- Author
- Foden, John J.F. RMA
- Subjects
- Early warships
- Tags
-
- RAN Ships
- None noted.
- Publication
- December 1972 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
1892
From the 15th of March to the 16th of April at Alexandria, in connection with the ceremonies attendant on the presentation of the Sultan’s Firman to the new Khedive of Egypt. Part of this time the ship carried the flag of Rear-Admiral Markham.
From the 19th of April to the 15th of July, cruising in the Levant; visited again, and for the last time, many well-known spots. The salvage of the Henry Anning, collier, at Vourlah Bay, after colliding with the Edinburgh, by the ships of the Second Division, was an incident of this cruise.
From the 4th of June to the 15th of July, cruising with the fleet; on the 17th of July arrived at Malta. From the 30th of July to the 5th of August, as senior officer at Cadiz and Huelva, with the Amphion, the Scout, and two torpedo boats in company, represented England at the celebration of the Fourth Centenary of Columbus starting to discover America. On the early morn of the 31st August a reproduction of the old caravel Santa Maria sailed out from Huelva River, just as her original had done 400 years before with Columbus on board, and was saluted by the fourteen men-of-war of all nations present.
The ship then visited Malaga, Almeria, Carthagena, Valencia, Palma, Spezzia; and on the 3rd of September arrived at Genoa to assist in another Columbus celebration, in company with the San Pareil and the Phoeton. The assemblage in the harbour of that beautiful city of about forty-two men-of-war of all nations, the arrival of the King and Queen, escorted by the Italian Fleet, the illumination of the city and ships on the night of the 12th of September, the decoration of the streets and the historical procession made a series of spectacles not likely to be forgotten.
At Genoa three men of the ship saw the stabbing of a man belonging to the US flagship Newark by an Italian innkeeper, and were the principal witnesses at the subsequent trial.
Returned to Malta on the 19th of September. The Commander-in-Chief, Sir George Tryon, inspected the ship on the 1st of October. The results of this inspection, as well as the one by Lord Walter Kerr in 1890, drew from the Admiralty an official expression of their satisfaction with the state of the ship. On the same day proceeded to Cadiz as senior officer, with the Phoeton, the Amphion, and the Scout in company, for a third Columbus celebration, accompanying the Queen of Spain on her visit to Huelva on the 10th of October to open the monument to Columbus at Rabida Monastery.
On the 19th of October the ship returned to Malta for a recommissioning refit, and it was not expected she would go to sea again with her present crew. While refitting, the crew were hulked in the Orion and Hibernia. Among the incidents of this stay at Malta was a Concert given by officers and men at the Gymnasium to celebrate being three years in commission, and a Ball given by the petty officers.
Stephen Scriven, leading stoker, died in hospital on the 28th of December 1893.
1893
The crew returned to the ship on the 28th of January 1893, and on the 1st March orders were received to go to America as one of the ships representing England at the International Naval Review to be held there in connection with the opening of the Chicago Exhibition. On the 5th of March the Commander-in-Chief (Sir George Tryon) came on board to say goodbye, and on the 6th the ship left Malta; waited three days at Gibraltar for some new officers coming from England; signalled Madeira on the 17th, it being too rough to anchor; and arrived at Bermuda on the 28th.
On the 13th of April left Bermuda, in company with the Blake, Magicienne, Tartar and Partridge, and on the 17th anchored in Hampton Roads, Chesapeake Bay, off Fort Monroe, where were assembled fourteen American and six foreign men-of-war. While there the ship was visited by many people from the surrounding country and steamers, filled with excursionists, continually went round the fleet.
On the 24th of April the International Fleet, swelled to a total of thirty ships, left Hampton Roads; next day anchored in New York Lower Bay, and on the 26th, increased by four more ships, steamed up the bay together, and anchored in the Hudson River, the head ships off Ninety-sixth Street. The Blake led the line of foreign ships; the Australia was second. Such a spectacle as the two lines, each of seventeen ships, steaming up the fine harbour of New York, the way cleared for them by numerous patrol steamers, and escorted by steamers full of people, was probably never before witnessed. The sea of heads in the crowd at Castle Garden was a sight in itself, and on the hand of the Statue of Liberty were a dozen people.
On April 27th the President of the United States reviewed the fleet. The weather was cold and wet, somewhat spoiling the spectacle. The four British ships were the only ones who cheered the President. Arriving between the Blake and Philadelphia, the two flagships at the head of the lines, the President anchored to receive the Admirals and Captains, and at the same instant the 400 or 500 steamers, filled with spectators, simultaneously blew their whistles, making a most terrific roar. Then commenced what many thought one of the greatest features of the review, when all these steamers commenced to steam round the fleet, and for over two hours, in two lines, two and three abreast, were passing the ship. The enthusiastic cheers, the waving of hats, and the singing of ‘ God Save the Queen’ by the thousands on board as they passed the British ships, showed how strong and kindly were the feelings towards the Mother Country.
In the evening the British ships illuminated and displayed fireworks, and were the only ones who did so. On the 28th the small-arm companies and marines were landed from all ships, and marched through Broadway and other streets of New York – the first time British troops under arms have landed in America since the War of Independence. When describing this, the American papers were undecided whether to give the palm for appearance and discipline to their own men or to the British bluejackets and marines. The latter received a great ovation by many thousands of people, and officers and men were fully occupied in the kindly duty of showing them round the ship. Many friendships were formed, and Chicago, Niagara, and other places were visited by a fortunate few. It is probable this intercourse will do much to foster a kindly feeling between the two great English-speaking nations.
On the 6th of May the New York Herald got up a Regatta for the foreign ships. The Australia’s cutter and whaler, pulled by marines, won two out of the three races. On the 9th, one hundred of the ship’s company were entertained at supper by the crew of the American flagship Newark, which had been in company with the ship at Cadiz and Genoa. On two days the ship’s company gave ‘afternoon tea’ to 200 or 300 of their American friends. After a visit of fourteen days, the four British ships left New York on the 10th of May, their passage down the Hudson being cheered by all the American ships, and witnessed by crowds on shore. Eighty four men deserted from the four ships at New York – nine from the Australia. Arrived at Bermuda on the 13th, and after making a ‘best on record’ coaling there, sailed, homeward-bound, on the 19th of May, and arrived at Plymouth on the 31st of May after an absence of three years and five months from England, and proceeded to Portsmouth to pay off on 17th of June 1893.
During the commission the ship has been at sea 352 days, steamed about 41,370 miles, and visited places in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.