HMAS Platypus was a submarine depot ship and base ship operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) between 1919 and 1946. Ordered prior to World War I to support the Australian submarines AE1 and AE2, Platypus was not completed until after both submarines had been lost, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy from 1917 to 1919.
SS Ceramic was a steam ocean liner built in Belfast for White Star Line in 1912–13 and operated on the Liverpool – Australia route. Ceramic was the largest ship serving the route until P&O introduced RMS Mooltan in 1923.
HMS Archer was a Long Island-class escort carrier built by the United States in 1939–1940 and operated by the Royal Navy during World War II. She was built as the cargo ship Mormacland, but was converted to an escort carrier and renamed HMS Archer. Her transmission was a constant cause of problems which led to her being withdrawn from front-line service. She was used as a stores ship and then as an accommodation ship before a refit and subsequent use as a merchant aircraft ferry ship, Empire Lagan.
The J-class submarines were seven submarines developed by the Royal Navy prior to the First World War in response to claims that Germany was developing submarines that were fast enough to operate alongside surface fleets. Six were completed during mid-1916, while a seventh entered service at the end of 1917.
The Hunt-class minesweeper was a class of minesweeping sloop built between 1916 and 1919 for the Royal Navy. They were built in two discrete groups, the earlier Belvoir group designed by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company and the subsequent Aberdare group designed by the Admiralty. They were classed as Fleet Minesweeping Sloops, that is ships intended to clear open water. The Belvoir group were named after British fox hunts. Those of the Aberdare group were originally named after coastal towns, watering places and fishing ports, some of which happened to be hunts by coincidence. However, all were soon renamed after inland locations to prevent confusion caused by the misunderstanding of signals and orders.
Cory Environmental is a large resource management, recycling and energy recovery company in the United Kingdom. Cory operates in nearly 40 locations throughout England, providing services in the collection, recycling and disposal of waste.
A naval race had developed in the Aegean after the end of the Balkan Wars, with the Ottoman government ordering several ships, including two dreadnoughts, in Britain. In the event, with the outbreak of World War I, these ships, including further two scout cruisers and four destroyers, were confiscated and pressed into service with the Royal Navy. This disappointed the Ottomans, contributing to their joining the Central Powers in the Great War.
HMAS Berrima was a passenger liner which served in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) during World War I as an armed merchantman and troop transport. Launched in 1913 as the P&O liner SS Berrima, the ship initially carried immigrants from the United Kingdom to Australia via Cape Town. In August 1914, Berrima was requisitioned for military use, refitted and armed, and commissioned into the RAN as an auxiliary cruiser. The ship transported two battalions of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force to the German New Guinea colonies in September.
HMCSProtector was a large flat-iron gunboat commissioned and purchased by the South Australian government in 1884, for the purpose of defending the local coastline against possible attacks in the aftermath of the 'Russian scare', of the 1870s. She arrived in Adelaide in September 1884 and subsequently served in the Boxer Rebellion, World War I and World War II.
Brighton was a 1,384 GRT steamship which was built in 1903 for the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway and London and South Western Railway. She passed to the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923. In 1930, she was sold to W E Guinness and converted to a private yacht, Roussalka. She was wrecked at Killary Bay on 25 August 1933.
HMAS Goorangai was a 223-ton auxiliary minesweeper of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was built in 1919 for the Government of New South Wales, then sold in 1926 to the fishing company Cam & Sons. The trawler was requisitioned for military service following the outbreak of World War II, converted into a minesweeper, and assigned to Melbourne. She was sunk in an accidental collision with MV Duntroon in 1940, becoming the RAN's first loss of World War II, and the first RAN surface ship to be lost in wartime.
Polar Chief was an 8,040 GRT tanker which was built in 1897 as the cargo ship Montcalm. In 1914 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty, serving initially as a troopship. In October 1914, she was converted to a dummy battleship and renamed HMS Audacious. In 1915 she became a depot ship, followed by conversion to a tanker in 1916 when she was sold into Royal Fleet Auxiliary service and renamed RFA Crenella. In 1917, she survived a torpedo attack off the coast of Ireland. In 1919, she was sold into merchant service as SS Crenella.
Davara was a British steam fishing trawler. Launched in 1912, it was requisitioned in 1914 by the Royal Navy for service in World War I and fitted out as a minesweeper. She was returned to her owners after the war and began service as a trawler once more.
HMAS Koolonga was a 4,260 gross register tons cargo ship built by Sunderland Shipbuilding Company, South Dock Sunderland, England, in 1914 and bought by McIlwraith, McEacharn Line Pty Ltd, Melbourne and named SS Koolonga. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy on 6 August 1914, as a collier and supply ship. She was returned to her owners in late 1915. She was sold in 1937 to Madrigal & Company, Philippines and renamed Paz. She was scuttled during the Second World War at Sourabaya Harbour in 1942 and was later salvaged by the Imperial Japanese and renamed Hatsu Maru. While at anchor in Manila Bay, Philippines on 13 November 1944, she was attacked by United States Navy carrier aircraft and was sunk.
HMAS Mallina was a 3,213 GRT cargo ship built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast in 1909 as Mallina for the Australian United Steam Navigation Company for the Rockhampton to Sydney cargo route. She was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy in 1914, as a store carrier and collier. She was returned to her owners in 1915. She was sold in 1935 to Machida Shokai Kisen Kaisha, Japan and renamed Seiko Maru, before being sold to Kita Nippon Kisen Kaisha and renamed Siberia Maru No. 3, which was later shortened to Siberian Maru. While steaming in the Sulu Sea, Philippines on 24 September 1944, she was attacked by American aircraft of Task Force 38 and sunk with the loss of 158 of the 2,382 people on board.
HMAS St Giles (FY86) was a tugboat which was operated by the Royal Navy (RN), Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Australian shipping firms J. & A. Brown and the Waratah Tug and Salvage Company. She was built by Ferguson Shipbuilders, Glasgow for the RN in 1919, was sold to J. & A. Brown in 1925, transferred to the Waratah Tug and Salvage Co Pty Ltd in 1931 and was commissioned into the RAN between 1940 and 1942 and 1945 and 1946 before being scrapped in 1956.
The SS Runic was a steamship built at Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line which entered service in 1901. Runic was the fourth of five Jubilee-class ocean liners built for White Star's Australia service along with her sister ship SS Suevic, where she ran on the Liverpool–Cape Town–Sydney route. She served this route until she was requisitioned for use as a war transport between 1915 and 1919, before returning to the Australia service.
Caldew was a British steam fishing trawler. Launched in 1914 as Maristo, she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for service in the First World War the following year. Maristo survived the war and resumed trawling for the next two decades, being renamed Caldew in that time. She collided with fellow trawler Ospray II in 1935, sinking the latter ship.
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