HMS Australia (1886)

Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristics

HMS Australia was one of seven Template:Sclass armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1880s. She was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1889 and remained there until 1893 when she returned home. The ship was assigned to the Coast Guard Squadron for the next decade before she was placed in reserve in 1903. Australia was sold for scrap in 1905.

Design and description

Australia had a length between perpendiculars of Template:Convert, a beam of Template:Convert and a draught of Template:Convert. Designed to displace Template:Convert, all of the Orlando-class ships proved to be overweight and displaced approximately Template:Convert.

The ship was powered by a pair of three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving one shaft, which were designed to produce a total of Template:Convert and a maximum speed of Template:Convert using steam provided by four boilers with forced draught. During her sea trials, Australia reached Template:Convert. The ship carried a maximum of Template:Convert of coal which was designed to give her a range of Template:Convert at a speed of Template:Convert. The ship's complement was 484 officers and ratings.<ref name="ck5">Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 65</ref>

AustraliaTemplate:'s main armament consisted of two breech-loading (BL) [[BL 9.2 inch gun Mk III - VII|Template:Convert Mk V guns]], one gun fore and aft of the superstructure on pivot mounts. Her secondary armament was ten [[BL 6 inch gun Mk III IV VI|BL Template:Convert guns]], five on each broadside. Protection against torpedo boats was provided by six quick-firing (QF) 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns and ten QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, most of which were mounted on the main deck in broadside positions. The ship was also armed with six 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes: four on the broadside above water and one each in the bow and stern below water.<ref name=ck5/>

The ship was protected by a waterline compound armour belt Template:Convert thick. It covered the middle Template:Convert of the ship and was Template:Convert high.<ref name=ck5/> Because the ship was overweight, the top of the armour belt was Template:Convert below the waterline when she was fully loaded.<ref>Friedman, p. 146</ref> The ends of the armour belt were closed off by transverse bulkheads Template:Convert. The lower deck was Template:Convert thick over the full length of the hull. The conning tower was protected by Template:Convert of armour.<ref name=ck5/>

Construction and service

Australia, named for the Australian continent,<ref>Silverstone, p. 216</ref> was laid down on 21 April 1885 by Robert Napier and Sons at their shipyard in Govan, Glasgow.

The ship was launched on 25 November 1886, and completed on 11 December 1888.<ref>Friedman, p. 342</ref> Shortly after commissioning, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and remained there until 1893 when she participated in the Columbian Review held in New York City that year to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the New World.

Upon her return home, Australia became the coast guard ship for Southampton Water for the next decade.<ref name="f1">Friedman, p. 141</ref> Captain Charles Henry Adair was briefly in command from November 1899 to January 1900, when Captain George Neville was appointed in command on 20 January 1900.<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> She escorted the royal yacht Template:Ship when Queen Victoria visited Ireland in April 1900,<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> and in September the following year she visited Germany and Denmark when she escorted the royal yacht carrying King Edward VII from Hamburg to Elsinore.<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>

She took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII.<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> Captain Charles Home Cochran was appointed in command on 24 November 1902,<ref>Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> but the ship was placed in reserve at Chatham Dockyard in early 1903,<ref name="f1" /> before being sold for scrap on 4 April 1905.<ref name="ck5" />

References

• Template:Cite Colledge2006
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book