SYDNEY (June 28, 2024) – The submarine tender USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) arrived in Sydney for a regularly scheduled port call, June 28th.

Emory S. Land steamed into the harbor in formation with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Anzac-class frigate HMAS Warramunga (FFH 152), and the RAN Canberra-class amphibious ships HMAS Canberra (L02) and HMAS Adelaide (L01) as a show of the nations’ partnership.

Sydney is the third port call of the ship’s current deployment, which began May 17. Emory S. Land’s last call was to Cairns, Queensland, Australia, which concluded on June 17.

“We’ve been looking forward to Sydney for months, because we’re partnered with the Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Support Unit headquartered here,” said Capt. Brent Spillner, the ship’s commanding officer. “So it’s a terrific opportunity to deepen the technical and logistic cooperation between our navies, while also giving the crew a chance to visit one of the world’s favorite tourist destinations.”

While in port, Sailors will be able to explore the city and surrounding area of Sydney. This will be an excellent opportunity to further interact with the Australian culture and community, and the crew is excited to see everything the metropolitan city of Sydney has to offer.

Sailors will also have the opportunity to participate in community relations events organized by the ship’s religious ministries team, such as packing food at a food bank, and playing sports with local soccer club teams.

“I’ve never been to Sydney, so I’m very excited about it. The major thing I’m looking forward to is getting off the ship and exercising outdoors. I really enjoyed running around Darwin and Cairns, so I can’t wait to see the cityscape of Sydney, I’ve heard it’s beautiful,” said Chief Hull Maintenance Technician Derek Rody, from Lafayette, Ind. “If you look back at history, we’ve always had a tight relationship with the Australians, so it’s great that we’re still working together side by side.”

Previously, the ship visited Cairns where the crew participated in local fishing, tourism, and volunteer events such as spending the day with the young indigenous men and women of the Australian Football League Cape York House, and assisting staff in the cleanup and organization of the James Cook University Marine Research Facility. The submarine tender also welcomed RAN Leeuwin-class survey ship HMAS Leeuwin (A 245) and Royal Navy River Class Offshore Patrol Vessel HMS Tamar (P 233) alongside in Cairns, as all three allied vessels demonstrated mooring capabilities and interoperability.

Emory S. Land is on deployment supporting the U.S. 7th Fleet, the U.S. Navy’s largest forward deployed numbered fleet, operating with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Emory S. Land provides expeditionary intermediate-level maintenance, services, and logistics support to deployed submarines.

Guam is home to the U.S. Navy’s only submarine tenders, USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) and USS Frank Cable (AS 40), as well as Los Angeles-class attack submarines. The submarine tenders provide maintenance, weapons, personnel, and logistical support to submarines and surface ships in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operation. The submarines and tenders are maintained as part of the U.S. Navy’s forward-deployed submarine force and are capable of meeting global operational requirements.

For more information about USS Emory S. Land (AS 39), visit us at http://www.csp.navy.mil/emorysland/ or like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/EmorySLand, or on Twitter @EmorySLand.

For more news from USS Emory S. Land (AS 39), visit http://www.navy.mil/local/as39/.

Are you interested in taking orders to Guam? Want to learn more about the duty station and life on our island? For more information, check out the ‘Go Guam!’ website at http://www.csp.navy.mil/go-guam/ and download the ‘1st Fifteen’ checklist.