Pokerwork bowl made of timber from the H.M.A.S. Encounter

Francis Walter (Frank) Cuneo worked at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard where ships, including the H.M.A.S. Encounter, were taken to be scrapped after being decommissioned. He souvenired pieces of timber to be turned into decorative objects in his spare time, which were later sold to raise money for charity. These included serving trays, fruit and nut bowls, ash trays, match holders, tobacco jars and paperweights. These items are highly sought after and feature in many museums and collections, including two held by the Australian War Memorial.

According to The Australian National Maritime Museum:
'HMS ENCOUNTER was built for the Australia Station and on commissioning sailed for Australia on 31 December 1905. The ship completed six years of service with the Royal Navy's Australia Squadron. During the 19th century Britain was preoccupied with increasing its colonial territories and maintaining the empire. The British Royal Navy (RN) at the height of its power divided the world into strategic zones or stations that were manned by a squadron of warships responsible for cruising and protecting British territories and shipping. The RN formed the Australia Station in 1859 and it existed until the formation of the Royal Australian Navy in 1911. The ship was initially presented on loan to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a seagoing training ship and served in the first Australian Fleet Unit until HMAS BRISBANE had been completed. The ship was commissioned HMAS ENCOUNTER on 1 July 1912 and entered Port Jackson on 4 October 1913 as part of the first Australian fleet unit. During World War I, HMAS ENCOUNTER was stationed in New Guinea waters and took part in operations against German New Guinea. Patrol duties in the Fiji-Samoa area then followed. In 1916 she patrolled the waters off Malaya and the East Indies. More patrol and escort duties followed in the Pacific, Southern and Indian oceans until the end of the war. Originally on loan from the Royal Navy, ENCOUNTER became a permanent unit of the RAN in 1918. She became a seagoing training ship referred to as the "Old Bus". In 1923 the ship was disarmed and renamed HMAS PENGUIN and moored alongside Garden Island as an accommodation vessel. In 1929 the ship was stripped and taken to Garden Island Dockyard for scrapping. On 14 September 1932 her hulk was scuttled off Bondi Beach.'