| Historical Specifics: |
The Chatham class were ordered under the 1911 Programme and commissioned between 1912-1916. Three ships, HMAS Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, were built to the same design for the new Royal Australian Navy, where they were known as the Sydney class. Each ship had amongst its armament eight 6 inch guns in single turrets. The MELBOURNE served on the North America and West Indies Stations from 1914 to 1916 before joining the Grand Fleet in the North Sea, where she remained for the remainder of the war.
The three ships were laid up between 1928 and 1936 and the guns placed in store at the Army Ordnance Store. During World War II batteries consisting of two 6 inch Mark XI guns were established at Darwin (East, Waugite and Emery Point), Brisbane (Cowan and Bribie), Sydney (Signal Hill and Malabar), Port Kembla (Illowra and Breakwater), Rottnest Island Fremantle (Bickley), Port Moresby New Guinea (Paga) and Torres Strait (Goode).
This gun was one of the guns from HMAS Melbourne and with another from HMAS Sydney were emplaced on Goode Island in 1941 for the defence of the Torres Strait. At the end of 1945 the battery would have been placed on a ‘care and maintenance’ basis. The two guns were recovered from Goode island by the RAN in 1986 and restored by the Fleet maintenance base in Sydney. The HMAS Sydney gun, 2289, was given to the Australian War memorial because of its association with the engagement between the Sydney and SMS Emden. It is now on display in the AWM. No 2287 remained at the Fleet Base garden island until it was moved to the Museum at HMAS Albatross, Nowra. |
