On This Day

1914-1918 > WW1

March 18, 1916

HMAS PIONEER, (cruiser), intercepted and sank the German supply ship TABORA off Dar Es Salaam, East Africa.

February 26, 1916

HMAS MELBOURNE, (cruiser), searched Brazilian waters for the German raider PUNGO. On the same day her sister-ship, HMAS SYDNEY, was scouring the coast off Cape St Roque for the armed merchant cruiser KRON PRINZ WILHELM.

February 12, 1916

While HMAS Pioneer was visiting Port Swettenham (Kelang) tensions aboard ship came to a head and seven stokers refused duty, an action that eventually led to their respective court martials. There were a number of issues that led to this incident: Psyche was an old ship with little to alleviate the difficult conditions experienced in the tropics; the long and monotonous hours spent on patrol; an intensive training program; the malaise which affected the crew almost from commissioning; but the one thing which eventually brought these tensions to the surface was food. Complaints about the food on board were common virtually from the time Psyche left Australian waters. Tinned fish, green or rotten meat and rotten eggs were all too common in Psyche’s mess with one stoker testifying that the food he himself obtained whilst in port was of a better quality than that served up by the mess. At 10pm on 12 February, Stoker Albert Hummerston refused duty in protest at the standard of food on board and was consequently placed under sentry’s charge. Over the course of the evening six more stokers refused duty in support of their shipmate and all were consequently placed under sentry’s charge. All seven were found guilty of willful disobedience of a lawful command at their respective courts-martial and received sentences ranging from 12 to 24 months imprisonment as well as dismissal from the RAN.

February 11, 1916

The RAN Bridging Train assumed responsibility for the maintenance of the bridges across the Suez Canal at Serapeum.

February 2, 1916

HM submarine J4, later HMA submarine J4, was launched at Pembroke, England.

January 27, 1916

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), participated in a 2nd Battle-cruiser Squadron sweep of Norwegian waters in the vicinity of The Naze. No enemy vessels were encountered.

January 24, 1916

Acting CMDR W. H. F. Warren, RAN, assumed command of the Australian Torpedo Boat Destroyer Flotilla from CAPT C L Cumberlege, RN. CMDR Warren was the first RAN officer to command a flotilla.

January 13, 1916

189 men of the RANBT, then encamped at Mudros on the island of Imbros, mutinied over lack of pay and refused to muster for work. They were placed under arrest and an enquiry was held. Three weeks later the men were released and the units second in command, LEUT T. A. Bond, DSO, RANR was removed due to his failure to ensure that the men had been adequately paid.

HMA Ships PARRAMATTA, and WARREGO (destroyers), joined the allied contraband patrols in the South China Sea. The destroyers operated out of Bangkok.

January 6, 1916

The RAN Bridging Train was commended by General Bland, (British Army), for its tireless efforts before and during the evacuation of the Gallipoli Peninsular.

The Commanding Officer of the RANBT (LCDR L. S. Bracegirdle, RAN), wrote of his men: “They were therefore bent on proving to the Royal Navy and the Army that they could overcome any difficulties”.

January 1, 1916

HMAT Geelong collided with SS Bonvilston in the Mediterranean and sank

December 26, 1915

The RAN Bridging Train was transferred temporarily to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps for operations against the Turks in Sinai.

December 20, 1915

The last personnel of the RAN Bridging Train, (RANBT), left Suvla Bay at 0430 making them the last Australians to depart the Gallipoli Peninsula.

A 50-man team under SBLT C. W. Hicks, RANR, had been left behind to maintain the pier near Lala Baba, and had been subjected to several days of heavy Turkish shell fire before they were evacuated, early on the morning of the 20th.

HMAS PIONEER, (cruiser), engaged German forces at Nazi Bay, East Africa. An attempt to land was beaten back by the defenders.

December 16, 1915

The first contingent of three officers and 153 men of the RAN Bridging Train were evacuated from Gallipoli.

December 14, 1915

The River class destroyer HMAS HUON, was commissioned. HUON was laid down in Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, on 23 January 1913, and launched as HMAS DERWENT on 19 December 1914. Mrs J. A. Jensen, wife of the Assistant Minister for Defence, performed the launching ceremony. The name was changed to HUON to avoid confusion with the RN destroyer HMS DERWENT.

December 11, 1915

HMAS SWAN, (torpedo boat destroyer), was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney.

December 4, 1915

HM Submarine J3 was launched at Pembroke, England. The submarine was transferred to the RAN in 1919.

November 23, 1915

HMS MARGUERITE, (sloop), was launched at Dunlop Bremner, UK. MARGUERITE was transferred to the RAN in 1919.

November 16, 1915

‘These men’, wrote CMDR L. S. Bracegirdle, RN, commanding the RAN Bridging Train at Gallipoli, ‘took pride in the fact they were the only Australian naval unit serving in the European theatre of war’.

November 11, 1915

HM Submarines J1 and J2 were launched at Portsmouth, England. The submarines were transferred to the RAN in 1919.

November 10, 1915

The RAN Bridging Train commenced the removal of stores from Gallipoli in preparation for the evacuation.

November 8, 1915

HMS GERANIUM, (later HMAS GERANIUM, survey vessel), was launched at Greenock, Scotland.

October 27, 1915

HMAS MELBOURNE, (cruiser), intercepted the steamer HAMBORN, off New York. A boarding party was put aboard and LEUT H. V. Creer, RAN, steamed the vessel to Halifax, Nova Scotia. HAMBORN, although registered as Dutch, was German owned.

October 1, 1915

The RAN Bridging Train was heavily shelled and bombed at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli.

September 30, 1915

HMAS BRISBANE, the first cruiser to be built in Australia, was launched at Cockatoo Island, Sydney.

September 14, 1915

The tender, (steam yacht), HMAS FRANKLIN, was commissioned. FRANKLIN, (as ADELE), was laid down in Hawthorn & Co, Leith, Scotland, in 1906. She was purchased for the RAN from her owner, the estate of Henry Dutton of Kapunda, SA, in 1915.