List of ships of the Queensland Maritime Defence Force

Last updated November 10, 2024

In 1884, following the recommendations of the Jervois-Scratchley reports, the Queensland Marine Defence Force was established. To equip the new force, the Queensland colonial government purchased two gunboats and a torpedo boat. Queensland bought eight more vessels to create the second largest fleet in the Australian colonies behind Victoria.^[1] With the federation of the Australian colonies, those vessels still in service joined the Commonwealth Naval Forces in 1901 and the Royal Australian Navy when it was formed in 1911. No ship ever met the enemy in battle or fell victim to enemy action; most had long, albeit in some cases humble, careers in both naval and private hands past World War II.^[2]

Vessels in alphabetical order

B

Name	Type	Class	Dates	Displacement	Armament	Notes	References
Bonito	Auxiliary gunboat	–	1884–unknown	450 tons	1 × 64-pdr gun	–	^[3]
Bream	Auxiliary gunboat	–	1884–unknown	450 tons	1 × 5-inch gun	Dive wreck Tangalooma	^[3]^[4]

D

Name	Type	Class	Dates	Displacement	Armament	Notes	References
Dolphin	Auxiliary gunboat	–	1884–unknown	450 tons	1 × 5-inch gun	Dive wreck Tangalooma	^[3]^[4]

G

Name	Type	Class	Dates	Displacement	Armament	Speed	Notes	References
Gayundah	Gunboat	Gayundah class	1884–1918	360 tons	1 × 8-inch gun; 1 × 6-inch gun; 2 × 1.5-inch gun; 2 × machine guns	10.5 knots	Breakwater Woody Point	^[5]^[6]

M

Name	Type	Class	Dates	Displacement	Armament	Speed	Notes	References
Midge	Torpedo launch	–	1887–1912	–	1 × 3-pdr gun; 2 × machine-guns; two x 14-inch torpedo dropping gear	–	–	^[7]
Miner	Mining tender	–	1887–1901	65 tons	–	8 knots	Breakwater Bishop Island	^[7]^[8]
Mosquito	Torpedo boat	–	1884–1910	–	–	–	First warship in Queensland service; served in the RAN between 1901 and 1910.	^[3]

O

Name	Type	Class	Dates	Displacement	Armament	Speed	Notes	References
Otter	Patrol vessel	–	1887–1906	220 tons	1 × 5-inch gun (replaced later with 1 × 64-pdr gun)	–	Requisitioned by RAN in World War I and World War II.	^[3]

P

Name	Type	Class	Dates	Displacement	Armament	Speed	Notes	References
Paluma	Gunboat	Gayundah class	1884–1916	360 tons	1 × 8-inch gun; 1 × 6-inch gun; 2 × 1.5-inch gun; 2 × machine-guns	10.5 knots	–	^[5]
Pumba	Auxiliary gunboat	–	1884–1901	450 tons	1 × 5-inch guns	–	Rebuilt in 1958 and renamed Enterprise, served as a civilian cargo vessel into the 1970s.	^[3]

S

Name	Type	Class	Dates	Displacement	Armament	Speed	Notes	References
Stingaree	Auxiliary gunboat	–	1984–1895	450 tons	1 × 5-inch gun	–	Dive wreck Tangalooma	^[3]^[4]

Vessels in chronological order by class

Torpedo boat

Mosquito

Gayundah-class gunboats

Patrol vessel

Otter

Auxiliary gunboats

Torpedo launch

Midge

Mining tender

Miner

Notes

↑ Gillett 1977, p. 105.
↑ Gillett 1977, pp. 107–111.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gillett 1977, p. 110.
1 2 3 Diving the Gold Coast.
1 2 Gillett 1977, p. 109.
↑ Royal Australian Navy.
1 2 Gillett 1977, p. 111.
↑ McLeod 1974, pp. 23–24.

Related Research Articles

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HMQS Gayundah was a flat-iron gunboat operated by the Queensland Maritime Defence Force and later the Royal Australian Navy. She entered service in 1884 and was decommissioned and sold to a civilian company in 1921. She then served as sand and gravel barge in Brisbane until the 1950s, when she was scrapped. In 1958, Gayundah was run aground at Woody Point near Redcliffe, to serve as a breakwater structure.

HMAS Queenborough (G70/D270/F02/57) was a Q-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

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HMPNGS Buna is a Balikpapan-class heavy landing craft operated by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). Prior to 1974, the vessel was called HMAS Buna and was operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

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HMPNGS Lakekamu is Balikpapan-class landing craft heavy (LCH) operated by the Maritime Operations Element of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF). The vessel was one of eight built for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in the 1970s, and was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Labuan in March 1973. Labuan was decommissioned in November 2014. She was transferred to the PNGDF for use as a training ship and was commissioned as HMPNGS Lakekamu in December 2014.

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HMAS Brisbane was one of three Perth-class guided missile destroyers to serve in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The United States-designed ship was laid down at Bay City, Michigan in 1965, launched in 1966 and commissioned into the RAN in 1967. She is named after the city of Brisbane, Queensland.

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HMQS Paluma was a flat-iron gunboat operated by the Queensland Maritime Defence Force and later the Royal Australian Navy. She entered service on 28 October 1884, was decommissioned in 1916 and then sold to the Victorian Ports and Harbours Department, who operated her under the name Rip until 1948 when she was retired. She was scrapped in 1950–51.

HMQS Mosquito was a torpedo boat operated by the Queensland Maritime Defence Force and Commonwealth Naval Forces. She entered service in 1885 and after Federation was transferred to the Commonwealth Naval Forces, serving as a training vessel until she was paid off in 1910.

After the formation of the Queensland Maritime Defence Force in 1884, the colonial government purchased two gunboats and a torpedo boat to equip the new force. However, given the number of ports along the Queensland coast, it was realised that additional ships were required. Five ships had already been ordered for the Queensland Department of Harbours and Rivers when the decision was taken to convert them to also serve as auxiliary gunboats. This resulted in the fitting of a 5-inch gun and the relocation of the boilers below the waterline. The ships were as follows: Bonito, Bream, Dolphin, Pumba, and Stingaree.

HMQS Otter was launched in 1884 and served as a patrol vessel that served with the Queensland Maritime Defence Force and Commonwealth Naval Forces. She was paid off and sold in 1906, but the Royal Australian Navy requisitioned her in both world wars.

HMQS Midge was a torpedo launch that served with the Queensland Maritime Defence Force, the Commonwealth Naval Forces and the Royal Australian Navy. After entering service in 1887, Midge served as "picquet boat" along the Brisbane River until Federation in 1901, when she was transferred to the Commonwealth. After this, she served as a training boat until 1912 when she was decommissioned.

HMQS Miner was a vessel built for the Queensland Army before being transferred to the Queensland Maritime Defence Force. She was not taken on strength by the Commonwealth Naval Forces at Federation in 1901 and subsequently sold.

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Naval Offices is a heritage-listed office building at 3 Edward Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Department of Public Works and built from 1900 to 1901 by J Mason. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 March 2013.

References

Banks, Ian. "Diving the Gold Coast". Archived from the original on 4 April 2012. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
Gillett, Ross (1977). Warships of Australia. Graham, Colin (illus). Adelaide, South Australia: Rigby. ISBN 0-7270-0472-7.
"HMAS Gayundah". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
McLeod, Roderick (1974). History Along the Waterways: The Abandoned Hulks of the Brisbane River and Moreton Bay (PDF). Royal Historical Society of Queensland. OCLC 729223232.

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[FOOTNOTEGillett1977105-1] Gillett 1977, p. 105.

[FOOTNOTEGillett1977107–111-2] Gillett 1977, pp. 107–111.

[FOOTNOTEGillett1977110-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gillett 1977, p. 110.

[FOOTNOTEDiving_the_Gold_Coast-4] 1 2 3 Diving the Gold Coast.

[FOOTNOTEGillett1977109-5] 1 2 Gillett 1977, p. 109.

[FOOTNOTERoyal_Australian_Navy-6] Royal Australian Navy.

[FOOTNOTEGillett1977111-7] 1 2 Gillett 1977, p. 111.

[FOOTNOTEMcLeod197423–24-8] McLeod 1974, pp. 23–24.

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