Wollongong sailors Lieutenant Scott Perry and Leading Seaman Gareth Foye enjoyed a special homecoming on Friday when the Royal Australian Navy minehunter HMAS Gascoyne berthed at Port Kembla.
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While many servicemen and women from the ship explore the city for a two day break from active sea duty the two men will be visiting family. The rare opportunity is the result of their commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Alan Parton deciding to make the stop in Wollongong. He started his career with the Royal Navy at 16 and is about to notch up 40 years service. The last 10 with RAN. He chose Port Kembla for the respite stop because he liked Wollongong so much on a previous visit.
That was music to the ears of Leading Seaman Foye who is looking forward to seeing his wife Diana Foye, of Foye Legal, and Lieutenant Perry, who is planning to have a beer at the Steelers Club with his father Noel Perry, of Downtown Newsagency. He used to work at Steelers before joined the Navy.
Lieutenant Perry’s wife Kimberley Perry, of Stanwell Park, is also in the Navy and they have an 18 month old daughter Laela. They live in Sydney but are building a house in Vincentia. “Because we are both in the Navy one of us volunteers to be the sea going member. So Kimberley has got an office job in Sydney..at Fleet Headquarters. She is staff officer for the Chief-of-Staff. She stays home while I go to sea and in a couple of years we will probably swap around,” he said.
Lieutenant Perry is often as one of the officers on watch and he regularly works on The Bridge as a team with Leading Seaman Foye. Their fathers were both involved in the same Wollongong rugby league club. Ian Foye was a police officer in Wollongong for 35 years.
On a Navy ship of Gascoyne’s size there is plenty of multi-tasking. But Leading Seaman Foye’s main role is a clearance diver. “I have been in the military for 11 years. I have been diving for nine,” he said.
Prior to the Navy he played rugby league semi-professionally in Wollongong and Queensland. After that decided to start a career with a solid platform. He looked at the police but a clearance diving friend convinced him to give that a go. “I did it at a slighter older age. I had always been into diving and surfing. I love it. It makes me feel young,” he said.
Leading Seaman Foye is presently at sea for three weeks but deployments can last up to 14. He said it was very fortunate to have a Wollongong stop.
Lieutenant Perry has been in the Navy for five years and joined at 25. “I wanted to get out and see the world. I am acting as a navigator on board. And as an officer on watch..I am the captain’s representative on The Bridge.”