CMDR William Clarkson, ANF, and CMDR W. J. Colquhoun, DSO, ANF, departed Australia for Japan to conduct an in depth study of the Imperial Japanese Navy methods of ship construction, administration, and training. The pair then also visited the United States, Canada, and England, to observe similar activities. This information was then brought back to Australia to help with the further development of the Australian Naval Forces. Clarkson and Colquhoun were both ex State Navy officers. Colquhoun had been awarded the DSO, and twice Mentioned in Dispatches, for bravery and leadership while attached to the RN Brigade in South Africa in 1899-1900, while Clarkson had served onboard HMCS PROTECTOR in the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and later went onto become a Vice-Admiral in the RAN.