Naval homecoming rings wedding bells

It was a naval operation carried out with dedication and precision.

And like most high-risk missions, it took months of planning.

On a winter morning on Sydney's foreshore, Lieutenant Danny McCall popped the question in front of TV cameras, a frigate's worth of whooping sailors and 1100 of their loved ones.

As the HMAS Darwin docked on Saturday morning after seven long months at sea, the banner came rolling down: "Jade, will you marry me?"

Lt McCall was among the first on the gangway, striding through the crowds with a bouquet under his arm and a ring in his pocket, before kneeling down and asking for Jade Houston's hand in person.

"I was planning on it since mid-late last year," he told reporters after extracting a hearty yes from his now-fiancee.

"It all went down like clockwork, no hiccups there ... hopefully I haven't embarrassed her too much."

Yes, bride-to-be was definitely blushing.

"I don't even have any words, I'm just trying to keep on my feet and not fall over," she said.

"He's amazing and I love him very much and am very lucky to have him - it's just good to have him home."

He was one of 232 crew members who are now due for several weeks of R&R after a series of Middle Eastern operations aimed at cutting terrorists' financial pipeline by targeting drug-smugglers.

In all, Darwin's Commander Terence Morrison said, the ship's crew seized 12 tonnes of heroin and hashish - including one record haul of heroin valued at almost $290 million, found aboard a smuggling boat off Kenya.

"It's not every day that you actually get to fight these terrorist organisations," Commander Morrison said.

"You see things that happen - 9/11, Bali, Madrid, London, and you think to yourself what can I do about that?

"And we've been able to go out and stem some of their funding, and it's a great achievement."

Navy fleet commander Rear Admiral Stuart Mayer said in a statement that the ship's crew had intercepted and destroyed over $2.1 billion of narcotics during this latest deployment.