CAPT William Creswell’s report on the establishment of an Australian navy, and the role it could play in the defence of Australia, (submitted to the Committee of Imperial Defence in ...
Australian Naval History on 10 September 1905
VADM Sir Wilmot H. Fawkes, KCB, KCVO, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding the Australia Station. His flagship was HMS POWERFUL ...
Australian Naval History on 18 July 1905
The naval prison at Garden Island, Sydney, was completed. It provided accommodation for 12 prisoners. ...
Australian Naval History on 12 January 1905
Commonwealth Naval and Military Boards were constituted under the Defence Act of 1903-1904. The regular members of the Naval Board were the Minister for Defence, (Mr J. W. McKay) as ...
Australian Naval History on 24 December 1904
CAPT William Creswell was appointed Director of Naval Forces. ...
Australian Naval History on 10 November 1904
Water tender RIPPLE, built by Foster & Minty, Balmain, NSW, underwent trials at Sydney. It served in the RAN from 1913 to ...
Australian Naval History on 1 March 1904
Control of State Defence Forces was formerly transferred to the Commonwealth of Australia. ...
Australian Naval History on 17 November 1903
The Daily Telegraph, Sydney reported:- ‘New Survey Ship For Australia. The British Admiralty has purchased the yacht CONSUELO, (owned by the 26th Earl of Crawford and Balcarres), for survey work ...
Australian Naval History on 3 August 1903
The first Marines Corps formed in Australia were the New South Wales Marine Light Infantry, recruited as the Third Contingent to join New South Wales’ volunteers in South Africa. The ...
Australian Naval History on 3 July 1903
Imperial ships of the Australia Station were:- ROYAL ARTHUR, (1st class cruiser); ARCHER, PHOEBE, and PYLADES, (3rd class cruisers); LIZARD, and TORCH, (gunboats). ...
Australian Naval History on 9 April 1903
The first message received from a ship at sea to an Australian wireless station was transmitted by the Queensland gunboat, GAYUNDAH, to a receiving station in Brisbane. The historic message ...
Australian Naval History on 6 January 1903
Alfred Deakin, (later to become Prime Minister of Australia), and in his time the greatest political champion of Australian defence, wrote in the Morning Post; ‘The idea of a specially ...
Australian Naval History on 10 November 1902
VADM Sir Arthur D. Fanshawe, KCB, RN, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding the Australia Station. His flagship was HMS ROYAL ARTHUR. ...
Australian Naval History on 22 October 1902
The Australian Star reported that the NSW Government had purchased the mansion ‘Tresco’ at Elizabeth Bay, as a residence for the Naval Officer-in-Command at Garden Island, Sydney. ...
Australian Naval History on 18 June 1902
HMS ENCOUNTER, (cruiser), later HMAS ENCOUNTER, was launched at Devonport, England. ...
Australian Naval History on 11 February 1902
Anglo-Japanese treaty signed. The treaty required Britain and Japan to join the other in the event of hostilities. Australian naval policy was strongly influenced by this treaty. It expired on ...
Australian Naval History on 28 September 1901
CAPT William Creswell, RN, submitted his historic report on Australian sea defence, commerce, and ports. ...
Australian Naval History on 29 March 1901
Transport 106, (China Navigation Company vessel SS CHINGTU), sailed from Hong Kong returning troops to Australia ...
Australian Naval History on 1 March 1901
The order was gazetted that all Australian armed forces should be transferred from the jurisdiction of the State Governments to the Federal Government, which under the Federal Constitution, would be ...
Australian Naval History on 17 January 1901
Sir John Forrest was appointed Defence Minister, and CAPT R. Muirhead Collins, (former RN officer), became Secretary of Defence in the Commonwealth administration. ...
Australian Naval History on 6 January 1901
The gunboat, HMCS PROTECTOR, (CAPT William Creswell, RN), arrived back in Port Adelaide after 153 days away, serving in China from September to November 1900, during the Boxer rebellion. ...
Australian Naval History on 3 January 1901
The Imperial Squadron based in Sydney consisted of HM Ships ROYAL ARTHUR, (1st class cruiser); PORPOISE and ARCHER, (torpedo cruisers); PYLADES, (composite steam corvette); RINGDOVE, (composite steam gunboat), and TORCH, ...
Australian Naval History on 1 January 1901
The effective strength of the NSW Naval Brigade was 416 officers and men. ...
Australian Naval History on 24 November 1900
The former South Australian gun boat HMS PROTECTOR, was decommissioned at Hong Kong, and adopted her former prefix HMSAS. ...
Australian Naval History on 6 November 1900
AB J. Hamilton, of the New South Wales Marine Light Infantry, died at Tung Chao in China. He was the first sailor to die in an Australian expeditionary force overseas. ...