page_title: HMAS Australia (1911)
section_title: North Sea operations
hierarchical_section_title: HMAS Australia (1911) / Operational history / World War I / North Sea operations
caption_attribution_description: AWM caption: FIRTH OF FORTH, SCOTLAND. C.1915-02. PORT BROADSIDE VIEW OF THE BATTLECRUISER HMAS AUSTRALIA (I) AS FLAGSHIP OF THE 2ND BATTLECRUISER SQUADRON, GRAND FLEET. THE SHIP IS FLYING THE FLAG OF A VICE ADMIRAL AT THE FOREPEAK INDICATING THAT THE PHOTOGRAPH DATES FROM BETWEEN 1915-02-08, WHEN VICE ADMIRAL SIR GEORGE PATEY RN COMMANDED THE SQUADRON, AND 1915-03-07, WHEN HE WAS RELIEVED BY REAR ADMIRAL W.C. PAKENHAM RN. THE SHIP HAS HAD A RANGE FINDER POSITION FITTED ABOVE HER FORE CONTROL TOP AND A DIRECTOR CONTROL TOWER FITTED BELOW IT, AS WELL AS ADDITIONS TO HER FORWARD SUPERSTRUCTURE.
context_page_description: HMAS Australia was one of three Indefatigable-class battlecruisers built for the defence of the British Empire. Ordered by the Australian government in 1909, she was launched in 1911, and commissioned as flagship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy in 1913. Australia was the only capital ship ever to serve in the RAN.
  At the start of World War I, Australia was tasked with finding and destroying the German East Asia Squadron, which was prompted to withdraw from the Pacific by the battlecruiser's presence. Repeated diversions to support the capture of German colonies in New Guinea and Samoa, as well as an overcautious Admiralty, prevented the battlecruiser from engaging the German squadron before the latter's destruction. Australia was then assigned to North Sea operations, which consisted primarily of patrols and exercises, until the end of the war. During this time, Australia was involved in early attempts at naval aviation, and 11 of her personnel participated in the Zeebrugge Raid. The battlecruiser was not at the Battle of Jutland, as she was undergoing repairs following a collision with sister ship HMS New Zealand.
context_section_description: As the threat of a German naval attack had been removed by the destruction of the East Asia Squadron, Australia was free for deployment elsewhere. Initially, the battlecruiser was to serve as flagship of the West Indies Squadron, with the task of pursuing and destroying any German vessels that evaded North Sea blockades. Australia was ordered to sail to Jamaica via the Panama Canal, but as it was closed to heavy shipping, she was forced to sail down the coast of South America and pass through the Strait of Magellan during 31 December 1914 and 1 January 1915—Australia is the only ship of the RAN to cross from the Pacific to the Atlantic by sailing under South America. During the crossing, one of the warship's propellers was damaged, and she had to limp to the Falkland Islands at half speed. Temporary repairs were made, and Australia departed on 5 January. A vessel well clear of the usual shipping routes was spotted on the afternoon of the next day, and the battlecruiser attempted to pursue, but was hampered by the damaged propeller. Unable to close the gap before sunset, a warning shot was fired from 'A' turret, which caused the ship—the former German passenger liner, now naval auxiliary Eleonora Woermann—to stop and be captured. As Australia could not spare enough personnel to secure and operate the merchant ship, and Eleonora Woermann was too slow to keep pace with the battlecruiser, the German crew were taken aboard and the ship was sunk.
  Following the Battle of Dogger Bank, the Admiralty saw the need for dedicated battlecruiser squadrons in British waters, and earmarked Australia to lead one of them. On 11 January, while en route to Jamaica, Australia was diverted to Gibraltar. Reaching there on 20 January, the battlecruiser was ordered to proceed to Plymouth, where she arrived on 28 January and paid off for a short refit. The docking was completed on 12 February, and Australia reached Rosyth on 17 February after sailing through a gale. She was made flagship of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron (2nd BCS) of the Battlecruiser Fleet, part of the British Grand Fleet, on 22 February. Vice Admiral Patey was appointed to command this squadron. In early March, to avoid a conflict of seniority between Patey and the leader of the Battlecruiser Fleet, Vice Admiral David Beatty, Patey was reassigned to the West Indies, and Rear Admiral William Pakenham raised his flag aboard Australia. British and Allied ships deployed to the North Sea were tasked with protecting the British Isles from German naval attack, and keeping the German High Seas Fleet penned in European waters through a distant blockade while trying to lure them into a decisive battle. During her time with the 2nd BCS, Australia's operations primarily consisted of training exercises (either in isolation or with other ships), patrols of the North Sea area in response to actual or perceived German movements, and some escort work. These duties were so monotonous, one sailor was driven insane.
  Australia joined the Grand Fleet in a sortie on 29 March, in response to intelligence that the German fleet was leaving port as the precursor to a major operation. By the next night, the German ships had withdrawn, and Australia returned to Rosyth. On 11 April, the British fleet was again deployed on the intelligence that a German force was planning an operation. The Germans intended to lay mines at the Swarte Bank, but after a scouting Zeppelin located a British light cruiser squadron, they began to prepare for what they thought was a British attack. Heavy fog and the need to refuel caused Australia and the British vessels to return to port on 17 August, and although they were redeployed that night, they were unable to stop two German light cruisers from laying the minefield. From 26 to 28 January 1916, the 2nd BCS was positioned off the Skagerrak while the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron swept the strait in an unsuccessful search of a possible minelayer.
  On the morning of 21 April, Australia and her sister ships sailed again for the Skagerrak, this time to support efforts to disrupt the tr
caption: Australia in the Firth of Forth during February 1915
exif: {}