HMAS Australia was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Ordered by the Australian government in 1909, she was launched in 1911, and commissioned as flagship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1913. Australia was the only capital ship to serve in the RAN.
At the start of World War I, Australia was tasked with finding and destroying the German East Asia Squadron, which was prompted to withdraw from the Pacific by the battlecruiser's presence. Repeated diversions to support the capture of German colonies in New Guinea and Samoa, as well as an overcautious Admiralty, prevented the battlecruiser from engaging the German squadron before the squadron's destruction. Australia was then assigned to North Sea operations, which consisted primarily of patrols and exercises, until the end of the war. During this time, Australia was involved in early attempts at naval aviation, and 11 of her personnel participated in the Zeebrugge Raid. The battlecruiser was not at the Battle of Jutland, as she was undergoing repairs following a collision with sister ship . Australia fired in anger twice: at a German merchant vessel in January 1915, and at a suspected submarine contact in December 1917.
On her return to Australian waters, several sailors aboard the warship mutinied after a request for an extra day's leave in Fremantle was denied, although other issues played a part in the mutiny, including minimal leave during the war, problems with pay, and the perception that Royal Navy personnel were more likely to receive promotions than Australian sailors. Post-war budget cuts saw Australias role downgraded to a training ship before she was placed in reserve in 1921. The disarmament provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty required the destruction of Australia as part of the British Empire's commitment, and she was scuttled off Sydney Heads in 1924.
Design The Indefatigable class of battlecruisers were based heavily on the preceding . The main difference was that the Indefatigables design was enlarged to give the ships' two wing turrets a wider arc of fire. As a result, the Indefatigable class was not a significant improvement on the Invincible design; the ships were smaller and not as well protected as the contemporary German battlecruiser and subsequent German designs. While Von der Tanns characteristics were not known when the lead ship of the class, , was laid down in February 1909, the Royal Navy obtained accurate information on the German ship before work began on Australia and her sister ship .Roberts, Battlecruisers, pp. 28–29
Australia had an overall length of , a beam of , and a maximum draught of .Cassells, The Capital Ships, pp. 16–17 The ship displaced at load and at deep load.Roberts, Battlecruisers, pp. 43–44 She had a crew of 818 officers and ratings in 1913.Burt, British Battleships of World War One, p. 109
The ship was powered by two Parsons' sets of direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two propeller shafts, using steam provided by 31 coal-burning Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were rated at and were intended to give the ship a maximum speed of . During trials in 1913, Australia turbines provided , allowing her to reach .Roberts, Battlecruisers, pp. 76, 80 Australia carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of at a cruising speed of .
Australia carried eight BL Mark X guns in four BVIII* twin turrets, the largest guns fitted to any Australian warship. Two turrets were mounted fore and aft on the centreline, identified as 'A' and 'X' respectively. The other two were wing turrets mounted amidships and staggered diagonally: 'P' was forward and to port of the centre funnel, while 'Q' was situated starboard and aft. Each wing turret had some limited ability to fire to the opposite side. Her secondary armament consisted of sixteen BL Mark VII guns positioned in the superstructure.Roberts, Battlecruisers, pp. 81–84 She mounted two submerged tubes for 18-inch torpedoes, one on each side aft of 'X' barbette, and 12 torpedoes were carried.Campbell, Battle Cruisers, p. 14
The Indefatigables were protected by a waterline armoured belt that extended between and covered the end barbettes. Their armoured deck ranged in thickness between with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were thick, and the turrets were supported by barbettes of the same thickness.Roberts, Battlecruisers, p. 112
Australias 'A' turret was fitted with a rangefinder at the rear of the turret roof. It was also equipped to control the entire main armament, in case normal fire control positions were knocked out or rendered inoperable.Roberts, Battlecruisers, pp. 90–91
Modifications Australia received a single QF 20 cwt anti-aircraft (AA) gun on a high-angle Mark II mount that was added in March 1915. This had a maximum depression of 10° and a maximum elevation of 90°. It fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of at a rate of fire of 12–14 rounds per minute. It had a maximum effective ceiling of .British 12-pdr (3"/45 (76.2 cm)) 20cwt QF HA Marks I, II, III and IV, Navweapons.com It was provided with 500 rounds. The 4-inch guns were enclosed in casemates and given blast shields during a refit in November 1915 to better protect the gun crews from weather and enemy action, and two aft guns were removed at the same time.Campbell, Battle Cruisers, p. 13 An additional 4-inch gun was fitted during 1917 as an AA gun. It was mounted on a Mark II high-angle mounting with a maximum elevation of 60°. It had a reduced propellant charge with a muzzle velocity of only ;British 4"/50 (10.2 cm) BL Mark VII, Navweapons.com 100 rounds were carried for it.
Australia received a fire-control director sometime between mid-1915 and May 1916; this centralised fire control under the director officer, who now fired the guns. The turret crewmen merely had to follow pointers transmitted from the director to align their guns on the target. This greatly increased accuracy, as it was easier to spot the fall of shells and eliminated the problem of the ship's roll dispersing the shells when each turret fired independently.Roberts, Battlecruisers, pp. 92–93 Australia was also fitted with an additional inch of armour around the midships turrets following the Battle of Jutland.
By 1918, Australia carried a Sopwith Pup and a Sopwith 1½ Strutter on platforms fitted to the top of 'P' and 'Q' turrets. The first flying off by a 1½ Strutter was from Australias 'Q' turret on 4 April 1918. Each platform had a canvas hangar to protect the aircraft during inclement weather.Roberts, Battlecruisers, p. 92 At the end of World War I, Australia was described as "the least obsolescent of her class".Jose, The Royal Australian Navy 1914–1918, p. 284
After the war, both anti-aircraft guns were replaced by a pair of QF 4-inch Mark V guns on manually operated high-angle mounts in January 1920. Their elevation limits were −5° to 80°. The guns fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of at a rate of fire of 10–15 rounds per minute. They had a maximum effective ceiling of .Britain 4"/45 (10.2 cm) QF Mark V and Mark XV, Navweapons.com
Acquisition and construction
At the start of the 20th century, the British Admiralty maintained that naval defence of the British Empire, including the Dominions, should be unified under the Royal Navy.Frame, No Pleasure Cruise, p. 71 Attitudes on this matter softened during the first decade, and at the 1909 Imperial Conference, the Admiralty proposed the creation of 'Fleet Units': forces consisting of a battlecruiser, three light cruisers, six destroyers, and three submarines.Stevens, in Stevens & Reeve, The Navy and the Nation, pp. 168–169Lambert, in Nielson & Kennedy, Far Flung Lines, p. 64 Although some were to be operated by the Royal Navy at distant bases, particularly in the Far East, the Dominions were encouraged to purchase fleet units to serve as the core of new national navies: Australia and Canada were both encouraged to do so at earliest opportunity, New Zealand was asked to partially subsidise a fleet unit for the China Station, and there were plans for South Africa to fund one at a future point.Lambert, in Nielson & Kennedy, Far Flung Lines, pp. 64–65
Each fleet unit was designed as a "navy in miniature", and would operate under the control of the purchasing Dominion during peacetime. In the event of widespread conflict, the fleet units would come under Admiralty control, and would be merged to form larger fleets for regional defence. Australia was the only Dominion to purchase a full fleet unit, and while the New Zealand-funded battlecruiser was donated to the Royal Navy outright, no other nation purchased ships under the fleet unit plan.Roberts, Battlecruisers, p. 29
On 9 December 1909, a cable was sent by Governor-General Lord Dudley to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, The Earl of Crewe, requesting that construction of three cruisers and an Indefatigable-class battlecruiser start at earliest opportunity.Frame, No Pleasure Cruise, p. 92 It is unclear why this design was selected, given that it was known to be inferior to the battlecruisers entering service with the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). Historian John Roberts has suggested that the request may have been attributable to the Royal Navy's practice of using small battleships and large cruisers as flagships of stations far from Britain, or it might have reflected the preferences of the First Sea Lord and Admiral of the Fleet John Fisher, preferences not widely shared.Roberts, Battlecruisers, pp. 29–31
The Australian Government decided on the name Australia, as this would avoid claims of favouritism or association with a particular state.Stevens, in Stevens & Reeve, The Navy and the Nation, p. 172 The ship's badge depicted the Federation Star overlaid by a naval crown, and her motto was "Endeavour", reflecting both an idealisation of Australians' national spirit and attitude, and a connection to James Cook and HM Bark Endeavour. On 6 May 1910, George Reid, Australia's high commissioner to the United Kingdom, sent a telegram cable to the Australian Government suggesting that the ship be named after the newly crowned King George V, but this was rebuffed.Stevens, in Stevens & Reeve, The Navy and the Nation, pp. 171–172
Bids for construction were forwarded to the Australian Government by Reid on 7 March 1910, and Prime Minister Alfred Deakin approved the submission by John Brown & Company to construct the hull and machinery, with separate contracts awarded to Armstrong and Vickers for the battlecruiser's armament.Stevens, in Stevens & Reeve, The Navy and the Nation, p. 171 The total cost of construction was set at £2 million. Contracts were signed between the Admiralty and the builders to avoid the problems of distant supervision by the Australian Government, and a close watch on proceedings was maintained by Reid and Captain Francis Haworth-Booth, the Australian Naval Representative in London.
Australias keel was laid at John Brown & Company's Clydebank yard on 23 June 1910, and was assigned the yard number 402.Bastock, Australia's Ships of War, p. 34HMAS Australia built by John Brown Clydebank, Clydebuilt Ships Database The ship was launched by Lady Reid on 25 October 1911, in a ceremony which received extensive media coverage. Australias design was altered during construction to incorporate improvements in technology, including the newly developed nickel-steel armour plate.Roberts, Battlecruisers, p. 102 While it was intended that the entire ship be fitted with the new armour, manufacturing problems meant that older armour had to be used in some sections: the delay in sourcing the older armour plates set construction back half a year. Despite this, John Brown & Company delivered the ship £295,000 under budget.Stevens, in Stevens & Reeve, The Navy and the Nation, p. 173