";s:4:"text";s:4763:"The vessel was built as RFA Largs Bay by Swan Hunter in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear.
Choules was 13 on the outbreak of the First World War, and the family received letters from DouglasChoules' father then arranged for him to train to join the navy instead, and in April 1915, at age 14, he joined the nautical training ship In 1926, along with 11 other Royal Navy senior sailors, Choules travelled to Australia on loan as an instructor at Flinders Naval Depot. After having emigrated to Australia he served with the Royal Australian Navy, from 1926 until 1956, as a Chief Petty Officer and was a naturalised Australian citizen. He travelled in He took his discharge from the RAN in 1931, but remained in the reserves and rejoined the RAN in 1932 as a chief petty officer torpedo and anti-submarine instructor. She was named after Largs Bay in Ayrshire, Scotland, and entered service in November 2006. He never returned to England after leaving.Choules remained in the RAN after the Second World War and transferred to the Choules and his wife Ethel were married for 76 years, until her death at age 98.On 6 August 2009, although almost blind and deaf, he was still mentally active and gave a television interview.In late April 2010, Choules's daughter Daphne Choules-Edinger reported that his health was declining and he could no longer give interviews.Choules was the last surviving male veteran of World War I and the last surviving veteran who saw active service. V20150417 - HMAS Choules Time-Lapse - Duration: 3:24. HMAS Choules (L100) is a Bay-class landing ship that served with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) from 2006 to 2011, before being transferred to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Choulesis an amphibious Landing Ship Dock which originally served wi…
The Royal Australian Navy amphib HMAS Choules has finished her second evacuation voyage from Mallacoota, Victoria, carrying an additional 280 people to safety. The new design was based on the Royal Schelde Enforcer design; a joint project between the Dutch and Spanish resulting in the Rotterdam-class and Galicia -class amphibious warfare ships.