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HMAS ''Psyche'' (formerly HMS ''Psyche'') was a protected cruiser built for the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
at the end of the 19th century. Initially operating on the
North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...
, the cruiser was transferred to the Australian Squadron in 1903, and remained there until the
Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister o ...
(RAN) took over responsibility in 1913. After a stint in New Zealand waters and involvement in the
Occupation of German Samoa The Occupation of Samoa was the takeover – and subsequent administration – of the Pacific colony of German Samoa by New Zealand during World War I. It started in late August 1914 with landings by the Samoa Expeditionary Force from New Zeal ...
, ''Psyche'' was paid off in 1915. At the recommendation of the Australian government, the ship was commissioned into the RAN in 1915, and assigned to patrol the coast of Burma, in response to the threat of a German-instigated uprising. ''Psyche'' operated in the Bay of Bengal and around Sumatra until 1916, when she was docked at Hong Kong for refit. During this, personnel from the ship were used to commission and man the river gunboat . After the refit's conclusion, ''Psyche'' patrolled in Chinese waters, before returning to the Bay of Bengal. ''Psyche'' returned to Sydney and was
paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...
in October 1917, but recommissioned a month later for patrols in Australia's northern waters. She was decommissioned for the final time in early 1918. The ship was sold for use as a timber lighter in 1922, and sank in 1940 at Salamander Bay, New South Wales following a storm.


Design and construction

''Psyche'' was a third-class
protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...
of the nine-ship ''Pelorus''- or P-class.Cassells, ''The Capital Ships'', p. 116 She had a displacement of 2,135 tons, was long overall and long between perpendiculars, had a beam of , and a draught of . Propulsion was supplied by inverted three-cylinder triple expansion steam engines, built by Keyham, providing to two propeller shafts.Cassells, ''The Capital Ships'', p. 117 ''Psyche'' was capable of reaching , although she normally operated at the more economical speedo of . The cruiser was armed with eight single QF guns, eight single QF 3-pounder guns, two 4.7-inch guns, two
field gun A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances (field artiller ...
s, three Maxim machine guns, and two
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s sited above the waterline. Armour protection was limited to thick section of deck plating over vital areas. The ship's company initially stood at 220, but this was later reduced to 188; 12 officers, and 176 sailors. ''Psyche'' was laid down for the Royal Navy at HM Devonport Dockyard,
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymou ...
on 15 November 1897. She was launched on 19 July 1898 by Miss E. Carr, sister of the dockyard's admiral superintendent. The cruiser was completed on 28 April 1899, and was placed in reserve until her commissioning on 2 May 1899.


Operational history

''Psyche'' was commissioned on 2 May 1899 by Captain Francis Raymond Pelly, for service on the
North America and West Indies Station The North America and West Indies Station was a formation or command of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy stationed in North American waters from 1745 to 1956. The North American Station was separate from the Jamaica Station until 1830 when the ...
. Commander Edmund Moore C. Cooper-Key replaced Pelly in command in June 1901. She was at
Bermuda ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , ...
in March 1902, visited
Colón, Panama Colón () is a city and seaport in Panama, beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city. Originally it was ...
in early May, and
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
in late May 1902; and was in
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the count ...
in July 1902, when the government captured revolutionists from an attempted coup. The following month she left Bermuda homeward bound, returning to Devonport on 20 August, to pay off on 5 September when she was placed in the D division of the dockyard reserve. In December 1903, she was transferred to the Royal Navy's Australian Squadron, where she served until October 1913, when the
Australia Station The Australia Station was the British, and later Australian, naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent.Dennis et al. 2008, p.53. Australia Station was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Australia Station, ...
was handed to the control of the fledgling RAN. ''Psyche'' was then assigned to New Zealand waters.Djokovic, ''HMAS Psyche – The Forgotten Cruiser'', p. 175 In 1914, ''Psyche'' formed part of the escort for the New Zealand Force which occupied German Samoa (now
Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...
).Bastock, ''Ships on the Australia Station'', p. 121 ''Psyche'' also escorted troop ships heading from New Zealand to the Middle East. She returned to Sydney in late 1914, and was decommissioned on 22 January 1915. In May 1915, the Australian government suggested to the Admiralty that ''Psyche'' be reactivated and loaned to the RAN as a training ship. Approval was granted on 1 June, but before the ship's 1 July commissioning as HMAS ''Psyche'', the Admiralty instead requested that the
Australian Commonwealth Naval Board The Australian Commonwealth Naval Board was the governing authority over the Royal Australian Navy from its inception and through World Wars I and II. The board was established on 1 March 1911 and consisted of civilian members of the Australian ...
orchestrate a patrol of the
Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line betwee ...
, in response to the threat of a German-inspired uprising in India and Burma. ''Psyche'' was hastily fitted out, provided with a ship's company consisting primarily of untrained sailors, and sailed on 16 August with for Singapore. From there, the ships sailed to Ragoon, arriving on 10 September with ''Psyche''s captain, Commander Henry Feakes, under instructions to establish patrols along the Burmese coast with the two warships, plus three British India Steam Navigation Company vessels. Command of the Burma Coast Patrol was passed to Captain George Hutter of on 20 September, with Feakes appointed as Senior Naval Officer Burma and overall commander of the three British India vessels and ten coastal launches.Djokovic, ''HMAS Psyche – The Forgotten Cruiser'', p. 176 For ''Psyche'', 10- to 12-day patrols along the Burmese coast were the norm, interspersed with crew training duties. On 17 January 1916, the demobilisation of the Burma Coast Patrol was ordered, as the threat of insurrection in India and Burma had ceased, and German machinations had focused on the Malay Peninsula. ''Psyche'' arrived at Penang on 28 January, then sailed three days later for
Port Blair Port Blair () is the capital city of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India in the Bay of Bengal. It is also the local administrative sub-division ('' tehsil'') of the islands, the headquarters for the district of South An ...
. From here, the ship performed patrols of
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent is ...
. On 12 February, seven stokers refused duty in protest over the poor quality of food being provided to the sailors aboard.Djokovic, ''HMAS Psyche – The Forgotten Cruiser'', p. 177 All seven were found guilty of disobeying orders, and were punished with prison sentences between 12 and 14 months, plus dismissal from the RAN. The remaining stokers were supplemented by native personnel until 25 April, when replacement RAN personnel arrived. During March, the ship patrolled the Gulf of Siam, and escorted a Russian troop convoy sailing to Europe.Djokovic, ''HMAS Psyche – The Forgotten Cruiser'', p. 178 During April, further patrols of the Bay of Bengal were made, before ''Psyche'' sailed to Hong Kong for inspection and refit. During the period from late 1915 to early 1916, ''Psyche'' served as escort to two ships carrying Turkish prisoners of war, was responsible for the transportation of two Chinese spies (one of whom escaped), and helped capture the ringleaders of an Indian soldiers' mutiny in Singapore. During the refit period, personnel from ''Psyche'' were used to commission the river gunboat on 6 July, and then man her to evacuate European civilians from Canton. The gunboat was halfway up the
Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (PRD; ; pt, Delta do Rio das Pérolas (DRP)) is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Ma ...
when it was learned that the civilians had been recovered by another vessel, and returned to Hong Kong, where ''Moorhen'' decommissioned on 23 July. Also during July, sickness ran through the ship, with 67 personnel sent to the naval hospital ashore, while another 41 were treated aboard: about 60% of the ship's company were unfit for duty during this period. Recurring illnesses had been a problem while the ship operated in tropical climates, and the ship's surgeon recommended the ship be deployed to cooler regions. For one day, the reassignment of
flag officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countrie ...
s meant that ''Psyche'' was Flagship of the China Squadron. Released from dockyard hands on 14 August, ''Psyche'' began patrols along the Chinese coast, with a marked improvement of the health of all aboard. These continued until 14 October, when the cruiser was assigned to Singapore for further patrols of the Bay of Bengal and Sumatra. In March and April 1917, she was assigned to escort duties between Burma and India. On 11 August, ''Psyche'' was relieved by , and sailed to Sydney, where she arrived on 28 September. The ship was paid off on 16 October 1917.Cassells, ''The Capital Ships'', p. 118 ''Psyche'' was reactivated on 20 November 1917 for service along Australia's north-east coast, but after uneventful patrols, she was decommissioned for the final time on 26 March 1918.


Fate

The ship was sold to the Moreland Metal Company on 21 July 1922, who used her as a timber lighter. ''Psyche'' sank in 1940 at Salamander Bay, New South Wales, during a heavy storm, which rolled the ship onto her side. The wreck was used by RAN clearance divers for training between 1950 and 1973,Pelvin ''The Second Team'', p. 16. and was later broken up during an underwater demolitions exercise. The remains sit below sea level, around off Roy Wood Reserve. A memorial to the ship was unveiled at Roy Wood Reserve on 27 June 2015.


Citations


References

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External links


HMAS Psyche ''Australian War Memorial'' webpage


{{DEFAULTSORT:Psyche Pelorus-class cruisers of the Royal Navy Ships built in Plymouth, Devon 1898 ships Pelorus-class cruisers of the Royal Australian Navy World War I cruisers of Australia Maritime incidents in 1940