Cerberus and the Royal Australian Navy.

 

 

H.M.A.S. Cerberus in battleship grey, flying the six pointed Australian Flag. (circa 1904)

 

“Aptly named, the old ship prowled around the bay for half a century, a watchdog with fearful barks from her 18 ton muzzle loaders, a veritable ‘Old Ironside.’ She was the cradle of the fleet - the nursery where two generations of sailors learned their art and craft.”

Melbourne Herald, 8 June 1926

 

Cerberus is:-

• Australia’s oldest surviving warship.
• Australia’s only surviving Colonial Navy warship.
• The only surviving foundation ship of the Australian Commonwealth Navy (1901)
• The only surviving foundation ship of the Royal Australian Navy (1911)

 

Cerberus was the training ground for not only the Victorian Colonial Navy but also the Australian Navy. All of the original sailors of the R.A.N. had trained on Cerberus. Even when her training role was over Cerberus continued to serve as a Store Ship, Port Guard Ship (WWI) and last of all as a Submarine Depot Ship.

 

Cerberus is the only foundation ship of the R.A.N. capable of preservation.

 

 “The ships of the colonial navies faded away, and in their place were to be seen the grey hulls and rakish lines of the new ships of the Royal Australian Navy. Yet they had served their purpose better than people realised, in that they provided for the new navy a sense of a length of tradition that was not without honour. That the formation of the navies of Canada and New Zealand was so tentative and hesitant can perhaps be attributed directly to the absence of vigorous colonial naval forces in those countries.” 

Australian Colonial Navies, Colin Jones.

 

 

photo courtesy of the Museum of HMAS Cerberus

Founding Ships of the Royal Australian Navy as at 1911

 

Name	Class	Origin	Tonnage	Launch/Paid Off	Remarks
New Acquisitions
Parramatta	River class destroyer		700	1910-1928	Bow & stern form memorial in N.S.W.
Yarra	River class destroyer		700	1910-1929	Broken up in 1930.
Originally from Colonial Navies
Cerberus	Breastwork Monitor	Victoria	3340	1868-1924	Scuttled as a breakwater
Protector	Cruiser	South Aust.	960	1884-1924	Rusted remains near Heron Island
Gayundah	Gunboat	Q\land	360	1884-1918	Wreck off Brisbane
Paluma	Gunboat	Q\land	360	1884-1916	Scraped 1950-51
Countess of Hopetoun	1st Class torpedo boat	Victoria	75	1891-1924	Remains located off Swan Island on seabed
Childers	1st Class torpedo boat	Victoria	65	1884-1918	Scaped in 1918
Nepean	2nd Class torpedo boat	Victoria	12.5	1884-1914	Broken up 1929-30
Lonsdale	2nd Class torpedo boat	Victoria	12.5	1884-1914	Conning tower remains – buried in the sand at Queenscliff
Gordon	2nd Class torpedo boat	Victoria	12.5	1884-1914	Scraped in 1914
No1 (ex Tasmania)	2nd Class torpedo boat	Sth Aust	12.5	1884-1917	Scraped in Adelaide
Midge	Picket boat	Q/land	11	1884-1914	Unknown

 

 Cerberus Bases & Depots

 

So important was Cerberus to the R.A.N. that at one stage seven navy bases were named Cerberus I, II, III, etc. This is evidence of the high esteem in which the old warship was held.  To avoid confusion all but one depot were re-named during the Second World War.

Cerberus Designation	Later Name	Location
HMAS Cerberus I	HMAS Cerberus	Crib Point - Victoria
HMAS Cerberus II	HMAS Carpentaria	London - UK
HMAS Cerberus III	HMAS Lonsdale	Williamstown - Victoria
HMAS Cerberus IV	HMAS Torrens	Adelaide - South Australia
HMAS Cerberus V	HMAS Leewuin	Freemantle - Western Australia
HMAS Cerberus VI	HMAS Huon	Hobart - Tasmania
HMAS Cerberus VII	HMAS Waratah	Washington - USA