World War 1, Australia, HMAS Encounter, 1917
1917View of HMAS "Encounter"
The fourth warship of the name Encounter was built at Devonport Dockyard for the Royal Navy and commissioned on 21 November 1905. A member of the Challenger Class, she was first rated as a second-class protected cruiser, having no side armour, but an inbuilt armoured deck. In 1905 she joined the Royal Navy's Australian Squadron regularly visiting Australian and New Zealand ports and the Pacific islands, but for the most part were routine.
With the post-1909 expansion of the Australian Navy underway, Encounter was lent by the British Admiralty for use as a sea going training ship pending completion of the new light cruiser HMAS Brisbane. Volunteers were called for from the existing ship's company to form a nucleus crew, remaining for a further three years in the Australian Service.
Details
Details
Commissioned into the RAN on 1 July 1912, Encounter became Australia's first cruiser. Over the next two years she was actively employed in training the growing Navy and showing the flag at ports all around the nation. On 4 October 1913 she joined with the remainder of the new Australian Fleet Unit (comprising the battlecruiser Australia, light cruisers, Sydney and Melbourne, and destroyers, Parramatta, Yarra and Warrego) and took part in its initial entry into Port Jackson.
Further details of Encounter’s service in World War 1 may be found at https://www.navy.gov.au/hmas-encounter-i
Encounter became a permanent RAN unit in December 1919 On 10 January 1920 she briefly returned to her role as a sea going training ship, making several trips to Melbourne and Hobart. On 28 May she took part in the RAN's first Fleet Review in Port Phillip Bay, which honoured the visit by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII).. Between June and August Encounter visited several ports in South Australia and Western Australia before returning to Sydney and paying off on 30 September 1920.
On 1 January 1923, HMAS Penguin, the depot ship at Garden Island, Sydney, paid off after 47 years of naval service. On the same day Encounter was renamed Penguin and recommissioned for service as the depot and accommodation ship. Painted white with buff funnels, and without armament, the new Penguin spent six years at Garden Island until reductions in defence expenditure necessitated her disposal. She paid off for the final time on 15 August 1929. In 1930-31 she was stripped at Cockatoo Island Dockyard. What remained of Encounter's hull was towed to sea and sunk off Bondi Beach, Sydney on 14 September 1932. She now lies at a depth of approximately 74 metres and is still dived regularly.
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
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