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Rivett, Norman C

Letters: our First Rear Admiral – a vote for King

FOR KING AND COUNTRY (but especially for King).

It was sad to see that old chestnut trotted out again on page 17 of the September 1996 issue of the Naval Historical Review concerning the first Australian-born officer to reach Flag Rank.

There was a time when we “just knew” that it was Sir John Collins, now it is Rear Admiral John Dumaresq, but long before either of these distinguished officers were born the honour had been claimed by PHILLIP PARKER KING (1791-1856), son of Philip Gidley King, third Governor of New South Wales, he having been promoted to Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy in 1855.

Perhaps the NHS of A could do something to perpetuate the memory of this officer and his achievements. Renaming our annual prize to the RAN in his honour, for instance, or commemorating his birthday in some way on the 13th December.

If we cannot remember him, who will?

Garden Island Rock Carvings – The Forgotten Men

Extract from: The Naval Engineers of Garden Island 102 Years of Naval Management 9th February, 1889 to 15th February, 1991

Most people associated with Garden Island have felt at some time during their career that the title applied to them, however the really forgotten men of Garden Island are the three crew members of H.M.S. SIRIUS, flagship of the first fleet, who carved their initials and the date 1788, on the rocks situated on the western side of the northern hill.

Initials "W.B." - photo taken 1989
Initials “W.B.” – photo taken 1989

The initials WB, IR and FM, are the oldest evidence of British settlement in Australia, and are usually attributed to sailors from the SIRIUS, who first landed on the Island on 11th February, 1788 with the objective of establishing a ship’s garden. They certainly achieved their objective, which in turn gave the Island its name, Sirius Garden Island, which, after the loss of the SIRIUS at Norfolk Island on the 15th March, 1790, and the handing over of the garden to the crew of H.M.S. SUPPLY (II) in 1795 and ships that followed, became simply Garden Island, by which name it has been known ever since.

The Island is reputed to have had the Aboriginal name of Booroowang, which means fishing place.

For a number of reasons I have never believed the initials to be the work of the sailors employed on gardening duties. At that period, it was the exception rather than the rule, for common seamen to be able to read and write; their childhood was spent over a hundred years before the passing of the first compulsory education act in England. To be literate was to be either privileged or fortunate. That three such fortunates should have been thrown together by chance is beyond the bounds of probability.

Allowing for the fact that some illiterates undoubtedly did master the art of writing their names, this still does not explain why of all the sailors who tended the garden or lived on the Island to protect it, only three carved their initials.

Of all groups of people, sailors past and present are most susceptible to peer influence – tattooing, smoking and drinking are but a few examples of this. One would have expected therefore, to have found many more initials carved on the rocks, particularly as the Island changed stewardship and friendly inter-ship rivalry became a factor.

Could it be that the initials had a much more serious purpose than mindless graffiti? I considered they did and decided it would be appropriate if I could solve the mystery before Garden Island’s own Bicentenary on the 11th February, 1988, which was actually celebrated on Sunday, 14th February, 1988, a non-working day.

For reasons referred to later, I failed to arrive at a conclusion in time for this historic event and for a while I appeared to have reached a dead end until a clue from an unexpected source enabled me to eventually determine a plausible solution.

The following is an account of that process and reasoning:

Initials "F.M." - photo taken 1989
Initials “F.M.” – photo taken 1989

The earliest reference to the initials IR and FM appeared in a newspaper article published just prior to December 1922 and referred to by the Reverend V.W. Thompson, M.A., R.A.N., Chaplain of H.M.A.S. PENGUIN 1921-1922 (at that period depot ship at Garden Island). In his unpublished manuscript, “A Short History of Garden Island” dated 4th December, 1922, the Reverend Thompson attributes the initials “IR” and “FM” as being the handiwork of SIRIUS’s gardeners and identifies “FM” as Frederic Meredith, thereby initiating a popular belief which has persisted.

In arriving at his conclusions, however, the Reverend did not have the benefit of a vital clue which was not discovered until 1964 when the initials “WB” were uncovered nearby.

The slightly elevated position and detachment of these latter initials relative to the others, coupled with their sophisticated style, conveys a distinct impression of authority and purpose, suggesting perhaps the presence of an Officer.

What manner of Officer would want to carve his initials in such a place, and for what reason?

In The Beginning – The Naval Historical Society of Australia

Some time in the middle of May, 1970 a news item appeared in the ‘Garden Island Information Bulletin’ informing readers that a lunch break meeting was to be held in the Amenities Building, the original Garden Island Post Office, located at the northern end of the Rigging Shed; to discuss the formation of a Naval Historical Society.

This news item was inserted by Mr Lew Lind, the Public Relations Officer, who was also the Editor of the Bulletin.

It was significant that this meeting which was to see the birth of a Society with members world-wide was held beside the berth where HMAS KUTTABUL was sunk in the Japanese midget submarine attack in 1942.

Such lunch-time meetings were not uncommon at Garden Island and were usually the harbinger of trouble – the dockyard was a militant trade union centre at the period. The proposed meeting sounded pleasantly different inviting anyone with an interest in naval history to attend and bring their lunch with them.

In company with a long time colleague, Mr Bill Nelson, a former fellow seafarer, we made our way to the meeting shortly after 12 noon. We ate our lunch on the way to the meeting. The Amenities Building was reasonably filled and all available seats were occupied so we stood.

The audience was a fairly predictable group, mostly former sailors and quite a number from the United Kingdom. Naval history was not a strong subject in Australia at the time. Also present were a number of old soldiers, Major Bill Martin ex British Army and the Chairman, Mr Lew Lind, to mention but two. The Royal Navy was represented by Lieutenant Commander Peter Churchill, Lieutenant Ron Atwill and Mr Alan Payne. I can remember only one former Royal Australian Navy officer, Commander George Knox. Dockyard officers present were Mr Gavin Cashman, Captain of the Port’s Administrative Office, Graham Muir, Personnel and from the Mechanical Drawing Office, Dave McDonald and John Brennan. In all some 40 people, all with an interest in history.

Mr Lew Lind occupied the chair and addressed the meeting on the need for an organisation to collect, record and disseminate naval history. He emphasised the importance of raising the Navy’s public image in the wake of the adverse media attacks following the two destroyer sinkings after collisions with HMAS MELBOURNE. Mr Lind was strongly supported by Mr Gavin Cashman. It is interesting to note that the two speakers were the only people present with experience in historical societies. Both were Vice Presidents of their district societies.

The meeting started with the usual wisecracks and chatter which was characteristic of meetings at Garden Island but the two speakers who were held in high esteem soon captured the interest of all present. A measure of the success of the speakers was the carrying of a motion to form The Garden Island Naval Historical Society, the election of interim officers, fixing of a subscription rate and the recording of the names of all who were interested in becoming members. All this was achieved in 40 minutes. Before the meeting closed an officer of the Garden Island Sporting and Social Club presented a cheque for $50 to meet foundation costs.

Not everyone present at the initial meeting joined the Society but my number was 24 which indicates more than half paid their first subs.

In hindsight I feel the Garden Island Sporting and Social Club considered their donation was a sound investment. The Society was to outlive its first benefactor.

The fledgling society enjoyed immediate success under the enthusiastic President and his first Committee. Within the year its name was changed to The Naval Historical Society of Australia which had been the objective of the founder from the beginning.

I feel it is important for all organisations to remember their origins. Without the Garden Island base it is doubtful that it would have enjoyed its remarkable success. The benign attitude and support of successive General Managers of Garden Island Naval Dockyard over 20 years and the fact that the President for 18 years was the base Public Relations Officer were contributing factors to this success.

There is a tendency today to grow away from Garden Island – in 1990 we transferred our monthly meeting venue to Maritime Headquarters – but I feel the Society still requires close contact with its natal home.

Not the Dockyard Please

I read M.A. Head’s article Up With a Bang, NHR December 1989, with interest, including the quote from the fictitious Commander James Bond, RN.

For a number of logical reasons, I cannot accept the implication of a civilian fitter in the loss of HM Ships Natal and Vanguard in 1915 and 1917 respectively.

The fitter, if he existed, was guilty of nothing more than being a lucky survivor. I say ‘if’ because the story is suspiciously similar to that told by Captain Jack Broome, RN (Ret), whose career straddled both World Wars.

The story as narrated to Captain Broome has the advantage of fulfilling James Bond’s definition of enemy action whilst not implicating Dockyard personnel.

During 1917, the narrator served in the light cruiser HMS Castor (1915) as Signal Officer to the Commodore (F) commanding the five Destroyer Flotillas attached to the Grand Fleet.

HMS CASTOR, leader of the Grand Fleet Destroyer Flotillas
HMS CASTOR, leader of the Grand Fleet Destroyer Flotillas

The depot ship to these flotillas was HMS Sandhurst the largest of her type at that time, commanded by Captain English, a retired navigating specialist recalled to duty for war service. The Captain’s other accomplishments included a fluent knowledge of the German language.

SANDHURST (ex S.S. Manipur, Harland & Wolff, purchased 1915 and converted by Workman, Clark) 11,500 tons. Dimensions: 470(p.p.), 485(o.a.) x 58 x 20 feet (max. draught) Guns: 4-4 inch,l-3 inch AA. 1 H.P. 3300= 10.5kts. Coal:1475 tons. Complement, 256. Cyl. Boilers. *Also carries several additional 4 inch guns as spares for destroyers
SANDHURST (ex S.S. Manipur, Harland & Wolff, purchased 1915 and converted by Workman, Clark) 11,500 tons. Dimensions: 470(p.p.), 485(o.a.) x 58 x 20 feet (max. draught) Guns: 4-4 inch,l-3 inch AA. 1 H.P. 3300= 10.5kts. Coal:1475 tons. Complement, 256. Cyl. Boilers. *Also carries several additional 4 inch guns as spares for destroyers

Aboard Sandhurst were a number of supernumerary armourers and mates borne for the purpose of carrying out alterations to the magazines of certain ships consequent upon the loss of the Battle Cruisers Indefatigable (1909), Queen Mary (1912), and Invincible (1907) by explosion during the Battle of Jutland, 31st May 1916.

The Commodore’s Signal Officer was pacing the quarterdeck of Castor at Scapa Flow, on the evening of the 9th July 1917, when at 2300 precisely he witnessed HMS Vanguard (1908), a Dreadnought Battleship, blow up in two quite distinct portions. Although not professing to be a ballistics expert, he considered the explosion could have been caused by the simultaneous detonation of time bombs.

At daybreak the next morning a signal was received in CASTOR, the sense of which was:

SANDHURST TO CMDRE.F. AM SATISFIED I HAVE ARRESTED THE ENEMY AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR BLOWING UP VANGUARD. WHEN MAY I COME AND SEE YOU.

During the interview which followed, it was revealed that on hearing the explosion, Captain English had promptly mustered the armourers and armourers’ mate on deck and had them brought to his cabin individually. To each armourer he very slowly spoke a short sentence in German, making the man repeat it to the best of his ability. Three of the armourers aroused the Captain’s suspicions, for despite assurances to the contrary they seemed to be familiar with the language. The Captain had then read the personal history sheets of the three suspects and found that one of them had worked onboard “BULWARK” (1902), which was sunk by explosion whilst at anchor in the Medway on the 26th November 1914, and onboard” NATAL” sunk by explosion at Cromarty on the 30th December 1915. He had also been onboard “VANGUARD” until 2000 on the day she exploded.

Later that morning the Commodore’s Signal Officer was ordered to detail one of the Duty Destroyers to take the suspect armourer under armed guard to Thurso, on the Scottish Mainland. From there he was transported to London by train, to be interviewed by the Head of Naval Intelligence, Admiral Sir Reginald H . (Blinker) Hall.

Some nine months later, when the Signal Officer was serving at the Admiralty, an opportunity occurred to ask Admiral Hall what had eventually happened to the suspect armourer. Not surprisingly he was politely but firmly told, to mind his own business.

HMS Driver – First Paddlewheel Ship to Circumnavigate the World

HMS DRIVER, a 180 foot paddlewheel sloop, was the first steam vessel to circumnavigate the world. The voyage took five years and commenced from Portsmouth in 1842. Her record, despite the time required to achieve it, was to stand for many years. Strange to relate, most of the voyage was made under sail because in the 1840s bunkering facilities were few and far between.

Driver was built at Portsmouth Dockyard of 1058Bm and was fitted with a 280 nominal horsepower ‘Gorgon’ engine, a direct action engine which took its name from the fore-runner of the type first fitted in HMS Gorgon in 1837. The sloop was fitted with boilers which were fed by a mechanical stoking apparatus which, despite its unreliability, was many years ahead of her times. The apparatus was landed at Capetown.

HMS Driver sailed from England in 1842 and made a slow passage to China via the Cape and the East India Station. Soon after her arrival in China she was despatched to Port Jackson to join the fleet assembled for the First Maori War. The handsome vessel remained in service until August 1861 when she was wrecked on Mariguana Island in the Bahamas.

Note: In 1846 the ‘Gorgon’ type engine for the packet Caradoc which was also designed by Seaward was arranged with a cross-head guide in place of the parallel-motion hitherto fitted in the ‘Gorgon’ type.

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