Sea Dogs of Australia

Last updated

Sea Dogs of Australia
Directed by Martyn Keith
Written byJ.S. McCullagh
Produced byJ.S. McCullagh
Starring Charles Villiers
Production
company
Western Pacific Feature Films
Release date
12 August 1914 [1]
Running time
2,500 feet [2]
CountryAustralia
Languages Silent film
English intertitles

Sea Dogs of Australia is a 1913 Australian silent film about an Australian naval officer blackmailed into helping a foreign spy. [3] The film was publicly released in August 1914, but was almost immediately withdrawn after the Minister for Defence expressed security concerns about footage of the battlecruiser HMAS Australia.

Contents

Plot

Lieutenant Verner (Eric Howell) incurs massive gambling debts, and a foreign spy, Herman Markoff, tries to blackmail him into stealing some secret plans for an explosive. Verner agrees and helps Markoff kidnap his friend, Lieutenant Sidney, but is stopped by Dave Smith, a champion Australian boxer. Verner tries again and by torturing Sidney succeeds in securing the plans. Verner decides to use the plans to blow up the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, but Sidney manages to escape and kill Markoff. Verner almost escapes on a ship, but Australia sinks it and Verner dies. [3]

The chapter headings were: [2]

Cast

Production

During late 1913, filming occurred aboard Australia. [4]

Release

The film was trade screened in December 1913 but not released commercially until August the following year. It was then withdrawn from screening by order of the Minister for Defence, most likely due to security concerns over footage of Australia. [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

HMQS <i>Gayundah</i>

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 <i>Rankin</i>

HMAS Rankin is the sixth and final submarine of the Collins class, which are operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Named for Lieutenant Commander Robert William Rankin, the boat was laid down in 1995, and commissioned into the RAN in March 2003, following major delays.

HMAS <i>Lismore</i> (J145)

HMAS Lismore (J145/B247/A121), named for the city of Lismore, New South Wales, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes that were constructed during World War II, and one of 20 manned and commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) under Admiralty order. During her Australian service, Lismore covered 191,132 nautical miles (353,976 km), and spent the longest period away from Australia of any RAN vessel during World War II: 1,409 days. Serving with the RAN for five years, Lismore later spent twelve years as part of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN), classified as the frigate HNLMS Batjan.

HMS <i>New Zealand</i> (1911) Indefatigable-class battlecruiser

HMS New Zealand was one of three Indefatigable-class battlecruisers. Launched in 1911, the ship was funded by the government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1912. She had been intended for the China Station, but was released by the New Zealand government at the request of the Admiralty for service in British waters.

HMAS <i>Swan</i> (DE 50) Australian naval ship, built 1970

HMAS Swan, named for the Swan River, was a River-class destroyer escort of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Constructed in Melbourne following the loss of HMAS Voyager, Swan entered service in 1970.

HMAS <i>Sydney</i> (1912) Town-class light cruiser

HMAS Sydney was a Chatham-class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Laid down in 1911 and launched in 1912, the cruiser was commissioned into the RAN in 1913.

HMAS <i>Australia</i> (1911) Indefatigable-class battlecruiser

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.

HMAS <i>Melbourne</i> (1912) Town-class light cruiser of Royal Australian Navy

HMAS Melbourne was a Town class light cruiser operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship was laid down by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in England in 1911, launched in 1912 and commissioned in 1913. At the start of World War I, Melbourne was involved in attempts to locate the German East Asia Squadron, and participated in the capture of German colonies in the Pacific, before being assigned to the North America and West Indies Stations. In 1916, the cruiser joined the Grand Fleet in the North Sea, where she remained for the remainder of the war. Melbourne spent late 1919 and early 1920 in reserve, then was flagship of the Royal Australian Navy from 1920 until 1928, except for a second period in reserve during 1924 and 1925. HMAS Melbourne paid off in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1928, and was scrapped in 1929.

River-class destroyer escort

The River class was a class of six destroyer escorts operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Plans to acquire four vessels, based on the British Type 12M frigate, began in the 1950s. The first two vessels had some slight modifications to the design, while the next two underwent further changes. Two more ships were ordered in 1964, following the Melbourne-Voyager collision; these were based on the Type 12I frigate.

HMAS <i>Torrens</i> (DE 53)

HMAS Torrens was a River-class destroyer escort of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Torrens entered service in 1971, and was active until her decommissioning in 1998.

HMAS <i>Huon</i> (D50) River-class torpedo-boat destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy

HMAS Huon (D50), named after the Huon River, was a River-class torpedo-boat destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Originally to be named after the River Derwent, the ship was renamed before her 1914 launch because of a naming conflict with a Royal Navy vessel.

HMAS <i>Warrnambool</i> (J202)

HMAS Warrnambool (J202), named for the city of Warrnambool, Victoria was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 36 initially manned and commissioned solely by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Warrnambool sank after she hit a mine in the Great Barrier Reef on 13 September 1947. She was one of only four Bathurst class corvettes lost while in Australian service, and the only one lost after World War II.

HMAS <i>Launceston</i> (J179)

HMAS Launceston (J179/B246/A120), named for the city of Launceston, Tasmania, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 20 built for the Admiralty but manned by personnel of and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Stevenson (admiral)</span>

Vice Admiral Sir Hugh David Stevenson was a senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy, serving as Chief of Naval Staff from 1973 to 1976.

HMAS <i>Goorangai</i> Auxiliary minesweeper of the Royal Australian Navy

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Squadron</span> United Kingdom legislation

The Australian Squadron was the name given to the British naval force assigned to the Australia Station from 1859 to 1911.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Fleet Review 2013</span>

The International Fleet Review 2013 was a review that took place on the week 3 to 11 October 2013, as part of the celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the entry of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet in Sydney Harbour, on 4 October 1913.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMAS Sydney I – SMS Emden Memorial</span> Heritage-listed war memorial in Sydney, Australia

HMAS Sydney I – SMS Emden Memorial is a heritage-listed former foreign naval ship gun and now war memorial and war trophy located in Hyde Park, on the corner of Liverpool and College Streets in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by City of Sydney and built from 1917 by Messrs Loveridge and Hudson, Redfern. It is also known as HMAS Sydney 1 - SMS Emden Memorial and Emden Gun. The property is owned by City of Sydney. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 27 February 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rupert Clare Garsia</span>

Commander Rupert Clare Garsia was a New Zealand-born Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy officer, and later Administrator of Nauru.

References

  1. "WONDERGRAPH THEATRE". The Mail . Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 13 August 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Advertising". The Referee . Sydney: National Library of Australia. 19 November 1913. p. 15. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  3. 1 2 Pike, Andrew; Cooper, Ross (1998). Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 46.
  4. 1 2 Stevens, David (2001). "World War I". In Stevens, David (ed.). The Royal Australian Navy. The Australian Centenary History of Defence. Vol. III. South Melbourne, VIC: Oxford University Press. pp. 32–3. ISBN   0195555422. OCLC   50418095.
  5. "EARLY AUSTRALIAN FILMS". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 29 January 1934. p. 6. Retrieved 8 February 2012.