Captains of the Cerberus,
& in Command of the Naval Forces of Victoria.
| Captains of the Cerberus, | |
¹ photo courtesy of Paul Frecker
² The appointment was gazetted on July 4 1884 effective as of August 13 1883
³ Photo courtesy State Library of South Australia
Dates often differ between sources. Although the Commander of the Victorian Naval Forces was also Captain of the Cerberus the two appointments were often made on different dates. Where dates do differ we have given the date of promotion to Captain of the Cerberus.
In 1887 the title "Naval Commandant" was abolished. From then on the officer in chief command of the naval forces was styled "The Captain of the Cerberus, and in command of the Naval Forces of the Colony of Victoria."
On a visit to the Museum of HMAS Cerberus the photo below was discovered in a copy of the Journal of HMAS Cerberus (aka Spindrift). Of interest is the reference to the Victorian Navy as Her Majesty's Victorian Navy and the use of the initials HMVN after Captain Panter's and Captain Tickell's names. Although not incorrect the words Her Majesty's were not used and the permanent force was simply referred to as the Victorian Navy. The ships were however referred to as HMVS (Her Majesty's Victorian Ship). As Captain Mandeville was also retired from the Royal Navy he should be denoted in the same way as Captain Panter. Captain Tickell and Captain Norman (not listed), were the only captains not to have served in the Royal Navy.
Naturally we would love to learn if the board still exists. I am assured that it is no longer at HMAS Cerberus.
