HMAS Encounter capturing Zambezi in August 1914
HMAS Encounter capturing Zambezi in August 1914:
Within 24 hours of the outbreak of WWI German authorities in their Pacific colony, Nauru had successfully and illegally chartered several steamers. One such vessel was the Zambezi.
Once at sea, Zambezi no longer needed to conceal her true role and two days after the declaration of war the German Administrator finally announced that his country and England were at war.
Meanwhile HMAS Encounter sailed from Sydney on 6 August to join up with the battlecruiser HMAS Australia. Before their rendezvous on the 12th, Encounter intercepted and captured Zambezi as she was conveying despatches and materials to complete the wireless station at Rabaul. The boarding party from Encounter found on board a wireless operator in custody of cement and bedplates for diesel engines at Rabaul and Bitapuka, and a German engineer with despatches for the Administrator of Rabaul.
Zambezi was taken as a prize and sent to Sydney. Not long after, Encounter gained further honours when she bombarded Toma, German New Guinea on 14 September 1914, becoming the first RAN warship to fire rounds in WWI.
- About Phil Belbin
Phil Belbin was interested in art from a young age and a prolific drawer. He is said to have produced his first comic book at the age of eleven and had his first published work, a calendar for a metallurgist, at the age of thirteen. He studied art for two years at East Sydney Technical College. In 1942 Belbin had further training for one year at Sydney's The Sun newspaper as an intern in the art department.
In 1943 Belbin enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force and served as an armourer in the Pacific Islands. Following his demobilisation in March 1946, Belbin found work at Frank Johnson Publications as an illustrator. In 1947 Belbin went to work for K.G. Murray Publishing Company. He created cartoons, comic strips and artwork for the company over the next 30 years.
Throughout his time at the publishing house Belbin also worked as a freelance illustrator for other publications and illustrated campaigns for advertising agencies and numerous private commissions. Belbin's list of commercial art clients grew to include local and international engineering, aerospace, and transportation companies.
In 1974 Belbin was awarded a 'Citation of Merit' by the New York Society of Illustrator and in 1984 he was elected as a fellow by the Royal Society of Arts, London.
Throughout his life Belbin had maintained a keen interest in steam transport - ships and trains. In addition to his print illustrations, Belbin also painted scenes of shipping and steam trains whose accurate details were highly regarded.
Belbin was asked to illustrate the book “The Royal Australian Navy: the first seventy-five years”. This book contains twenty-six outstanding ship paintings and several drawings by Phil Belbin. The text was by Ross Gillett. It was published by Child & Henry in 1989.
Phil Belbin passed away in 1993, succumbing to motor neurone disease.
- About HMAS Encounter (l)
HMAS Encounter was a Challenger Class, Light Cruiser. After seven years' service in the Royal Navy mostly in Australian waters Encounter was commissioned into the RAN in 1912. During the next two years she was actively employed in training the growing Navy and showing the flag at ports all around the nation. On 4 October 1913 she joined with the remainder of the new Australian Fleet Unit comprising the battlecruiser Australia, light cruisers, Sydney and Melbourne, and the destroyers, Parramatta, Yarra and Warrego and took part in the Australian Fleets' entry into Port Jackson.
More reading
- Additional resources for Phil Belbin
- Additional resources for HMAS Encounter (l)