Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find this listing on the Australian Ebay, so it may have been pulled or sold since this article was originally posted on The Australian online newspaper. Still, we’re keeping our eyes open.
More info from the article (WARNING: sadness and shattered dreams ahead):
The story behind the bizarre firesale of this Cold War warrior, a prized piece of the nation’s military heritage, is far from festive. The forced sale of the Otama — the first RAN submarine offered on eBay — has broken the heart of the man who dreamed the vessel would one day restore the flagging fortunes of his home town of Hastings on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
Max Bryant, president of the Western Port Oberon Association, said: “I’ve put 11 years of work into this, and all we have had is disappointment.”
Bought from the federal government in 2001 for $50,000, the decommissioned Otama was to take pride of place on the Hastings foreshore, providing an all-year tourist attraction for the small industrial town.
It was to be a noble end for the last of the Oberon Class boats, which spent much of its life from 1978 to 2000 conducting dangerous top-secret surveillance missions against Soviet targets off the coast of Vietnam.
Instead, Otama is fast rusting away in the waters of Western Port Bay, the victim of planning delays and false promises by Victorian government officials over seven years.
Update: Found the Ebay listing and it looks like it was either changed since The Australian story was published or the original story was factually deficient. The Ebay listing, now closed, seems to be requesting donations for the Hastings Cerberus Maritime Memorial Center.
Regardless, punishment for this miscommunication is in order. The guilty parties will be identified and indifferent calibrations performed.
