Hello
Serving a Navy and to be placed on another Navy for long period is rare but it's happen - actually there is almost 20 foreign officers serving aboard of French ships for one or two year deployment. And there some more (up to 100) on bases and Command Staff.
There is also short time deployement (1 week to 1 month) during operations like during Blakan crisis, off the Liban coast, Gulf of Aden operation etc...
I have a good friend, an helo pilot, serving actually for 2 years with the German Navy - since many years there permantly 2 french pilots serving the German Navy and same on the other way.
Mainly those exchanges are with European navies and some with other NATO. It's rare with other nations even if there is some training officers and I remember to have 2 Brazilians aboard during a month at sea (it was not an exchange but they have to learn some the way of working equipments with us) .
An exchange between ships sailing on same joint exercise or the same joint operation is more frequent. A British counterpart from the HMS
Northumberland had come one week aboard the French frigate
Primauguet (D644) while I was aboard of the
Northumberland during Joint Maritime Course off the northen Scotland. It was the same for the HMS
Severn or the HMNZS
Canterbury where a New Zealand officer "replaced" me for two days aboard of my ship.
I have to say that in those cases its' more a friendly exchange and as exemple some of my friends aboard of french ships don't want to stay a week aboard of an US ship as the food is so bad, but there is so many volunteer to go aboard of German ships as the beer is good etc... I was Ops officer and from the
Norhumberland my contrepart was an engineer owner of a house in France (Perigord) I'm sure it was not a chance but a real choice to be "exchanged" aboard of a French navy ship.
From my side I'm always ready for foreign experiment and even I've spend a day aboard of an Ukrainian and 2 days on Saudi ship
About the
Success it was quiet different as it was just experience sharing. At that time I was ops officer aboard of the same oiler
Durance class design. I was in Australia to learn your way of work and to share our experiences. So I spend some days at sea aboard of the HMAS
Success during RAS training, prior and after I've send some day of working on paper and procedures. As I remember 2 or 3 australian officers have spend some time aboard of French oiler prior the commisioning of the
Success and also aboard or Canadian AOR as the transfert equipment for French, Australian but also Saudi oiler is Canadian designed.
Maybe Australian is particular as you are not in NATO and as your are so far down under, so I'm sure there some exchange with the New Zealand Navy, some with the US and UK (you are serving the same Queen
with your ships named Her Majesty's Australian Ship )
I hope to have answered your question
Otherwise do not hesitate to send me a MP certain things cannot be said on an all over the world read forum
A+ Xtian