Speaker 1: Hi, it's Claire from the Front. We're bringing you a
Speaker 1: new mini series from The Australian called The Flood, and
Speaker 1: this is episode four. The series is hosted by Chief
Speaker 1: International Correspondent Cameron Stewart and created by Cam with me
Speaker 1: and our audio lead Jasper Leik, plus all of us
Speaker 1: here at The Australian. It tells the incredible true story
Speaker 1: of how sixty Australian sub mariners saved their own lives
Speaker 1: and their boat. The Flood is a truly inspirational story
Speaker 1: of human courage, resilience, teamwork and ingenuity. You can follow
Speaker 1: the show by searching The Flood wherever you listen and
Speaker 1: going to the floodpodcast dot com, where you can also
Speaker 1: watch it as a video. The Flood is brought to
Speaker 1: you by the Australian War Memorial. Some stories define a nation,
Speaker 1: others reveal what it means to be human. Through Their
Speaker 1: Eyes is a new podcast from the Australian War Memorial
Speaker 1: that uncovers powerful human stories, revealing war through unexpected perspectives
Speaker 1: and immersive storytelling. Through Their Eyes will be live soon
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: I wrung my wife and said, we've had a bit
Speaker 2: of a misshoe. Can you come and pick me up
Speaker 2: and pick up some cigarettes? Whine got wet.
Speaker 3: I'm Cameron Stewart and this is the fourth and final
Speaker 3: episode of the flood, the fallout. The shadow was back
Speaker 3: on the surface, but Peter Scott and his crew were
Speaker 3: still a long way from dry land.
Speaker 4: We didn't know the state about hydraulic systems, electrical systems.
Speaker 5: We didn't know how much war we had on the boat.
Speaker 4: We didn't know what casualties we'd suffered them therefore, you know,
Speaker 4: what expertise we'd lost and so on. We didn't know
Speaker 4: probably at that point whether there'd been other issues, like,
Speaker 4: you know, had fire started or whatever. So once we
Speaker 4: were on the roof, a really serious damage control battle
Speaker 4: kind of began.
Speaker 2: It was the long trens at back. I can remember
Speaker 2: that because we were severely speed restricted because of the
Speaker 2: damage that had been done to the main mater cooling gear.
Speaker 2: There was a lot of work going on to try
Speaker 2: and get systems back up to get us home safe,
Speaker 2: and that was obviously carried out. But that time coming
Speaker 2: back in was I guess, just the time to reflect
Speaker 2: and come to groups with what had just happened.
Speaker 3: Jordie Buntzing had more to reflect on the most. He
Speaker 3: lost a round of rock paper scissors, nearly drowned in
Speaker 3: the lower major room, and soakedy cigarettes. For the next
Speaker 3: six hours, the submarine chugged to the naval based HMAS
Speaker 3: Sterling near Perth Top Brass, led by Commodore Mike Diggs,
Speaker 3: commander of the Australian Submarine Group, that scrambled an emergency response.
Speaker 6: I can recall it very clearly. We set the wills
Speaker 6: in motion to provide the support for the submarine, so
Speaker 6: that included some medical support, HR support, psychological people on standby,
Speaker 6: as well as engineering support. Obviously we needed to find
Speaker 6: out what the problem was and make sure the submarine
Speaker 6: was saved.
Speaker 4: It was a tremendous relief to get back alongside and
Speaker 4: great to see a guy like Mike Dieks, who I've
Speaker 4: known from my very.
Speaker 7: First days in the Navy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so it was just really good to see your
Speaker 4: boss there and know that you've sort of got yourself
Speaker 4: through that.
Speaker 6: I was on the wharf when Dashana arrived back alongside,
Speaker 6: and I was the first person at Peter Scott spoke
Speaker 6: to when he came off the submarine on arrival. My
Speaker 6: emotions were a degree of thankfulness and relief, but also
Speaker 6: of pride. Peter is a very matter of fact sort
Speaker 6: of person and a very calm person, and that shone
Speaker 6: through on that occasion, and he, probably without any intention,
Speaker 6: underplayed the seriousness of the event. As I got more
Speaker 6: information about it, I realized exactly how serious it was.
Speaker 3: The Navy had to urgently find out what went wrong
Speaker 3: with Dushana and ensure the problem didn't extend to the
Speaker 3: other Colins class submarines. It immediately recalled all submarines to
Speaker 3: port and reduced the deep diving depth, therefore reducing the
Speaker 3: pressure on the seawater hoses until the accident could be investigated.
Speaker 4: In the immediate aftermath, they just recalled the submarines because
Speaker 4: we didn't understand what had happened. We didn't know what
Speaker 4: risk the other boats might have been exposed to, and
Speaker 4: so on. It was probably within a week that they
Speaker 4: were released to sail again when we understood the recourse
Speaker 4: the problem.
Speaker 3: Investigators put the seawater hoses through rigorous pressure tests, much
Speaker 3: more intense than the Colon submarine's deep diving depth, but
Speaker 3: couldn't find any fault to explain the flood months dragged
Speaker 3: into several years with no answers, and the Navy had
Speaker 3: no choice but to maintain a reduced deep diving depth
Speaker 3: for many years. This cantailed their potency because submarines are
Speaker 3: easier to detect and have more limited options for attack
Speaker 3: if they are subject to depth restrictions. Since World War One,
Speaker 3: submarines have been a critical part of warfare with their
Speaker 3: ability to sneak up on hostile forces and destroy them.
Speaker 3: In World War Two, U boat fleets of the Germans
Speaker 3: and the Allies played a critical role in the war's outcome.
Speaker 4: The Commander in chief at fleet moments, they should have
Speaker 4: brief given a came from Pearl Harbor.
Speaker 5: He has to do afternoon.
Speaker 3: I don't think that the theft of a large and Japanese.
Speaker 3: Today there are two types of submarines. Attack submarines which
Speaker 3: hunt and destroy enemy submarines and server ships gather intelligence
Speaker 3: and launch tactical cruise missiles. Then there are the larger
Speaker 3: ballistic missile submarines operated by nuclear weapons states. These sophisticated
Speaker 3: submarines are armed with nuclear weapons and roam the world's
Speaker 3: oceans twenty four to seven, creating a permanent nuclear deterrent,
Speaker 3: which allows the nation to hit back through these submarines
Speaker 3: if it's ever subjected to a nuclear attack. The Colins
Speaker 3: class submarines, which Australia operates, are attack submarines. As an
Speaker 3: either nation, they are considered a most formidable defense capability.
Speaker 3: Here's Peter Scott.
Speaker 7: The failure was basically a flexible hose.
Speaker 4: One of the things about submarines is you want to
Speaker 4: be out there and you want to be as quiet
Speaker 4: as you possibly can. You do need to operate a
Speaker 4: lot of machinery on board, so you want to isolate
Speaker 4: that machinery from the hull so that the noise from
Speaker 4: the machinery doesn't vibrate out into the ocean. One of
Speaker 4: the ways that we do that is rather than connecting
Speaker 4: hard pipes from the system to the whole, there's pressure
Speaker 4: rated flexible hoses and they just create that sort of
Speaker 4: acoustic barrier between the machinery and the whole. So these
Speaker 4: are tested to all sorts of pressures and there are
Speaker 4: hundreds of them on board the submarines. This one failed
Speaker 4: and eventually the investigations found that it was a manufacturing defect.
Speaker 6: Mike Dix again, the nature of the pressure on those
Speaker 6: hoses were somewhat different to what they were designed for,
Speaker 6: if I recall correctly.
Speaker 5: In other words, the constant.
Speaker 6: Pressure versus pulse pressures may have caused the hose to
Speaker 6: fail because there hadn't been properly designed for the situation
Speaker 6: that found itself.
Speaker 3: In the Other dilemma was what to tell the media.
Speaker 6: The clowns class had had a lot of bad press.
Speaker 6: We didn't need any more, but we needed to really
Speaker 6: draw out the positives out of this situation.
Speaker 4: Maybe probably didn't have a whole lot of tolerance for
Speaker 4: the media at that time, To be honest, there wasn't
Speaker 4: much more to be said, so I think within probably
Speaker 4: a week or two, the Navy probably shut down on
Speaker 4: it again and said, we've told you what we can
Speaker 4: tell you.
Speaker 7: That's all there is to it.
Speaker 3: Do you think they played it down to a degree
Speaker 3: because of a circumstance.
Speaker 4: So the Navy would not have played it up, because
Speaker 4: there's nothing to be gained by playing it up. My
Speaker 4: sense is they would have played it with a pretty
Speaker 4: straight bat.
Speaker 3: The Navy did not completely cover up the flood on d. Shane,
Speaker 3: but it did all that it could to ensure that
Speaker 3: the real story was not told. Four days after the flood,
Speaker 3: the Navy stated merely that a number of tons of
Speaker 3: water had entered the submarine after a host failed, but
Speaker 3: it made no mention of deep diving depth a critical factor,
Speaker 3: and it did not say how close the submarine came
Speaker 3: to being lost as a result. Within a tent for
Speaker 3: our news cycle, the story had all but banished. Meanwhile,
Speaker 3: the Navy had the cruise word there to think of.
Speaker 6: You know, you hear very often nowadays about PTSD. Well,
Speaker 6: that was certainly we're aware of that at those times,
Speaker 6: and we needed to look after the crew both immediately
Speaker 6: after the incident itself, but then follow up in the
Speaker 6: weeks and months to come. Sometimes these things take a
Speaker 6: while to reveal themselves.
Speaker 3: Jeordie Bunting.
Speaker 2: Again, there was advice and psychology advice that was offered,
Speaker 2: but I was a blog and we don't do that.
Speaker 2: We just get on the part of me says how
Speaker 2: do I have taken those opportunities up?
Speaker 5: Then it.
Speaker 2: Might have changed things. But down the track I did
Speaker 2: seek help. I was broken and.
Speaker 4: It worked organizationally. I knew that different people would need
Speaker 4: different kinds of support, you know, depending on what their
Speaker 4: experience had been on the day.
Speaker 7: I think we probably asked it. I ran to sit
Speaker 7: down with a psychologist at some stage.
Speaker 4: Through those next several weeks, there was kind of barely
Speaker 4: a moment when some of that wasn't playing out in
Speaker 4: my head, and I think that's just you know, your
Speaker 4: body and your brain still trying to comprehend what's happened
Speaker 4: and place it somewhere.
Speaker 7: I know that.
Speaker 4: Certainly for the first couple of weeks afterwards, I'd go
Speaker 4: to bed at night and just find myself just lying
Speaker 4: as still and quiet as I.
Speaker 7: Could, while I was sort of really liiving some of
Speaker 7: this stuff, and.
Speaker 5: I was kind of most determined not to.
Speaker 4: You know, Sean and my wife, she's been around sumarines
Speaker 4: as long as I have, right so, but what I
Speaker 4: didn't want to do was sort of betray to her
Speaker 4: the full sense of the trauma that we'd we've been through,
Speaker 4: because I knew we had to go back to sea,
Speaker 4: and I didn't want to add two her concern while
Speaker 4: we were away for another three months, totally out of
Speaker 4: contact as you are for weeks and weeks on end.
Speaker 3: To the amazement of the Navy's top rast despite the
Speaker 3: traumatic experience of the Deschena's crew. Every one of them
Speaker 3: reported back for duty just two weeks after the flood
Speaker 3: to go back to see.
Speaker 2: We were part of a crew that wanted to get
Speaker 2: back to doing what we were doing. If anything had
Speaker 2: brought the crew together.
Speaker 4: Trauma aside, they actually came away with a much renewed
Speaker 4: and maybe even reinvigorated sense of confidence in themselves, what
Speaker 4: they were able to do, what they're training had given
Speaker 4: them on the day, and in their butt.
Speaker 7: To a degree, it was what I expected.
Speaker 4: But I know how hard it was to get my
Speaker 4: own ass back on that submarine, so I don't imagine
Speaker 4: it was any easier for the others. So you know,
Speaker 4: a lot of a lot of respect for those people.
Speaker 3: For some crew members, like Jordie Bunting, the trauma of
Speaker 3: the flood had the delayed impact. It created demons which
Speaker 3: came back to haunt them months and even years later.
Speaker 3: Do you think about it much?
Speaker 5: It's in your mind every day every day.
Speaker 2: You know, my wife sleeps beside me at night and
Speaker 2: knows I have nightmares.
Speaker 5: It's nights a better.
Speaker 6: YEA.
Speaker 2: What do you do? You either get on the horse
Speaker 2: and get going, or you let it rule your life,
Speaker 2: and it certainly changed my life, but it's not going
Speaker 2: to own me. It changed my life, for we're in
Speaker 2: the blink of an eye, and it's not only for me,
Speaker 2: I guess for the whole crew. We've been through an
Speaker 2: experience which was near death. My appreciation of people have
Speaker 2: certainly changed, and being very conscious of those around you
Speaker 2: that if you treat them with respect, they may well
Speaker 2: save your life. And that's dear to me. I carry
Speaker 2: that ethos from a civilian life now in the second
Speaker 2: career that I've got very very risk adverse Now I
Speaker 2: don't take risks a lot more calculating it certainly led
Speaker 2: to mental health issues. No, I don't holde behind that,
Speaker 2: but now look, the incident made me the person that
Speaker 2: I am today. Would I do it again?
Speaker 5: Yeah?
Speaker 7: Probably.
Speaker 3: John Ryan was the chief engineer all the crew. John
Speaker 3: that I've spoken to just describe it as a terrifying
Speaker 3: experience on a scale of one to ten. Where would
Speaker 3: you rank it.
Speaker 5: Enough?
Speaker 8: Why, it's pretty much as close as you ever want
Speaker 8: to come to death.
Speaker 3: Melanie Elton was a SINA operator.
Speaker 9: I've had definitely a lifelong effect. Definitely, anxiety is probably
Speaker 9: my worst is I don't have any confidence in myself.
Speaker 9: I don't want any jobs or responsibility. I seem to
Speaker 9: be staring away from them. Now now the job changed
Speaker 9: I'm going to do. I mean, it's even less stressful.
Speaker 1: The flood is brought to you by the Australian War Memorial.
Speaker 1: What Does War Look Like Through the Eyes of the
Speaker 1: People who Lived It? Through Their Eyes is a new
Speaker 1: podcast from the Australian War Memorial that I'm and covers
Speaker 1: deeply human stories drawn from the AWMS vast collections, galleries
Speaker 1: and expert insights. Through unexpected perspectives and immersive storytelling, each
Speaker 1: episode brings history to life in a way that's personal,
Speaker 1: moving and relevant today. Discover the stories behind our history.
Speaker 1: Listen to Through Their Eyes soon wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3: Two years after the flood in two thousand and five,
Speaker 3: I was having a beer with a defense contact when
Speaker 3: he whispered, have you heard the rumor that the Navy
Speaker 3: almost lost a submarine a few years ago? I wondered
Speaker 3: if he was referring to the small story about the
Speaker 3: broken hose and the Dashano two years earlier. As luck
Speaker 3: would have it, I still had the contact details for
Speaker 3: many of the Dashano crew, because I'd spent forty eight
Speaker 3: hours on board that same submarine just months before the incident.
Speaker 3: I avoided the giant defense media machine, which I knew
Speaker 3: would try to shut down the story, so I directly
Speaker 3: contacted many of the crew members I had sailed with.
Speaker 3: To my surprise, most of them were willing to brave
Speaker 3: the wrath of defense pr to tell me their story.
Speaker 3: But I didn't get the one interview I needed until now.
Speaker 4: Cameron on Commodore Peter Scott retired from full time service
Speaker 4: in the ro all Australian Navy.
Speaker 3: After commander of the Dusheno, Scott was promoted to Commodore
Speaker 3: and became commander of the Australian Submarine Group, before serving
Speaker 3: in Iraq, the Persian Gulf in Afghanistan. Even in twenty
Speaker 3: twenty three, when Scott wrote a memoir called Running Deep,
Speaker 3: he only touched lightly on the flood, devoting six pages
Speaker 3: out of two hundred and sixty five to that dramatic day.
Speaker 3: But in his foreword to Scott's memoir, the then Governor
Speaker 3: General David Hurley did not ignore those six pages. Hurley
Speaker 3: described the flood as an extraordinary story of terror, bravery,
Speaker 3: leadership and team response during a major life threatening emergency
Speaker 3: at sea. So in early twenty twenty six, I asked
Speaker 3: petersk Got to finally give me the interview I'd saught
Speaker 3: for twenty one years.
Speaker 4: When we sit here like this and you ask me
Speaker 4: questions about it's pretty bloody heart sometimes to go back
Speaker 4: to it, But I think it's had a different impact
Speaker 4: at different times. I think fundamentally professionally, it's been a
Speaker 4: solid and positive.
Speaker 7: Impact for the crew.
Speaker 4: It really was a binding, solidifying piece of professional justification
Speaker 4: and experience and they.
Speaker 5: Went on to do remarkable work.
Speaker 7: For myself, i'd say it was.
Speaker 4: It would be present more often than it needed to be,
Speaker 4: But of course it sits alongside a number of other
Speaker 4: life threatening situations that I've been through in a thirty
Speaker 4: four year service career, which included time in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Speaker 4: There were a couple of times when I went off
Speaker 4: to seek the support of psychologists. Once over a period
Speaker 4: immediately before I was promoted to Commodore, when I was
Speaker 4: going to be head of the Summarine n't and I
Speaker 4: just wanted to sort of get a level on some
Speaker 4: of the stress and anxiety that I.
Speaker 7: Was living with I was worried that some of this
Speaker 7: stuff might come back and bite me on the bum
Speaker 7: down track.
Speaker 3: Both Peter Scott and former submarine commander Mike Dix adamant
Speaker 3: that the floodies are more of the good news story
Speaker 3: than bad.
Speaker 6: It was quite a remarkable set of circumstances. I've got
Speaker 6: no doubt that at the time of the incident there
Speaker 6: were some people that were very shaken up by it.
Speaker 6: But being a sub mariner operating in the environment which
Speaker 6: we do, comes with some inherent risks. But it was
Speaker 6: a great example of the camaraderie and the sense of
Speaker 6: even though you're in a very difficult situation, that they
Speaker 6: are actually in control of that situation, and the things
Speaker 6: that they did at the time were entirely appropriate to
Speaker 6: bring that submarine safety to the service.
Speaker 3: The Colins class submarines have certainly been tested, but as
Speaker 3: they approach the end of their operational lives, the boats
Speaker 3: have been a success.
Speaker 6: They've done some outstanding work in support of government objectives
Speaker 6: and Australians should be very very proud of their service.
Speaker 3: The Colins boats are thirty years old and now they
Speaker 3: need significant taxpayer investment to keep going until Australia gets
Speaker 3: its new boats under the Australia America, Britain ORCHEST Deal.
Speaker 8: Australia, the US and the UK will work together to
Speaker 8: develop unmanned under sea vehicles as part of the trilateral
Speaker 8: ORCUS agreements.
Speaker 3: First we'll get nuclear powered Virginia class submarines from America. Then,
Speaker 3: together with Britain, will build and sustain our own nuclear
Speaker 3: powered boats, the Orchist class.
Speaker 4: The US doesn't usually share this type of technology with
Speaker 4: US allies, so the fact that Australia is getting it
Speaker 4: is a massive deal.
Speaker 3: Will need to grow the workforce of sub mariners from
Speaker 3: around eight hundred and fifty today to more than three
Speaker 3: thousand in the next twenty years. So can the Collins
Speaker 3: boats keep us going? In the meantime, the government's scaling
Speaker 3: back at spending on Colin's sustatement and maintenance, prompting real
Speaker 3: fears will end up with a capability gap that is
Speaker 3: no effective submarine fleet at all for a period of time.
Speaker 3: Mike Dieck says stories like that of the flood on
Speaker 3: the Dashano, no matter how terrifying, shouldn't deter would be
Speaker 3: sub mariners from what he says is an exciting life.
Speaker 6: If I was a kid in high school now, I'll
Speaker 6: be getting through my AGC exams my year twelve and
Speaker 6: then looking to join the navy and become a submarner
Speaker 6: because I think it would be a really exciting career.
Speaker 6: I think it is interesting times to have another look
Speaker 6: at the Dashano and what happened back then. But she's
Speaker 6: still sailing. The submariners are still doing their work, largely unsung,
Speaker 6: but playing a very important role in the defense of Australia.
Speaker 4: The submarine has been for a very long time and
Speaker 4: will remain the nation's principal strategic deterrent. It's an absolutely
Speaker 4: critical naval capability critical to the nation's security and prosperity.
Speaker 7: The offensive and deterrent.
Speaker 4: Capability and capacity of the submarines we have today and
Speaker 4: the submarines that we will have in the future is remarkable.
Speaker 4: It is what demands the respect of regional navies and
Speaker 4: that's where the real value about submarines lies.
Speaker 7: So if I had the chance.
Speaker 4: To be a part of that again, no doubt, I'd
Speaker 4: absolutely be stepping forward again.
Speaker 3: Despite their traumatic experience, the Dushana Crue say they would
Speaker 3: do it all again. Here's John Ryan.
Speaker 8: I mean the buck did what it was supposed to do.
Speaker 8: The people did what they were supposed to do. Yeah,
Speaker 8: I mean submarine is just a lump of steel, but
Speaker 8: the people in it and the systems that run it perfect.
Speaker 8: The Colins have got a bad wrap back in the
Speaker 8: day by a lot of the media. I think a
Speaker 8: lot of it was unfounded or at least dramatized. Living
Speaker 8: it and seeing what was reported on were two completely
Speaker 8: different things. So yeah, if someone's thinking about it, I
Speaker 8: would definitely give it a go. Great life, great experience,
Speaker 8: great training, see the world. I shall put me on
Speaker 8: a poster.
Speaker 3: Pay for that. And here's Melanie.
Speaker 9: Eleton that you will never find any job with the
Speaker 9: same amount of loyalty, family, courage, adventure, not one days
Speaker 9: the same, the bonding of all your crew like it's
Speaker 9: so worth it. I was a shy girl, got picked
Speaker 9: on for having red hair at school, and then I've
Speaker 9: got up to being a leading seaman on a submarine
Speaker 9: running a sign I watch so anyone can do it.
Speaker 10: And Greg Sullivan thinking about the flood every now and again,
Speaker 10: I think probably affects me more. If I'm telling someone
Speaker 10: the story and going through the events, I get a
Speaker 10: bit of a shitter, but I mean, in the end,
Speaker 10: everyone on the boat did a great job and I
Speaker 10: think that's why it all turned out. In the end.
Speaker 10: I think everyone on the boat should be proud of
Speaker 10: everything that we all did on that day.
Speaker 3: In two thousand and six, Greg Sullivan, who saved Jordie
Speaker 3: Bunting's life by lifting him out of the flooded live
Speaker 3: motor room of the Dushina, was quiet the award of
Speaker 3: the Bravery Medal by the then Governor General, Major General
Speaker 3: Michael Jeffrey. His citation reads, mister Sullivan was on duty
Speaker 3: in another compartment of the submarine when he heard a
Speaker 3: loud bang and ran to investigate. He found that there
Speaker 3: was a serious flood in the lower motor room and
Speaker 3: that the crew member was pinned beneath the exit ladder
Speaker 3: by the force of the flood. Despite the danger, he
Speaker 3: assisted in reaching through a small access hatch into the
Speaker 3: rapidly flooding space and pulled the shocked and disoriented crew
Speaker 3: member to safety, regardless of the risk of electrocution. Mister
Speaker 3: Sullivan then stayed to assist in damage control operations. By
Speaker 3: his action, mister Sullivan displayed considerable bravery by his Excellency's command,
Speaker 3: signed Michael Jeffrey. The crew of the Dushana of Long
Speaker 3: parted scattered to Walll corners of Australia and even overseas.
Speaker 3: A few are still in the Navy, but most are
Speaker 3: out pursuing new careers or retired. Many of the crew
Speaker 3: now have adult children and even grandchildren, a new generation
Speaker 3: that came within twenty seconds of never existing. Some of
Speaker 3: the Dashano crew are still in touch. Those that are
Speaker 3: say that the shared experience of the flood binds them
Speaker 3: together forever. Do you think in a strange way that
Speaker 3: terrifying experience was a binding experience for the crew?
Speaker 2: Absolutely? Yeah, they called being to brothers or being of
Speaker 2: brothers and sisters, then they are awesome.
Speaker 3: But for those who are on board the the shame
Speaker 3: of that day, the memory of the flood is always
Speaker 3: there in some form. Peter Scott is adamant that the
Speaker 3: survival of the submarine on that day was due to
Speaker 3: his crew rather than himself.
Speaker 4: I definitely think I've had my fair share of both
Speaker 4: adventure and misadventure. I spent a lot of time in submarines,
Speaker 4: so I had some really difficult days.
Speaker 5: But Thankfully I was trained.
Speaker 7: And prepared and equipped to deal with.
Speaker 4: Those and I was with the right people on those days,
Speaker 4: and they were trained and prepared and equipped to deal
Speaker 4: with those difficult days as well. And those days are memorable,
Speaker 4: but they're not the important days, the important days of
Speaker 4: the days when you're out there having a strategic effect
Speaker 4: for the nation.
Speaker 7: So I left the Navy.
Speaker 4: I spent a lot of time and did a lot
Speaker 4: of work in the months after I left that job,
Speaker 4: finding the right ways to reprocess some of those memories.
Speaker 7: And today it's a part of my life.
Speaker 4: It's an experience I went through. Most of the time,
Speaker 4: it doesn't occur to me.
Speaker 3: For Jordie Bunting, whose will was turned upside down by
Speaker 3: his near death experience on the Dushano, life still has
Speaker 3: its challenges, but he says he has no regrets about
Speaker 3: his time in the Navy.
Speaker 7: I loved it.
Speaker 2: I was proud, I was proud to serve, I was
Speaker 2: proud to be a submarland and I wouldn't change a thing.
Speaker 3: When he looks back on that faithful day on the Duschano,
Speaker 3: he says, there are three people he owes his life to.
Speaker 3: The first are his two crewmates, Greg Sullivan and Michael
Speaker 3: Morris who ran towards the flood and risked their lives
Speaker 3: to save him as he was drowning.
Speaker 2: If I hadn't a true to them with respect, would
Speaker 2: they have come back and got me? That's a question
Speaker 2: I'll never know. I'll never know.
Speaker 3: But there is another person, he says he wants to
Speaker 3: thank again after all these years, not just for himself,
Speaker 3: but on behalf of the fifty four men and six
Speaker 3: women who made it back to Perth against the odds.
Speaker 2: Cool, calm and calculated Commander Scott. At the time, I
Speaker 2: had the utmost trust in his crew, and the crew
Speaker 2: had the utmost trust in Commander Scott. He was a
Speaker 2: genuine person who was endearing to his crew. He knew
Speaker 2: what he wanted out of him, and the crew weren't
Speaker 2: scared to give him what he wanted. He was just
Speaker 2: an absolute gentleman.
Speaker 3: What do you say to him today?
Speaker 2: Thanks for bringing us on.
Speaker 1: Visus episode four of our four part series, which the
Speaker 1: Australian subscribers here first at the floodpodcast dot com and
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts. If you haven't seen our beautiful documentary video
Speaker 1: all Red Cameron Stories, go to The floodpodcast dot com.
Speaker 1: The Flood is an audio and video investigation for The
Speaker 1: Australian by Cameron Stewart, Executive producer Claire Harvey and editor
Speaker 1: Jasper Leiku. You can watch the video right now at
Speaker 1: the floodpodcast dot com. Our theme is composed by jasperlik
Speaker 1: cinematography is by Andy Taylor and video editing by Lachlan Clear.
Speaker 1: Additional footage was shot by Luke Geldard and Peter Aqualina.
Speaker 1: Our graphics are by Sean Callanan and animations by Franklin.
Speaker 1: Special thanks to Kristin Amiot, Ryan Elfin, the Australian National
Speaker 1: Maritime Museum and the Australian War Memorial. Captured, Imprisoned, Determined
Speaker 1: to Survive through first hand accounts from the Australian War
Speaker 1: Memorial's archives. Through Their Eyes reveals what it meant to
Speaker 1: endure captivity, maintain hope and survive against the odds. Listen
Speaker 1: to Through Their Eyes wherever you get your podcasts