On this day:
1850-1899 > Colonial Navies & RN
There are 149 entries in this era
- 13 Jul 1888
The South Australian Government came under bitter criticism for not despatching their gunboat PROTECTOR to sea, to search for survivors of the sailing ship STAR OD GREECE. PROTECTOR stood by in Port Adelaide with steam up, but the order to sail was not received.
- 26 Oct 1888
Plans for a protected cruiser for the Victorian Navy were prepared by Sir William Armstrong & Co., England, and placed before the Victorian Government. The 1040 ton ship was designed to carry three 6-inch breech loaders, four 6lb guns, six 3lb guns, and six Gatling guns, in addition to two 18-inch torpedo tubes. The ship was never built.
- 15 Nov 1888
CAPT Henry Coey Kane, RN, (HMS CALLIOPE), gave evidence before a NSW Parliamentary Committee on the relative merits of various ports in Australasia as the location for a base for ships of the Australia Station.
- 03 Mar 1889
HMS CALLIOPE, (screw corvette), was despatched from Sydney to Samoa to forestall German and American plans to annex the island.
- 04 Apr 1889
HMS CALLIOPE, (corvette), returned to Sydney after surviving a hurricane at Apia, Samoa.
- 25 May 1889
The foundation stone of the Royal Naval House, Sydney, ‘Johnnie’s’, was laid by Lady Carrington.
- 30 Jun 1889
The fleet of the State of Victoria consisted of HMV Ships NELSON, (cut-down 1st rate); CERBERUS, (turret ship); BATMAN, and FAWKNER, (armed auxiliaries); CHILDERS, NEPEAN, and LONSDALE, (torpedo boats); VICTORIA, and ALBERT, (gunboats); GORDON, COMMISSIONER, and LION, (torpedo launches); GANNET, (armed tug); and LADY LOCH, (armed auxiliary).
- 10 Sep 1889
RADM the Rt. Hon Lord Charles T. M. D. Scott, CB, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding the Australia Station. His flagship was HMS ORLANDO.
- 26 Feb 1890
HM Ships DART and PALUMA surveyed waters off Cape York, QLD.
- 25 Sep 1890
Royal Naval House, Sydney, was officially opened by His Excellency, Lord Carrington, Governor of NSW.
- 11 Feb 1891
The Clipper ship SOBRAON was purchased by the NSW Government as a replacement for the boys’ training ship VERNON. The vessel was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS TINGIRA in 1912.
- 01 Apr 1891
The Auxiliary Squadron, consisting of HM Ships WALLAROO, MILDURA, and RINGAROOMA, (cruisers), and KARRAKATTA, (torpedo gunboat), in commission, and with HM Ships KATOOMBA, and TAURANGA, (cruisers), and BOOMERANG, (torpedo gunboat), in reserve, commenced operations in Australasian waters. The squadron was in addition to the Imperial Squadron based in Sydney. All six Australian States and New Zealand contributed to the upkeep of the Auxiliary Squadron on a population basis.
- 30 Jul 1891
HMS HIMALAYA, (troopship), arrived at Port Jackson with relief crews for ships on the Australia Station. HIMALAYA was a steamship built for the P&O Line in 1853. She was chartered by the Admiralty as a troop transport during the Crimean War, and later purchased. Commissioned into the RN, she was employed as a troop ship for over 30 years. The vessel was paid off in 1894 and used as a coal hulk until sunk by German bombers in 1940.
- 12 Sep 1892
RADM Nathaniel Bowden-Smith was appointed Flag Officer Commanding Australia Station. His flagship was HMS ORLANDO.
- 30 Sep 1892
The Queensland Navy vessel GAYUNDAH, (gunboat), was paid off and laid up in reserve at Brisbane. Her sister-ship PALUMA, joined her in 1895.
- 31 Dec 1892
HMS WOLVERINE, training ship of the NSW Naval Brigade, was sold out of service.
- 06 Feb 1893
During a flood the gunboat HMQS PALUMA (CAPT G. Pirie, RN), the steamer ELIMANG, and the hulk MARY EVANS, were washed up high and dry in Brisbane’s Botanical Gardens. The same disastrous flood carried away three bridges across the Brisbane River and swept 12 other ships out to sea.
- 19 Feb 1893
HMQS PALUMA, (gunboat), floated free from Brisbane Botanical Gardens after being stranded by record floods in the Brisbane River.
- 22 Jun 1893
VADM Sir George Tryon, a former Flag Officer Commanding Australia Station, lost his life when his flagship, HMS VICTORIA, was rammed by HMS CAMPERDOWN, off Tripoli, Syria. Tryon was found to be at fault.
- 01 Nov 1894
RADM Cyprian A. G. Bridge, RN, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding the Australia Station. His flagship was HMS ORLANDO.
- 16 Apr 1895
The RN Depot at Circular Quay, Sydney, was transferred to Garden Island.
- 05 Sep 1896
The Government of New South Wales handed over the Garden Island Naval Base to the Admiralty.
- 15 Oct 1897
The NSW Naval Brigade, commanded by CAPT Hixson, carried out gunfiring exercises at Port Macquarie, NSW.
- 01 Nov 1897
RADM Hugo L. Pearson, RN, was appointed Flag Officer Commanding the Australia Station. His flagship was HMS ROYAL ARTHUR.
- 02 Feb 1898
CAPT R. P. Minifie, DSC and two Bars, an Australian who served with the RNAS, was born in Melbourne. Minifie was Australia’s youngest air ace of the First World War, being credited with shooting down 21 enemy aircraft.
- 28 Apr 1898
HMVS NELSON was decommissioned and sold out of service.
- 07 Jan 1899
VADM Sir John Collins, KBE, CB, was born at Deloraine, TAS.
- 28 Jun 1899
HMS PIONEER, (3rd class cruiser), later HMAS PIONEER, was launched at Chatham, England.
- 25 Nov 1899
The Naval Brigade from HMS POWERFUL, a flagship of the Australia Station, fought in the Battle of Graspan against the Boers in South Africa.