Commodore Walter Samuel Grono ('Sam') Bateman AM, BEc, MEc, PhD Royal Australian Navy

Walter Samuel Grono (Sam) Bateman entered the RANC in January 1954 as a fifteen year old cadet. After graduation he joined the training ship HMAS Swan in 1956 before travelling to the UK for training at BRNC. He gained his BWC in the aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne. He served as XO of the tug HMAS Emu Promoted lieutenant in December 1959 he joined the armament stores carrier HMAS Woomera as XO in January 1960. On 11 October 1960 an explosion started a fierce fire in Woomera’s hold and the ship sank some 90 minutes later, claiming the lives of two crew members. Lieutenant Bateman, along with the ship’s CO, faced a court martial but both found to have no case to answer. Bateman served in HMAS Parramatta before assuming his first command, the GPV HMAS Bass, in January 1963. He was appointed OIC of the Marine Section at HMAS Creswell in January 1965 and, in November 1967, was the commissioning commanding officer of the Attack class patrol boat HMAS Aitape which formed part of the Papua New Guinea Patrol Boat Group. He was promoted lieutenant commander the following month. Aitape, along with HMAS Ladava, set an RAN navigation record when they ventured some 230 miles up the Sepik River in February 1969. Bateman was posted once again to HMAS Parramatta as XO. He returned to PNG in December 1971 as NOIC Port Moresby, and, later, Director of Maritime Operations leading up to PNG independence. He was promoted commander in December 1972. He assumed command of HMAS Yarra in December 1977 in which he was heavily involved in Mulloka sonar trials. In 1979 he was posted as the Staff Officer, Force Structure Planning in the Directorate of Naval Plans. He was promoted captain in June 1980 and appointed Director of Naval Force Development. Bateman then conducted a study of the economic significance of seaborne trade to Australia before being posted to the Strategic and International Policy Division where he was involved in the finalisation of UNCLOS. The experience stirred his interest in maritime law. He returned to sea in December 1984, commanding HMAS Hobart. He was promoted Commodore in June 1986 and went on to hold the posts of DG Military Staff, DG Force Development and DG Maritime Studies Program, which led to the establishment of the Sea Power Centre – Australia.Commodore Bateman retired from the RAN in December 1993. From 1994 to 1999 he was Director of the Centre for Maritime Policy (now the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security – ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, and also a member of the Ministerial Advisory Group on Oceans Policy and the National Oceans Advisory Group. He remained active in the sphere after gaining his PhD from the University of NSW in 2000 including teaching at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore in 2004. Most recently he had returned to ANCORS as a Professorial Research Fellow.