The River class was a
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
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of six
torpedo-boat destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s operated by 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 of ...
(RAN). The design was based on a modified version of the British
River-class destroyer, 13 of which were planned under the 1904 Naval Estimates, but were cancelled before orders were placed.
[Friedman, ''British Destroyers'', p. 96]
The first batch of three ships was ordered for the
Commonwealth Naval Forces
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 of ...
in 1909, followed later by a second batch of three a few years later. All six vessels are named after
Australian rivers.
The Rivers saw service during World War I. Ships of the class participated in the
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force capture of
German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...
, and performed patrols in Australian and
Malayan waters. In 1917, the class was deployed as a single unit to the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
, and assigned to anti-submarine patrols of the
Adriatic. The destroyers returned to Australia in 1919, and were placed in reserve.
All six ships of the class were disposed of by the 1930s. Three were sold for use as
accommodation hulks (two to the NSW Penal Department, the third to
Cockatoo Island Dockyard
The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...
) and later sank. The other three were sunk as
target ship
A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammunit ...
s. The bow and stern sections of were recovered in 1973 and are preserved as memorials.
Design and construction
In October 1905 the newly appointed Naval Officer Commanding the
Commonwealth Naval Forces
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 of ...
(the post-
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...
amalgamation of the
Australian colonial navies), Captain
William Creswell, proposed a navy of three large cruiser-destroyers (capable of dealing with commerce raiders), plus 16 smaller destroyers and 15 torpedo boats for local defence. The first instalment of the ambitious plan was the River-class, bids for which were received from British shipbuilders on 24 July 1907. A consortium of
Fairfields
Fairfields is a district and civil parish that covers a large new development area on the western flank of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. As the first tier of Local Government, the parish council is responsible for the people who l ...
and
Dennys was chosen as the prime contractors, and the design was drawn by Prof.
John H. Biles( GE) of Glasgow University, based on
HMS Teviot,
Yarrow
''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Other common names include old man's pepper, devil's nettle, sanguinary, milfoil, soldier's woundwort, and thousand seal.
The ...
's variant of the RN River Class.
[Friedman, ''British Destroyers'', p. 98-99.]
The destroyers of this class had a displacement of 750 tons.
[ The first three had a length overall of , while the second three were longer at .][Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 74][Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 138] They were powered by three oil-burning Yarrow boiler
Yarrow boilers are an important class of high-pressure water-tube boilers. They were developed by
Yarrow & Co. (London), Shipbuilders and Engineers and were widely used on ships, particularly warships.
The Yarrow boiler design is characteristic ...
s connected to Parsons turbines, which delivered to three propeller shafts.[Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 75] Cruising speed was , giving the ship a range of , and maximum speed was .[Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', pp. 74–5] Each ship's company consisted of between 66 and 73 personnel, including five officers.[ The destroyers' main armament consisted of a single BL 4-inch Mark VIII naval gun, supplemented by three s.][Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 190] They were also fitted with three .303-inch machine guns and three single 18-inch torpedo tubes.[
The first three ships, , and , were ordered on 6 February 1909. Another three ships, , , and , were ordered later. On the advice of the British Admiralty, the ships were named after Australian rivers (one from each state), although the original intention of using rivers with Aboriginal name origins did not carry through to the second batch.][Perryman, ''Naming of RAN ships''] Senator George Pearce
Sir George Foster Pearce KCVO (14 January 1870 – 24 June 1952) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1901 to 1938. He began his career in the Labor Party but later joined the National Labor Party, ...
requested that they instead be named after famous navigators, but was overruled by Prime Minister Alfred Deakin.[ ''Huon'' was originally to be named ''Derwent'', but this was changed before launch to avoid confusion with the British E-class (formerly River-class) destroyer .][Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 46]
''Parramatta'' and ''Yarra'' were the first new ships launched for the Australian navy.[ After completion, the two vessels were temporarily commissioned into the Royal Navy for the delivery voyage to Australia, although they reverted to the control of the Commonwealth Naval Forces on arrival in Broome.][ ''Warrego'', however, was built up to launch condition, then disassembled, transported to Australia by ship, and rebuilt at ]Cockatoo Island Dockyard
The Cockatoo Island Dockyard was a major dockyard in Sydney, Australia, based on Cockatoo Island. The dockyard was established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships. It later built and repaired military and battle ships, and played a key role ...
: the reasoning behind this was to raise the standard of the Australian shipbuilding industry by giving Cockatoo Island hands-on experience in warship construction.[Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 191] The second batch of three warships were all built at Cockatoo Island.[
]
Operational history
The first three destroyers were operating with the Australian fleet at the start of World War I.[Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 53] The three ships were assigned to the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, and participated in the capture of German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...
.[ After the conclusion of the campaign, the destroyers were assigned to home waters for a short period, then assigned to Malayan and surrounding waters until late 1916.][ During August and September, the second group of River-class destroyers began relieving the ships of the first group from Malayan patrols, with ''Parramatta'', ''Yarra'', and ''Warrego'' returning to Australia.][
In July 1917, all six ships rendezvoused off the ]Cocos Islands
)
, anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''"
, song_type =
, song =
, image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
, map_caption = ...
: the first time the entire class had been in one location.[ From there, the River-class destroyers proceeded to the Mediterranean.][ On arrival at ]Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, they were immediately deployed as escorts for a convoy.[ After this, the destroyers were modified for anti-submarine warfare: the aftmost torpedo tube was removed and replaced with depth charge rails.][ From August 1917, the six destroyers were based at Brindisi, Italy, assigned to patrol the Adriatic and prevent enemy submarines using it as a route to the Mediterranean.][
After a brief refit and leave period in England after the war's end, and the re-installation of their torpedo tubes at Malta, the six destroyers returned to Australian waters in March 1919.][Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', p. 76] They were placed in reserve, and had all been disposed of by the 1930s.[
]
Decommissioning and fate
After decommissioning, ''Parramatta'' and ''Swan'' were stripped down and sold to the NSW Penal Department for use as prisoner accommodation on the Hawkesbury River
The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.
...
.[ The two hulks were then sold into private hands; after plans to use them as fishers' accommodation, they were used to transport metal to islands along the river.][ In 1934, ''Swan'' and ''Parramatta'' were being towed along the river to the ship breakers when heavy weather caused the hulks to break free of their towing vessel; ''Swan'' sank, and ''Parramatta'' ran aground.][ The two ships were abandoned, although in 1973, the bow and stern of ''Parramatta'' were salvaged for use as memorials.
''Warrego'' was used as accommodation at Cockatoo Island.][Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', pp. 192–3] She sank at her berth, and was later demolished.[ ''Yarra'', ''Torrens'', and ''Huon'' were all scuttled outside Sydney Heads after being used as ]target ship
A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammunit ...
s.[Cassells, ''The Destroyers'', pp. 46, 140, 200]
Ships of the class
Citations
References
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External links
''Acheron''- and River-class destroyers at Battleships-Cruisers website
{{River class TBD
Destroyer classes