While Lieutenant William Chimmo was preparing HMS Torch to return to survey work in the South Seas, he was unexpectedly tasked with an urgent mission. Word had just reached Sydney that nearly 20 people had been marooned for two months on a remote island far out in the Coral Sea. By chance, his paddle steamerContinue reading “HMS Torch and the rescue of the Ningpo castaways”
Category Archives: RN / RAN Ships
Matthew Flinders and the loss of HMS Porpoise – 1803
Shortly after Matthew Flinders completed his historic circumnavigation of Australia he was farewelled from Sydney to return to England as a passenger onboard HMS Porpoise. To everyone’s astonishment, he returned a month later to report the loss of that ship and another on a reef far out in the Coral Sea. HMS Porpoise, under theContinue reading “Matthew Flinders and the loss of HMS Porpoise – 1803”
Von Mucke’s Great Escape
Before the German Cruiser Emden was engaged by HMAS Sydney, a fifty-strong party was sent ashore at Cocos Island to destroy the telegraph station linking Australia to South Africa. As the two ships exchanged shells in a battle that lasted ten hours, the shore party could do little but watch on and hope for theContinue reading “Von Mucke’s Great Escape”
HMCS Protector 1884 – 1924
There lie the remains of an old ship on the Southern Great Barrier Reef which holds a fascinating story spanning almost 140 years. The rusting hull now serves as a breakwater protecting the entrance to the boating channel accessing Heron Island, but its history goes back to 1884. Her Majesties Colonial Ship (HMCS) Protector wasContinue reading “HMCS Protector 1884 – 1924”
HMAS Sydney and the sinking of the Emden
In late 1914 HMAS Sydney was accompanying the first convoy of AIF troops leaving Australia to fight in the First World War. However, a few days after the convoy left Albany WA, the Sydney was ordered to investigate the presence of a suspicious vessel near the Cocos Islands. The ship turned out to be theContinue reading “HMAS Sydney and the sinking of the Emden”
Tales from the Quarterdeck 