HMAS Australia (1911)

HMAS Australia
History
Australia
Name	Australia
Namesake	Commonwealth of Australia
Ordered	9 December 1909
Builder	John Brown & Company, Clydebank
Yard number	402
Laid down	26 June 1910
Launched	25 October 1911
Commissioned	21 June 1913
Decommissioned	12 December 1921
Identification	Pennant numbers: C6 / 09 / 81[1]
Motto	"Endeavour"
Honours and awards	Battle honours: Rabaul 1914 North Sea 1915–18
Fate	Scuttled, 12 April 1924
General characteristics
Class and type	Indefatigable-class battlecruiser
Displacement	18,500 long tons (18,800 t) at load 22,130 long tons (22,490 t) at deep load
Length	590 ft (179.8 m)
Beam	80 ft (24.4 m)
Draught	30 ft 4 in (9.2 m) at maximum
Installed power	44,000 shp (32,811 kW) 31 Babcock & Wilcox boilers
Propulsion	4 shafts; 2 steam turbine sets
Speed	25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph)
Range	6,690 nautical miles (12,390 km; 7,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	818 (1913)
Armament	4 × twin BL 12-inch Mk X guns 16 × single BL 4-inch Mk VII guns 2 × 18-inch torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 4–6 in (102–152 mm) Decks: 1.5–2.5 in (38–64 mm) Barbettes: 7 in (178 mm) Turrets: 7 in (178 mm)

HMAS Australia was one of three Indefatigable-class battlecruisers 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 ever to serve in the RAN.^[A]

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 latter'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 HMS New Zealand. Australia only ever 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 Australia's 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.

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