On This Day

1914-1918 > WW1

September 9, 1915

HMS J5, (submarine), later HMAS J5, was launched at Devonport, England.

September 6, 1915

The RANBT suffered its second fatality in two days of heavy shelling, at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli Peninsula.

CPO E. C. Perkins was killed, and later buried in Hill 10 Cemetery at Suvla Bay.

September 5, 1915

The RANBT, operating ashore at Suvla Bay, came under heavy shell fire, and 19-year-old AB Driver Charles Schenke, was mortally wounded. He was evacuated to a hospital ship, but died at sea three days later.

August 28, 1915

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

August 21, 1915

The RAN Bridging Train was engaged in salvaging torpedo boats, barges and small craft wrecked during a fierce storm which struck the beaches of Gallipoli.

August 20, 1915

HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), collided with a harbour ferry as she was leaving Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the New York patrol. SYDNEY was not damaged, but the ferry’s paddlewheel box was wrecked.

August 13, 1915

HMAS ENCOUNTER, (cruiser), landed a garrison and supplies at the cable station at Fanning Island. ENCOUNTER ran aground, and sustained damage requiring urgent repairs.

August 10, 1915

The Dutch schooner LILLIAN, collided with HMAS MELBOURNE, (cruiser), during a storm at St Lucia. MELBOURNE’S whaler was stove in, and her davits and gun mounts damaged.

August 7, 1915

The RAN Bridging Train landed at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli.

The force was used in building wharves and pontoons, and unloading supply ships.

August 6, 1915

HMAS PHYSCE, (cruiser), was ordered to Singapore, following reports that German agents were fomenting civil unrest in Burma and India.

August 4, 1915

The British Government requested that all Australian prize vessels ‘be turned over’ to the Admiralty. The 43 ex-enemy vessels in question, were accordingly registered in the King’s name in London.

August 1, 1915

LEUT D. T. M. Powles, RANR, commanding the captured German schooner HASAG, took nine German POWs, and confiscated arms in the Kavieng area. HASAG was captured by the sloop HMAS UNA.

July 27, 1915

The sloop HMAS FANTOME, (LCDR L. T. Jones, RN), was commissioned. FANTOME was launched for the RN at Sheerness, England, in March 1901.

July 25, 1915

Transfer of the RAN Bridging Train for service with the Army on Gallipoli was approved by the Admiralty.

The train handled the building of jetties and berthing facilities, and the unloading of stores and ammunition. It’s arrival at Gallipoli freed large numbers of soldiers for combat duties.

July 13, 1915

HMS MALLOW, (sloop), later HMAS MALLOW, was launched at Barclay Curie, England.

July 12, 1915

SMS KONIGSBERG, (light cruiser), was destroyed in the Rufigi River, East Africa. HMAS PIONEER  participated in the action.

The Department of the Navy was created as a separate portfolio, and remained so until 1921. Mr G. L. Macandie, a long serving naval public servant, became the Secretary of the Department. He had previously been VADM Creswell’s principal administrative assistant from 1903 until 1914, and was also the Secretary of the Naval Board from 1914 until 1946. In 1950 he published “The Genesis of the Royal Australian Navy” which was a detailed guide to early RAN policy and administration.

July 6, 1915

HMAS PIONEER, (cruiser), and HMS HYACINTH, (cruiser), bombarded the German cruiser KONIGSBERG, and shore defences in the Rufigi River, East Africa.

July 1, 1915

HMAS PSYCHE (formerly HMS Psyche) , (CAPT H. Feakes, RAN), was commissioned into the RN.

June 3, 1915

The RAN Bridging Train, (formed from members of the RAN Naval reserve), were embarked on the PORT MACQUARIE, for service in Gallipoli.

May 3, 1915

The RAN and the RCN operated together for the first time, when HMAS MELBOURNE and HMCS NIOBE, (cruisers), joined up to conduct patrols off the east coast of the United States. These patrols were to ensure German merchant ships, then interned in neutral United States ports, did not try and escape.

April 30, 1915

The submarine HMAS AE2, (LCDR H. H. G. D. Stoker, RN), was sunk by the Turkish torpedo boat SULTAN HISSAR in the Sea of Mamora. All of the crew of 3 officers and 17 men were captured, and became Prisoners of War. Four of these men later died as POW’s due to malnutrition, disease, and ill treatment. Following their release from Turkish POW camps the following awards were made, for the first successful submarine penetration of the Dardanelles:-DSO and MID; LCDR H. H. G .D. Stoker, RNDSC; LEUT G. A. G. Haggard, RNDSM; CPO H. AbbottDSM; CPO ERA H.B. BroomheadDSM; Stoker PO H. A. BrownMID; LEUT J. P. Cary, RNMID; CPO ERA S. T. BellMID; CPO C. VaughanMID; Stoker PO H. J. E. Kinder

April 29, 1915

The submarine HMAS AE 2, (LCDR H. H. G. D. Stoker, RN), unexpectedly encountered the British submarine HMS E14 (LCDR E. C. Boyle, RN), off Kara Burnu Point, in the Sea of Mamara. The British submarine had penetrated the Dardanelles the day before. Both captains agreed to rendezvous the next day, however, AE2 was sunk before the rendezvous could be made.

April 25, 1915

The submarine HMAS AE2, (LCDR H. Stoker, RN), penetrated the Dardanelles while the first ANZAC troops were storming ashore at Gallipoli.

After evading Turkish warships and mines, she broke through into the Sea of Marmara with orders to “Run Amok Generally” behind the enemy lines. AE2 sank a Turkish gunboat with a torpedo during her passage of the Dardanelles.

HMS SCORPION, (LCDR A. B. Cunningham, RN), patrolled off the beaches at Gallipoli.

The supporting destroyers were under orders not to engage shore targets in the initial stages of the landing, and cruised impotently off the shore while their comrades were unmercifully shelled by the Turks.

During the WWII Cunningham was C-in-C of the Mediterranean Fleet.

April 23, 1915

HMA Submarine, AE2, ran aground on Sangrada Point in the entrance to the Dardanelles, while attempting to penetrate the Turkish defences at The Narrows, leading to the Sea of Marmara. CMDR Stoker freed the submarine, and returned to Mudros for repairs.

March 29, 1915

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), took part in her first operation, a patrol across the North Sea with the Grand Fleet and light forces, from Harwich, England.