HMS AUSTRALIA and launch

Date1886-1905

Object number00004036

NamePostcard

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 88 x 140 mm

ClassificationsPosters and postcards

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis postcard shows the Orlando class cruiser HMS AUSTRALIA from port side at anchor, with a launch alongside.HistoryHMS AUSTRALIA was an armour-plated Orlando class cruiser of the Royal Navy built in Govan, Scotland at a cost of nearly £300,000. The six other Orlando class cruisers were HM Ships ORLANDO, AURORA, NARCISSUS, UNDAUNTED, IMMORTALITIE and GALETA, which were all completed between 1888 and 1889. AUSTRALIA was laid down in April 1885, launched in November 1886, and completed in 1888. After unsatifactory sea trials and additional repairs in May 1889, AUSTRALIA was finally commissioned into the Royal Navy at Chatham in November that year. In 1905, AUSTRALIA was sold for £10,900 and scrapped for iron at Troon.SignificanceThis photograph is a record of the first warship named AUSTRALIA, commissioned by the Royal Navy in 1889. Subsequent warships of the same name were commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy in 1913 and 1928.