On This Day

1914-1918 > WW1

March 18, 1915

Medical officers, Staff Surgeon H. J. Brennard, and Surgeon W. J. Carr, RAN, from HMAS MELBOURNE, (cruiser), were invited to appear before a Royal Commission set up in Jamaica to inquire into the health of the population.

March 7, 1915

ADML Sir W. C. Pakenham, GCB, KCMG, KCVO, hoisted his flag in HMAS AUSTRALIA in command of the 2nd Battle- cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet, in the North Sea.

March 6, 1915

VADM Sir H. G. King-Hall, former Flag Officer Commanding Australian Station, commanded the British Squadron blockading the German cruiser KONIGSBERG in the Rufigi River, East Africa.

March 4, 1915

HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), coaled from the collier BURESK in the Abrolhos Islands north of Rio de Janeiro. The collier was a new ship named after the German collier sunk by Sydney in the Cocos Islands in November 1914.

March 1, 1915

HMAS PIONEER joined RN forces blockading the German cruiser KONIGSBERG in the Rufigi River, East Africa.

February 28, 1915

The RAN Bridging Train, (RANBT), was formed in Melbourne under the command of LCDR L.S. Bracegirdle.

The unit was to be a mounted engineering unit made up of RAN Reserve personnel who were unable to be employed in sea going ships. Originally it was planned the unit would operate with the Royal Naval Division, (RN Reservists employed as Infantry), on the Western Front, however the RANBT was later diverted to Gallipoli for service there.

LCDR Bracegirdle was selected as the Commanding Officer. Despite being a naval officer he had extensive experience in land warfare due to his service in China during the Boxer Rebellion, (1900), the Boer War, (1901-02), and the German New Guinea campaign, (1914-15).

February 17, 1915

The flagship pennant of the Second Battle Cruiser Squadron was hoisted in HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), at Rosyth, Scotland.

February 6, 1915

HMAS PIONEER, (cruiser), arrived at Zanzibar to join the blockade of the German cruiser KONIGSBERG in the Rufigi River, East Africa.

January 28, 1915

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), docked at Rosyth, Scotland, after reaching British waters by way of Cape Horn.

January 16, 1915

HMAS MELBOURNE, (cruiser), pursued an unidentified merchant ship off Havana, Cuba. MELBOURNE fired four shots at the vessel before it stopped. The ship proved to be a neutral Dutch vessel

January 6, 1915

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), captured and sank the German supply ship ELEONORE WOERMAN north of the Falkland Islands. AUSTRALIA fired a shell across the ship’s bows to stop her. A boarding party from AUSTRALIA later scuttled the vessel.

HMA Ships MELBOURNE and SYDNEY, (cruisers), patrolled the West Indies searching for the German armed merchant cruiser KRON PRINZ WILHELM. The German ship managed to elude these patrols and took refuge in a US port.

January 2, 1915

HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), sailed from Jamaica for Bermuda to search for the German Navy collier ODENWALD.

January 1, 1915

The following awards were made for gallantry in the action between HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), and the German vessel EMDEN, (armed merchant cruiser);

• DSM – CPO A. W. Lambert
• DSM – AB B. Green
• DSM – AB J. Kinniburgh
• DSM – AB H. M. Collins
• DSM – AB W. A. Taylor
• DSM – SBA T. E. Mullins

December 31, 1914

The Australian submarine AE2 departed Albany, WA, under tow from the transport BERRIMA, for the Mediterranean. The Australian Naval Board offered the submarine to the RN after the loss of AE1.

December 28, 1914

HMAS Melbourne departed from Trinidad with orders to search the coastal areas of Venezuela, Colombia and Panama for the Karlsruhe and her attendant supply ship.
HMAS Sydney coaled at Ponta Delgada in the Azores. Nine German ships were observed at anchor in neutral Portuguese waters.

December 23, 1914

HMA Ships PARRAMATTA and WARREGO, (torpedo boat destroyers), reached the limit of navigation on the Sepik River, New Guinea, unsuccessfully searching for a German ship.

December 13, 1914

LEUT Norman Douglas Holbrook, RN, was awarded the VC for outstanding bravery while commanding HM Submarine B11, during the first successful penetration of the Turkish minefields at the entrance to the Sea of Marmara, and for sinking the Turkish ship MESSOUDIEH.

The town of Germantown, (an unpopular name during WWI), in NSW, was renamed Holbrook in his honour. The fin and casing of HMAS OTWAY, (Oberon class submarine), was gifted to Holbrook town in 1982, as a permanent memorial to LEUT Holbrook.

December 1, 1914

HMA Ships MELBOURNE and SYDNEY, (cruisers), sailed from Gibraltar to join the British West Indies Fleet.

November 29, 1914

HMAS UNA became the first Australian warship to carry aircraft when she transported two aircraft, and their pilots, from Sydney to New Guinea. The aircraft were not used because the German forces surrendered before their arrival.

November 27, 1914

HMAS MELBOURNE, (cruiser), entered the Mediterranean on passage to the West Indies Station.

The first naval aviation unit was despatched from Point Cook, VIC, to embark in HMAS UNA for service in New Guinea. The unit was equipped with a Maurice Farman seaplane, and a BE2A landplane.

November 26, 1914

ADML G. E. Patey, took command of his battle squadron off the Mexican coast. It comprised of HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle- cruiser), HMS NEWCASTLE, (cruiser), and the Japanese Ships ASAMA, IDZUMO, and HIZEN.

November 19, 1914

The sloop HMAS UNA, (CMDR J. M. Jackson, RN), was commissioned. UNA, (as KOMET), was laid down in Vulkan Vegesack Yard, Bremerhaven, Germany, in 1911.

November 18, 1914

HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), steamed off the Mexican west coast in search of the German Pacific Squadron. On 26 November she rendezvoused with the Japanese cruisers ASAMA, IDZUMO, and HIZEN.

November 17, 1914

The captured German yacht KOMET was commissioned as HMAS UNA, at Sydney. It was intended to name the vessel PRIMA, conveying ‘the first warship captured’ but UNA, meaning ‘the only warship’ was finally selected.

November 14, 1914

VADM Sir Goerge Patey. RN, in his flagship HMAS AUSTRALIA I rendezvoused off the Mexican coast with HMS NEWCASTLE, to block any attempt by ADML von Spee and his ships, to sail to Canada, or pass through the Panama Canal.