Characters

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  Lieutenant Commander Mike Flynn

  Ian Stenlake

  LIEUTENANT COMMANDER MIKE FLYNN, the Commanding Officer of HMAS Hammersley, joined the Navy at the age of 17 and worked his way up through the ranks. He is a man who by turns can be a laid-back larrikin or dangerous when crossed. Years ago, as an instructor on a short course, he met and had a brief, passionate affair with one of his students, a young Lieutenant named Kate McGregor. They both knew they’d crossed a professional line, she was ambitious, he was astounded that he could have let it happen, and they parted

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  Lieutenant Kate McGregor

  Lisa McCune

  LIEUTENANT KATE MCGREGOR, the Executive Officer of HMAS Hammersley, is cool, beautiful, reserved, always aiming for a perfect 10 in everything she does. This is the professional Kate, the one who was nicknamed ‘Princess Perfect’ at ADFA, the one who aimed for success and won the Sword for best Navy cadet in her final year. But this is not all there is to her, for she is a woman of secrets, a woman on the run from her own past, a woman who has reinvented herself and never wants to go back to where she came from.

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  Andy 'Charge' Thorpe

  John Batchelor

  CHIEF PETTY OFFICER ANDY THORPE is both the oldest and most senior sailor below decks on board the Hammersley. He joined the Navy as an apprentice at age 16 and has, on and off, spent the past 20 years on Patrol Boats. Andy is a sort of walking manual and history book, for there’s nothing he doesn’t know about diesel engines and the Navy itself. He’s a not-so-old old man of the sea, full of Navy lore and legend.

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  Dylan "Dutchy" Mulholland

  Conrad Coleby

  Petty Officer Bosun Dylan Mulholland is called "Dutchy". With his good looks and rugged features, this 34-year-old chunk of Aussie manhood is obviously not Dutch, but he cops the moniker thanks to his surname. Dutchy is a down-home, salt-of-the-earth, regular good guy as you could ever want to meet. A hit with everyone, particularly Bird who develops a massive crush on him, Dutchy is friendly, charming, confident with women, charismatic and gregarious. That is, he's friendly and gregarious with everyone other than Kate. 

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  Chris 'Swain' Blake

  Matthew Holmes

  PETTY OFFICER CHRIS BLAKE is the ship’s Coxswain or Swain. His job category is Naval Police Coxswain (NPC) but this describes only one of his duties aboard. He is simultaneously the ship’s police officer, in charge of discipline, the ship’s chief medic and the most skilled helmsman. When the Hammersley is going alongside a wharf, it is Chris who is at the helm.

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  Robert J Dixon

  Kristian Schmid

  ABLE SEAMAN COMMUNICATOR ROBERT J. DIXON, is the crew member trained in communication and information systems and their maintenance and he is the ship’s link to the outside world. This means he could easily become a source of gossip, but that is not Robert’s style. If anything he is somewhat paranoid about telling anybody anything. For him, information is power and he wields it.

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  Jessica Bird

  Danielle Horvat

  Jessica, or "Bird", as she's called by the crew of Hammersley, is 17 years old. She finished high school just four months ago and decided, rather than go straight on to university, to sign up for a "gap" year on a navy patrol boat out of Cairns. It's a long way north and a big change from a comfortable life in Melbourne but this bright and energetic teenager is looking forward to having a break from study, earning real bucks and getting away for some adventure in the tropics.

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  Leo '2Dads' Kosov-Meyer

  Nikolai Nikolaeff

  Dubbed "2Dads" by Pete "Buffer" Tomaszewski because of his hyphenated surname, Leo Kosov-Meyer has enjoyed a pretty rapid rise to his current position after only three years in the Navy. But this has not been in recognition of any particularly meritorious service or dedication to duty, but rather due to a critical shortage of qualified technicians. Three years down the track with two remaining, 2Dads nevertheless looks upon his Navy service as a sentence of sorts. Given his personality type, he's not a natural fit for the disciplined life. He puts his considerable energy into making trouble wherever and whenever possible. His subversive nature sees him unable to resist setting up the guys and chatting up the girls. The habitual expression on his baby face is a smirk. But this belies an inner vulnerability. 

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  Rebecca 'Bomber' Brown

  Kirsty Lee Allan

  Able Seaman Chef Rebecca ‘Bomber’ Brown arrived new to Hammersley last season after Toby Jones posted off between series. She’s the new Chefo, Able Seaman Brown, a.k.a. “Bomber”. A mercurial character, Bomber lights up a room. You can always count on her to bring a smile to your face, even in the darkest hour. She’s gung-ho energetic and as passionate about life as she is about food. In fact, in Bomber’s book they’re synonymous. Her warmth and generosity of spirit will engage every member of the crew and she’ll find a place in the hearts of her new Hammersley family, but it’s the dispassionate Robert (R.O.) with whom she finds a unique connection.

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  Commander Maxine "Knocker" White (Navcom)

  Tammy McIntosh

  Commander Maxine White, 43, takes over at Navcom from Steve Marshall (who's moved on to a Canberra posting). She's also known as "Knocker", but never in her presence, unless you want to find yourself swabbing out the heads in the military lock-up! Maxine comes with a reputation for being tough. Truth is, she's very direct — a straight shooter — and can be more than slightly intimidating, but only if you get on her bad side — like by calling her "Knocker", for example. Hailing from ADFA in the same year as Mike Flynn and with a colourful and distinguished career already behind her, Maxine rose through the ranks as something of a pioneer female officer on patrol boats, in addition to other active service postings both in Australia and overseas. She's had to mix it up with the males of her generation without the safety net of other female contemporaries and this experience has stood her in good stead when it comes to the administrative argy-bargy, which is the fate of a Navcom commander.

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  Midshipman Ryan White

  Dominic Deutscher