Undated clipping featuring illustration titled: Private trial of the new Fish torpedo at Woolwich before Mr Goschen. (1873)

Date1873

Object number00052814

NameNewspaper

MediumPaper, ink

DimensionsOverall: 127 x 267 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Tikwis Begbie

Terms

HistoryHMVS CERBERUS was the first British breastwork monitor turret ship ever built. Constructed in 1870, for the Victorian Colonial Navy, CERBERUS served Victoria, and later Australia until 1926, when it was scuttled as a breakwater in Port Phillip, Melbourne VIC, where it remains today. HMVS CERBERUS, as the only survivor of its type in the world illustrates a particular type or phase in the development of naval technology. Its design, by prominent naval architect E J Reed of the British Admiralty, is widely regarded by maritime historians as a complete break with established tradition, which had been manifest in sail-powered timber vessels, towards iron clad steam turret ships, the forerunners of the modern battleship. Representing cutting edge technology in the 1860s, it incorporated developments in metallurgy, steam power, gun turrets and use of low freeboard. The design for CERBERUS was the first in the world to incorporate the combination of a central superstructure with fore and aft gun turrets, mounted on the deck. Preceding HMS DEVASTATION by almost three years, CERBERUS was also the first British warship to dispense completely with sail power and to incorporate the shallow draft, a feature which gave it the ability to reduce the amount of target space for enemy fire. The 1860s saw the beginnings of torpedo warfare, with the development of the self propelled 'fish' or 'locomotive' torpedo enabling smaller vessels to sink much larger ships for the first time. CERBERUS was the flagship and most powerful warship of the Victorian Navy. In addition it was the most powerful warship of any of the Australian Colonial Navies. SignificanceNewspaper clippings from The Graphic and The Illustrated London News, featuring illustrations of British, American and Peruvian naval vessels, a trial of a new fish torpedo, and sailors in Royal Navy uniform. The uniforms worn by the Royal Navy in this illustration indicate the types of uniforms and sennit hats worn by the Australian Colonial Navies and the Royal Australian Navy in the early years of its formation. The illustrations of the Peruvian and American turret ships represent precursors in the design and development of the HMVS CERBERUS, flagship of the Royal Victorian Colonial Navy and the first armoured warship built for Australia. Preceding HMS DEVASTATION by almost three years, CERBERUS was the first British warship to dispense completely with sail power and to incorporate the shallow draft. It was the flagship and most powerful warship of the Victorian Navy, in addition to being the most powerful warship of any of the Australian Colonial Navies. The 1860s saw the beginnings of torpedo warfare, with the development of the self propelled 'fish' or 'locomotive' torpedo enabling smaller vessels to sink much larger ships for the first time.