HMAS ENCOUNTER, Auckland, NZ

Date1917 - 1919

Object number00018144

NamePostcard

MediumSilver gelatin photographic print, paper

DimensionsOverall: 87 x 137 mm

ClassificationsPosters and postcards

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Barry Jones

Terms

DescriptionThis photographic postcard depicts the Challenger class cruiser HMAS ENCOUNTER anchored in Auckland Harbour, New Zealand. It is undergoing maintenance - men can be seen painting the bow section.HistoryHMS ENCOUNTER was built for the Australia Station and on commissioning sailed for Australia on 31 December 1905. It completed six years of service with the Royal Navy's Australian Squadron and was presented on loan to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) as a seagoing training ship until HMAS BRISBANE had been completed. It 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 it 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. It became a seagoing training ship often 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 its hulk was scuttled off Bondi Beach.SignificanceThis postcard of HMAS ENCOUNTER is a pictorial record of the early years of the Royal Australian Navy.