Hobart enters exciting new era

After a busy year of achievements in 2022, HMAS Hobart personnel are ready to welcome the challenges of 2023 under new command.

CAPTION: Outgoing Commanding Officer HMAS Hobart Captain Andrew Pepper, front left, hands the “weight of command” to the incoming Commanding Officer Commander Tina Brown. Story by Lieutenant Stacey Butters. Photo by Petty Officer Christopher Szumlanski.

The ship returned to Fleet Base East in December, after more than three months away as part of a regional presence deployment.

Hobart personnel were warmly welcomed on the wharf by their extended community of “ghost riders”, a large crowd of family and friends eager to spend the holiday season with their loved ones.

Coinciding with the return home, a promotion of outgoing Commanding Officer Commander Andrew Pepper was held, with a subsequent change of command ceremony.

Captain Pepper handed over the “weight of command” of Hobart to the vessel’s fourth Commanding Officer, Commander Tina Brown.

Commander Brown is the first woman to take command of a Royal Australian Navy destroyer.

She said she already felt proud and protective of Hobart and her crew, and she was especially humbled to share the handover ceremony with so many Hobart family members.

“Thank you for welcoming my family and I to the wider Hobart family,” she said.

“I am looking forward to continuing the great legacy of the ‘green ghost’ with you.”

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