History
Mike, also known as "CO" or "Sir" or "Boss", is the commanding officer of the patrol boat HMAS Hammersley. He is forty years old and joined the Royal Australian Navy when he was seventeen and has worked his way up through the ranks over the years.
He exudes a vigorous physicality combined with an air of quiet confidence, leavened by a laconic sense of humour. He is a man who by turns can be a laidback larrikin or dangerous when crossed. He has a drive to win at all costs and this can lead him into conflict with his colleagues and superiors when in pursuit of boats illegally intruding on Australian waters. As a result of this, he's gained a reputation as a 'cowboy'.
Mike was posted to the Fremantle class HMAS Hammersley as a young sailor, and as other promotions and transfers came and went, he never imagined he would set foot on the old girl again. But he did, for the girl's last journeys as the commanding officer, before being decommissioned after twenty-five years of honourable service.
Now in the aftermath of the decommissioning, he is to command once again on the new Armidale class Patrol Boat HMAS Hammersley, with the majority of his crew joining him once again.
Personal life
He "joined at seventeen and rose up through the ranks". When he was thirty-three, he had a brief but passionate affair with a young lieutenant by the name of Kate McGregor. It wasn't right, and after its brief passion, they parted, never expecting to see each other again.
Which is why it was a surprise when she was posted to be his new executive officer in the Hammersley's last six months. While they appear to have moved on from their history, it is quite obvious that what they had, meant so much to each of them, yet as working together, nothing can be done about it.
In the first season, Mike had a short-lived relationship with a marine biologist, Dr. Ursula Morrell (portrayed by Sibylla Budd). While their presence and relationship quite obviously annoyed and irritated Kate, it became more of an annoyance when she went missing and Mike started obsessing that something not-right was going on with the Bright Island mystery. She is however, found in the captivity of Kate's current flame Rick Gallagher (portrayed by Martin Lynes), who unknowingly helped him by extracting the toxin from a toxic breed of crabs so he could sell the toxins on the black market. Because of all this, Ursula has to go on witness protection in the end, thus her and Mike's relationship ending.
In the second season he and the crew of the Hammersley helped to prevent a coup from occurring in the fictitious Samaru Islands. During the season Kate formed a relationship with SAS Captain Jim Roth. Mike was clearly annoyed by this and eventually was almost fatally injured saving Jim. After this occurred Jim and Kate realised Kate's true feelings for Mike, but nothing has been done to act on those feelings.
In episode 4 of Season 3 (“Guns”), a former RAN Lieutenant Geoff Kershaw (portrayed by Sullivan Stapleton) is rescued after his ship sinks in a storm and is a temporary passenger whilst the ship deals with arms smuggling. It is revealed that Mike left a reputation when he passed through Officer Training at ADVA, which he puts down to a whoopie cushion under an Admirals chair during his Graduation Ceremory he was responsible for. Geoff also alludes that there was a rumor circling about a lieutenant-commander having an affair with a student on a course he was teaching, a rumor he tells only to Mike and Kate. Though Geoff is soon arrested for his part in arms dealing, the incident leads both Mike and Kate to rethink their positions on having a relationship.
Mike was promoted to Commander in the first episode of Season 4 (“Night of the Long Knives”), and left the Hammersley for a shore posting at NavCom, allowing him to explore his relationship with Kate. In the second episode, “Crocodile Tears”, Mike and Kate slept together after an argument, before Kate was called back to the boat. However, the CO who took over from Mike was removed from his post, and Mike was reappointed as CO of Hammersley at the end of “Crocodile Tears”, disallowing a personal relationship between the two of them to continue.
In episode 10 of Season 4 (“Rawhide”), the issue of Mike and Kate's relationship resurfaced, with Kate admitting to Mike (and calling him Mike for the first time), that she wanted more from their relationship, including marriage and kids. Their attempt at a date was interrupted by the crew of the Hammersley, and the discussion went unresolved. Mike's feelings for Kate became apparent in episode 14 of Season 4 (“Live Catch”), when he inadvertently referred to her as Kate, rather than the XO, to Dutchy, while Kate was in danger.
In the final of Season 4 (“In Too Deep”), Mike rescued a baby and the father from drowning, and the father announced to him that “I owe you my life”. After being told by Cmdr White that if he disapproved of her list of potential candidates for CO he should pick his own, Mike put Kate's name at the top of the list. Mike commented to Kate, about the original list, that “they couldn’t command a tug boat, let alone a war ship.” Unfortunately, Kate saw the list, and believed Mike was referring to her, so announced to him that she was requesting a transfer off Hammersley. Kate then dropped his calls all evening, including when Mike was walking into a bad situation, involving drug dealers, with Mike pretending to be the captain of a surveying vessel.
Upon realising what had happened to Mike, Kate was made acting CO until they could locate him. The Hammersley received a tip that Mike was being put in a submarine, and towed out to deep water to be sunk. However, the leader of the drug dealers was the man Mike saved earlier, so Mike was removed from the sub, and held captive on his boat. Kate, and the rest of the Hammersley crew, still believed Mike was in the submarine when it exploded. Kate is later told by Cmdr Maxine White that Mike added her name to the original list of candidates that he rejected, increasing her guilt as she realizes her error.
Kate took over from Charge to lead the boarding when the crew boarded the drug dealer's boat, and had to be stopped from shooting the leader by Swain, as she blamed him for the death of Mike. Kate then found Mike alive and well on the ship, and the pair shared a loving embrace, which Dutchy walked in on. Upon returning to the ship, Dutchy commented to Kate that it was “okay”, indicating that he wasn't going to talk about what he had seen or heard.
By the start of Season 5 things looks promising for Mike and Kate. Mike is transferred off Hammersley to a desk job at NavCom; thus finally allowing them to pursue their relationship openly. However, fate once intervenes. Hammersley's new CO is removed for misconduct and Mike is posted to the ship. This proves too much for Kate who ends their relationship and takes up with her old flame SAS Captain Jim Roth; who proposes in the series finale.
A new midshipman, Ryan White (Cmdr Maxine White's son and Mike's godson), is appointed to Hammersley's crew. When Ryan's father Stuart requires a bone marrow transfer, medical tests reveal that the two aren't compatible. This causes Mike to question Cmdr White about a 'liaison' they had some 19 years before; Maxine (and later tests) confirm that Ryan is Mike's son. Ryan is transferred off Hammersley, but later resigns his commission and take a job with a private security company.
Both Mike and Kate are then involved in stopping a major terrorist attack on Cairns. Unfortunately, Jim Roth is lost in the attack attempting to disarm a bomb. Following this tragic loss, Kate finally confesses that Mike is the only man for her.
At some point after the final Sea Patrol episode Mike and Kate finally marry and are expecting their first child. Mike has been promoted to Captain and has been posted to NavCom in Cairns.
