HMAS Huon ( D50 ) HMAS " Huon " ( D50 ) , named for the Huon River , was a of the Royal Australian Navy ( RAN ) . Originally to be named after the Derwent River , the ship was renamed before her 1914 launch because of a naming conflict with a Royal Navy vessel . " Huon " was commissioned into the RAN in late 1915 , and after completion was deployed to the Far East . In mid 1917 , " Huon " and her five sister ships were transferred to the Mediterranean ; " Huon " served as a convoy escort and anti - submarine patrol ship until a collision with sister ship in August 1918 saw " Huon " drydocked for the rest of World War I . After a refit in England , " Huon " returned to Australia in 1919 . The destroyer spent several periods alternating between commissioned and reserve status over the next nine years , with the last three spent as a reservist training ship . " Huon " was decommissioned for the final time in 1928 , and was scuttled in 1931 after being used as a target ship . Design and construction . " Huon " was one of the second batch of s ordered for the RAN . She had a displacement of 700 tons , was long overall and long between perpendiculars , had a beam of , and a maximum draught of . Propulsion was provided by three Yarrow - made boilers connected to Parsons geared turbines , which supplied 10 , 000 shaft horsepower to the three propellers . Although designed to reach speeds of , the destroyer could only achieve a mean speed of during high - speed trials . Her economical cruising speed was . The ship ' s company consised of 5 officers and 60 sailors . At launch , the ship ' s armament consisted of a single 4 - inch Mark VIII gun , three 12 - pounder guns , a . 303 - inch Maxim gun , two . 303 - inch Lewis gun s , and three revolving torpedo tubes for 18 - inch torpedoes . Four depth charge chutes were installed in 1917 , although two were later removed in 1919 . Two depth charge throwers were added during a 1918 refit ; at the same time , one of the torpedo tubes was removed . The ship was laid down at Cockatoo Island Dockyard on 25 January 1913 . She was launched on 19 December 1914 by the wife of federal politician Jens Jensen . " Huon " was commissioned into the RAN on 14 December 1915 , and completed on 4 February 1916 . The ship was originally to be named HMAS " Derwent " , after the Derwent River , but this was changed after the British Admiralty complained that there would be easy confusion was the Royal Navy destroyer . Operational history . " Huon " first served with the British Far East Patrol , based at Sandakan , then later Singapore , from June 1916 to May 1917 . On 7 July 1917 , " Huon " met her five sister ships off the Cocos Islands , with the six vessels sailing to the Mediterranean via Diego Garcia . " Huon " joined the escort of a convoy from Port Said to Malta , and arrived on 20 August , after which the destroyer was docked for a month - long refit . From October 1917 until April 1918 , " Huon " was based at Brindisi to patrol for Austrian submarines . From 17 April to 16 May , the ship underwent another refit in Malta , then returned to Brisindi . On 9 August 1918 , while operating in the Straits of Otranto , " Huon " collided with sister ship . " Huon " was sent to Genoa for repairs . While in drydock , the ship was hit by the 1918 flu pandemic : four stokers and a lieutenant died from influenza between late October and early November . " Huon " left dockyard hands a day before World War I ended . The six River - class ships made for Portsmouth , with " Huon " docking for refit on 14 January 1919 . Released on 28 February , " Huon " joined her sister ships and the cruiser for the voyage to Australia . The ships reached Sydney on 21 May . Although not recognised at the time , an overhaul of the RAN battle honour s system in 2010 saw " Huon " s wartime service recognised with the honour " Adriatic 1917 – 18 " . " Huon " operated in local waters over the course of the next year , including a stint escorting the battlecruiser during the visit of Edward , Prince of Wales in early 1920 . The destroyer was placed in reserve in August . " Huon " was reactivated on 22 April 1929 . On 9 February 1922 , the destroyer was holed below the waterline in a collision with the submarine . Repairs were successful , but " Huon " returned to reserve on 31 May . The destroyer was recommissioned on 29 August 1925 , and served as a reservist training ship at Hobart until 26 May 1928 , when she returned to Sydney . Decommissioning and fate . " Huon " was decommissioned for the final time on 7 June 1928 . On 10 April 1931 , the destroyer was towed out to sea , and was used as a gunnery target ship by , , , and , before being scuttled .