Bay Yacht Club made their clubrooms available for  monthly meetings, firstly on the foreshore at Glenelg adjacent to the Town Hall, and later at West Beach. We acknowledge their 7 years of kindness and hospitality during those early years.

Naturally, the dream of one day having our own clubrooms was constant, and in 1967 we finally secured a long term lease of land from the West Beach Trust (Adelaide Shores) on which to build our own Headquarters.

The first stage of the building was the present hall and garaging, which was officially opened by his Excellency, Major General Sir James Harrison KCMG., CB., CBE., Governor of S.A., on 3rd May 1969.

The plans called for the garage, operations centre and training rooms to be on the ground floor, and the club rooms and all amenities above. Financially it seemed impossible and the project adventurous.

Today it is a standing monument to thousands of hours of dedicated time and energy, all given on a voluntary basis by Squadron members. The building also stands as a symbol of the faith and belief in the project by the many merchants who contributed freely with labour, materials and equipment to realise the building project.

The final stage was officially opened by the Hon. Des. Corcoran, Deputy Premier of South Australia on the 20th April,1975. The State Government contributed $13,500 towards our building project, and we gratefully acknowledge that contribution. Members have continued to support the continuing upgrading of facilities since 1975.

The Squadron has always drawn efficient instructors in the subjects of Seamanship, Navigation, Radio Voice Procedure and Radar Watch Keeping, from the ranks of its operational members. Two training rooms are in constant use for lectures and practical training. One of the training rooms is dedicated to the memory of the late Jack Mylius, who gave so much of his time to  the Squadron as Seamanship Instructor.

All members receive a copy of the Squadron magazine, "SEARCHLIGHT" which was formally referred to as the " BILGE ". This is a quarterly publication of what's happening, where, how, and when, and other topical subjects of interest. "Searchlight" was started in 1965 in newsletter format, however in August 1990 a new edition was published in magazine form, giving a more professional presentation. The magazine has gone from strength to strength and is paying its own way with advertising from companies with boating interests.

 Past editors have been Squadron members. It is the members' magazine and we encourage them to contribute to its contents with anything of topical interest.

In 1977, a long held ambition of the members was achieved when a tremendous effort was made to raise funds for the Squadron's own "Sea Rescue One". This craft was 7.1 metres [23ft] offshore craft fitted out with all the requirements for search and rescue operations. It was the Squadron flagship until 1987, when it was replaced with a 23ft Bertram with a V/8 Mercruiser inboard /outboard motor. In 2003 the Squadron, with Government assistance, took delivery of a Clayton craft, 7.4m in length with a 200hp turbo charged motor. The Squadron has increased its cover of the South Australia coast with a craft based at O’Sullivan’s Beach, and additional flotilla's based at Edithburgh, Wirrina Cove and  the Copper Coast (Wallaroo).

All other craft on the Squadron Operational Register are privately owned and offered for use within the Squadron.  Private craft must meet approved specifications, be available at all times and are volunteered in the knowledge that direct financial help towards the upkeep or repairs of the craft is not available from the Squadron. Craft used in official search and rescue operations have fuel reimbursed, receive exemption from Government Registration and receive special discounts once the craft is accepted on the register for search operations.

In 1980 the Squadron commenced regular weekend patrols along the metropolitan coastline, manned by rostered members. Then in 1981 our original Radio Monitoring base was built at the head of the Patawalonga boat ramp at Glenelg to complement the patrol craft, and was manned by members every weekend and public holiday.

A new facility encompassing a Radio Base and Operations Centre was opened on March 28th 1999, being erected on land, part of the new Adelaide Shores Boat facilities much closer to our Squadron Headquarters building at West Beach.

With the opening of the new complex, the most important building is the Operations Control Centre, named after founding member Mal Noble. Equipped with radar, radio communication, navigation and plotting facilities, the "Ops" Room is the heart of the entire emergency and training operations. This is where detailed search and rescue operations were carried out by the Squadron with input by the Police. Liaison with Police and radio contact is maintained at all times during  searches. Weather, tidal prediction, type of emergency, and the number of search craft available were all methodically assembled into a most efficient and effective search mode.

This base is equipped with radios on the 27mhz marine band, VHF radios in the 156mhz marine band and H.F. radio with marine frequencies, as well as UHF radio with frequencies licensed only to the Squadron. This base is licensed as an official Coast Station ( VMR 502 ), and is manned from 0600hrs to 1800hrs daily. We encouraged all skippers to " Log On" whenever they launch their craft.

To keep a record of the Squadron's work all incidents in which the Squadron is involved are compiled, recorded and numbered,  and forwarded to Police and Government officials.

The incidents are numbered in three groups e.g.. The Incident number 860/1025/34 (a fictitious number), where the first group of numbers is the number of incidents the Squadron has recorded, the second group is the number of people who have been assisted back to shore safely, and the third group is the number of fatalities that were the outcome of accidents where the Squadron was called in to assist the Police.
During 1982  the O’Sullivan’s Beach launching facility was opened south of our Adelaide base. The Sea Rescue  Squadron established a licensed Sea Rescue Radio Base in the Kiosk adjacent to the launching ramp. This base monitors 27mhz & VHF marine frequency's 7 days a week. Radio Bases at Wirrina, Edithburgh & Copper Coast and two bases on Kangaroo Island, American River & Penneshaw, also provide weekend and weekly monitoring.

Squadron craft patrol each day of the weekend and on Public Holidays. Members are rostered, as available, and receive good experience in both land based and sea-going activities. All the services provided by the Squadron are carried out with the latest equipment and technology, be it the global positioning equipment for accurate navigation, base radar, or the unique floating stretcher for injured persons, designed and manufactured by a Squadron member. This brief history of our organisation is by no means complete, as the real history of incidents, events and encounters can only be related by our members, past and present, which brings them into the fellowship that enables this organisation to fulfil its role in boating safety and search and rescue operations.