On This Day
1914-1918 > WW1
On This Day - 1914-1918
- November 11, 1917
HMAS ENCOUNTER, (cruiser), destroyed the guns on the wreck of the German raider SEEADLER, at Mopelia Island.
- November 9, 1917
HMAS ENCOUNTER, (cruiser), found the gutted wreck of the German raider SEEADLER, on Mopelia Island.
- November 8, 1917
The Castle class trawler BROLGA, was requisitioned by the RAN as an auxiliary minesweeper. BROLGA, and her sister ships GUNUNDAAL and KORAAGA, operated along the NSW/Victorian coast searching for mines laid by the German raider WOLF. The vessels were manned by members of the RAN Brigade, and by early January 1918 they had swept a total of 13 mines. KORAAGA was returned to her owners in February 1918, but her sister ships were retained until 1919.
The Australian Government passed Act No. 1284, changing place names of foreign origin to patriotic names. Two NSW towns, Germantown and Krichauff, were given the names of Holbrook and Beatty, famed RN officers.
- November 3, 1917
The prolific naval author, James Edmond MacDonnell, was born in Mackay, QLD. He joined the RAN in 1934, and served until 1948, reaching the rank of Acting Gunner, (Warrant Officer). During the war he served in HMAS CANBERRA, (cruiser), and HMA Ships NEPAL and NIZAM, (destroyers), and these provided the settings for many of his books. During a 30 year writing career he produced over 200 fiction books, with most concentrating on the RAN. He died at Kuluin, QLD, on 13 September 2002.
- November 2, 1917
Land was allocated to the First Australian Torpedo Boat Destroyer Flotilla at Brindisi, for the cultivation of a ships’ vegetable garden.
- October 14, 1917
The Australian destroyer flotilla, HMA Ships WAREGO, PARRAMATTA, YARRA, SWAN, TORRENS, and HUON, began patrol operations in the Mediterranean, at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea, from a base at Brindisi, Italy.
- October 12, 1917
The auxiliary minesweeper, (trawler), HMAS BROLGA, was commissioned.
- October 10, 1917
The Australian destroyer flotilla HMAS WARREGO, PARRAMATTA, TARRA, SWAN, TORRENS, and HUON arrived at Taranto, Italy. They were based at Brindisi, Italy and begun patrolling operations at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean in order to blockade the Adriatic.
- October 8, 1917
The trawlers KORAAGA and GUNUNDAL, manned by the Royal Australian Naval Brigade under LCDR F. J. Ranken, RNR, swept a German minefield off Gabo Island. Thirteen mines were destroyed. Minesweepers were not commissioned in the RAN in WWI
- October 5, 1917
HMAS SWAN, (torpedo boat destroyer), attacked a submarine disguised as a fishing schooner off Corfu. SWAN dropped depth charges, but the submarine dived and escaped, leaving her mast and sails on the surface.