Germany signed the Armistice to end WWI. The RAN lost the submarines AE1 and AE2 during the war. Over 240 RAN personnel lost their lives during the war, both within Australia and overseas. Recorded in the diary of HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), was the following triumphant message; Admiral Beatty sent a signal to the Grand Fleet to splice the main brace. A tot of rum was served out to the ship’s company, the first time since the ship was commissioned. Fireworks displays and all kinds of whistles in fact anything that a sound could be got out of was under way.
The Commonwealth Naval Dockyard at Cockatoo Island, Sydney, refitted 250 transports, and docked over 500 vessels during WWI.