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Overhaul works have commenced at the Naval Communication Station Harold E Holt to maintain assured communications with allied submarines operating off northern Western Australia.
The US–Australian very low frequency transmitting station is capable of sending messages to underwater submarines using its kilometres-wide and 300-metre tall transmitter array in the coastal tourist town of Exmouth.
Thirteen towers support hundreds of tonnes of criss-crossing wire antennae to create a giant geometric pattern more than 400 hectares in area, hundreds of metres in the sky.
Tower Zero, once the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere at 387 metres, sits in the middle of the array and above the helix house. The works are the first major upgrade to the helix house since the US Navy commissioned and opened the facility in 1967.
“It’s a Cold War artefact but physics don’t change,” Navy Intelligence and Information Warfare’s Lieutenant Commander Heath Crawford said.
“I don’t think anyone who steps in fully understands the system’s uniqueness because it is so different to anything anyone’s seen before.”
The network of very low frequency transmitters was established by the US during the height of the Cold War and the town of Exmouth established to support the station along with hundreds of US personnel and their families. In 1992, the US Navy passed command to the Royal Australian Navy. The station is now operated and maintained by Defence.
Sharon Jones, who works for the Maritime and Strategic Communications SPO at Harold E Holt, moved to Exmouth before the Americans handed over control. At the time, backyard fences were discouraged and American hospitality was the talk of the town.
“You didn’t have to follow the footpaths, you could just walk through people’s backyards,” Jones said.
“The 4th of July and New Year’s Eve were big open things with celebrations everywhere and a pipe band would lead people from one place to another.
“People thought that when the Americans left, the town wouldn’t exist. We’ve gone through so many changes; Exmouth has become more of a tourism town recently.”
Construction will commence on a rolling schedule in order to maintain assured communications with allied submarines operating in the region.
