History Series / SeaPatrol

** RO will often be told to his face that his standoffish attitude and not being friendly with others is a reason why he's often alone when facing trouble yet still retains that attitude. Also, he can learn a lesson in humility but be back to an arrogant and judgemental mindset fast (in RO's defense, his AmbiguousDisorder may explain some of his behavior).

** In Season 4, RO nearly causes a mess when he can't lift a sailor out of the water. It turns out he had ''his appendix removed'' on shore leave and the doctors openly told him he should avoid heavy lifting for a while. RO simply didn't think this was big enough to keep him from duty (once more showing his AmbiguousDisorder at work) as Flynn rightly chews him out for keeping a major health condition quiet.

* OpenSecret: ET and Nikki's relationship ends up being this. While everyone is more or less a [[JustForPun shipper on deck]] no one wants them to leave and so they keep quiet about it. Mike and Kate are so good that it comes as a bit of a surprise when they show that they know about it.

* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: Real ''Armidale''-class patrol boats don't have permanent crews as depicted in this show. Instead, multiple crews rotate through the boats in a division to keep them at sea as much as possible[[note]]Six crews for four boats in ''Attack'' and ''Assail'' Divisions, six crews for three boats in ''Ardent'' Division, and three crews for two boats in ''Aware'' Division[[/note]], meaning crews don't settle in and get as attached to a particular boat the way the ''Hammersley'' crew does.

%%* SeaStories

* WoundedGazelleGambit: A woman in series one sent Maydays all episode, each one less plausible than the one before. She caused a lot of problems, which culminated in holding ET at gun point.

* Damage Control:

* WillTheyOrWontThey?: Mike and Kate. ET and Nikki [[spoiler:ET and Nikki do but before it is finalised and fully out in the open, he is murdered. Mike and Kate finally get together at the start of the fourth series when he is promoted off the '''Hammersley''' but he is back at the end of the second episode and their relationship is put on hold for the rest of the season -- to Kate's increasing frustration. She breaks it off in the fifth season and goes out with old flame Jim but they get together in the final episode]].

* WoundedGazelleGambit: A woman in series one sent Maydays all episode. She caused a lot of problems before she held ET at gun point.

* NewMeat/EnsignNewbie: Spider and Bird though Spider found himself coming in for more than Bird because he wasn't a she and pretty. Both are very gullible though, to everyone's delight.

** "Dutchy" derives from the last two syllables of his surname, Mul'''holland''' (This also [[OneSteveRule avoids]] having the successor boatswain to the character of Buffer also go by the nickname "Buffer.")

* TheDrunkenSailor: Of course there's shore leave, but while Buffer and 2Dads took on two dangerous men and won, poor RO ''needs'' to stay away from the booze. The poor golf buggie....
* EmbarrassingTattoo: Buffer on a night out decides to get another tattoo and forces Spider to come along and get one himself. Buffer (who's definitely drunk) goes to sleep in the chair while his tattoo is being done. The next day Bomber is tending to the slightly infected tattoo and it becomes clear that it isn't the tattoo Buffer wanted. Bomber corners Spider, who admits that he didn't get one then realises that he messed with Buffer's choice. It turns out that he changed it to a heart with XO in it. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments And the first person Buffer shows it to is the XO.]] ... Spider is very lucky to not be maimed, let alone alive, when Buffer is finished with him.

* InterserviceRivalry: A few times when an army man appears or once when the crew found weapons stolen from an army base but there is a problem with the [=FEDs=] everynow and again, while the crew isn't blameless there are one or two moments when the plot wouldn't have happened if the [=FEDs=] had just warned ''Hammersley'' something would happening in the area.
* ItMakesSenseInContext: Some of the nicknames such as '2Dads' which is because his surname is a double barrel Kosov-Meyer. 'Bomber' is traditionally given to people with the surname Brown in the navy; sources differ on the origin.

* VitriolicBestBuds: [=RO=] and 2Dads.

** Season 3: Campbell Fulton,

* TheBigGuy: Buffer, Dutchy replaces him in season 4.

** TheMedic: Chris 'Swain' Blake assisted by

** Had to swallow their pride and leave their mascot in the ''Kingston'''s arms even though they've put Thor in pink hotpants and waving it right under their noses.

** Relationships go though a bad patch. (ET, Buffer and Nikki's most notably).

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Many characters are addressed either by position or by nicknames derived from their positions. So we have: "XO" (executive officer), "Nav" (navigator), "Swain" (coxswain), "RO" (radio operator), "ET" (electronics technician), "Charge" (Chief Mechanical Technician), "Chefo" (chef).

* FriendlyRivalry: With anyone not from ''Hammersley''

** Change's bad eye is affected by the fire.

** Mike and the ''Hammersley'' part in understanding the jigsaw plot hits a hard stumbling block.

* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Many characters are addressed either by position or by nicknames derived from their positions. So we have,"XO" (executive officer), "Nav" (navigator), "Swain" (coxswain), "RO" (radio operator), "ET" (electronics technician), "Chefo" (chef).

''Sea Patrol'' is an Australian television series focusing on the crew of [=HMAS=] ''Hammersley''. The first three seasons have their own JigsawPuzzlePlot that is slowly revealed over the course of the season, though each episode was more focused on giving one or two crew members their [[ADayInTheLimelight day in the limelight]]. The fourth season ditched the JigsawPuzzlePlot and just focused on the characters. The fifth and final season went back to the JigsawPuzzlePlot of the first three seasons. Has been aired in many countries though not in the [=USA=].

* BrainsAndBrawn: On the outside the officers and NCO but the officers can hold their own in a fight and many of the NCO (particularly ET, Charge, Swaine and 2Dads) clearly could outdo them in their fields.

** TheMedic: Chris 'Swaine' Blake assisted by

* CoolBoat: HMAS ''Hammersley''. Some occasional boats that are pirated.

* GoingDownWithTheShip: Poor Swaine nearly has this fate after a bad run in with some diamond smugglers.
* GoodWithNumbers: Kate and Nikki are qualified navigators. Charge, ET, 2Dads, Swaine and RO would have to be good at maths to do their jobs. Mike is implied to be but there isn't much reason for his to show it.

%% commented out as Administrivia/ZeroContextExample * HappilyMarried: Swaine

* KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler: ET, Swaine.]]

* MistakenForPregnant: Kate. Although to be fair she did have a tummy bug and showed the classical signs of pregnancy so Swaine giving her the pregnancy test (to rule it out) and RO seeing the test and her behaviour makes it understandable that it happened.

* TeamDad: Split between Mike, Charge and Swaine. Mike is the authority figure, Charge the fun/caring one, and Swaine the sort of big brother.

* TraumaticCSection: Though the mother was dead Swaine is haunted by doing this.

* WelcomeEpisode: The Pilot has Kate and Spider's first day on ''Hammersley'', Spider has only been in the navy for four weeks.

* CurseEscapeClause: Which involves getting back their mascot, stealing the other ship's mascot (of the crew that stole their's) and Buffer dressing up as Neptune to give a offering to appease the sea.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: Normally Kate, but when Mike is given the rare chance he proves that his reputation isn't just talk, and Nikki isn't a pushover.

* PutOnABus: Chefo between seasons 1 and 2; and Nav, Spider, and Buffer between season 3 and 4; and Bomber between seasons 4 and 5, though at least Bomber going away was referenced in the season 4 finale.
** Justified in that people in the Navy change boats regularly, just in the course of their careers.

* SeaStories

* SexSlave: See above.
* SexTourism: Or sex boat.

* TerrifiedOfGerms: RO
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Bird to the other ladies of ''Hammersley''.

* HotScientist: Dr Ursula Morrell

* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Most of the nicknames, Chefo is the chef, though he's also the assistant medic, [=CO=] is the '''C'''ommanding '''O'''fficer, Swaine is the coxswain, etc.