- Yes - In the Tech Tree.
- Yes - Event/BP.
- Yes - Premium.
- No - I would not like to see HMAS Encounter in game.
Description:
HMAS Encounter was the only Challenger-class protected cruiser to serve within the Royal Australian Navy. Although originally built for the Royal Navy, she would spend most of her life in the RAN, in which she would fight in the First World War. She would be the first RAN ship to fire in anger at the enemy.
This suggestion is for her fit as she joined the RAN in 1912.
History:
Royal Navy service:
She was laid down by HM Dockyard, Devonport, England, on the 28th of January 1901, she would launch on the 18th of June 1902. However due to a fire she would only finish fitting out on the 6th of December 1905, and finally commissioning on the 21st of November that year.
Upon commissioning she would join the Australia Station, which at this time included Australian, New Zealand, and the British controlled Pacific Islands. She would mostly visit ports in these countries as to ‘show the flag’, but would also do fleet exercises and training cruises.
With the 1909 expansion of the Australian Navy, she was lent to the Australian government in the form of her joining the Australian Division of the Royal Navy, and as such she kept the ‘HMS’ prefix. She was loaned to the RAN as to provide a temporary cruiser capability, as the plans for the actual cruiser force were still under way.
By 1912 the independent RAN was created, so the ships of the Australian Division became the Royal Australian Navy, and the ships of that group would now hold the ‘HMAS’ prefix. This would include the Encounter, becoming HMAS Encounter on the 1st of July 1912.
Around this time the Town-class (1910) HMAS Brisbane was ordered, and the Encounter was only expected as a temporary cruiser, pending the Brisbane’s arrival. During this time her roles expanded to a training vessel, due to her large size.
By 1913 the ‘Australian Fleet Unit’ consisting of HMAS Australia, Sydney, and Melbourne had arrived in Sydney. This expanded Australia’s main fleet, as to include one battle cruiser, two light cruisers, a protected cruiser, and six torpedo boat destroyers. Service around this time would remain about the same time, with the new RAN taking up the RN’s Australia Squadrons duties.
On the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the Encounter would be one of the fleet that sailed to capture German New Guinea. During this operation she would also patrol for the German cruisers, Scharnhorst and Gniesenau, in the St George Channel near New Britain. However she would only run into the commandeered steamer Zambesi, Encounter would fire shots across her bow and she would be boarded, becoming the first prize of the RAN.
She would move to patrol Fiji and Samoa in October of 1914, as there were fears of the German Pacific Fleet returning. On this route she would capture the schooner Elfrede. She was in refit from early 1915 at Sydney, but would return to patrol duties, which would last until late 1915. In February 1916 she would move to Cape Leeuwin to protect merchant shipping around Australia.
By 1917 German Raiders were still operating in Australian waters, and as such it was needed to keep the Encounter operational in this area. However, with the Australian Fleet fully deployed and the RN stretched thin in this area, the Encounter would work with various Japanese cruisers in patrol and escort duty. She and the Chikuma would assist the SS Cumberland when that ship struck a German laid mine on the 6th of July 1917.
These patrols would last until the end of the war, where she would move back to Fiji and Samoa to render medical assistance with a disease outbreak. She would be outright purchased by the RAN in December of 1919, but would be reassigned as a seagoing training vessel on the 10th of January 1920. She had a small refit during this time, which included the plating over of the fore pair of 6 inch gun sponsons. She would decommission into the reserve on the 30th of September 1920.
However, she would recommission on the 1st of January 1923, as a depot ship at Garden Island, Sydney. For this she was renamed as HMAS Penguin. This would last for six years, when due to budget restrictions she was decommissioned for the final time. She would be sunk off Bondi Beach, Sydney on the 14th of September 1932.
| General Characteristics: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name: Encounter | |||||
| Country: Australia | |||||
| Type: Protected Cruiser | |||||
| Class name: Challenger | |||||
| Year of commission: 1912 | |||||
| Refit: 1912 | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Dimensions: | |||||
| Length: 376 ft 1 in (114.65 m) | |||||
| Beam: 56 ft 2in (17.12 m) | |||||
| Draught: 21.25 ft (6.48 m) | |||||
| Displacement: 5,970t | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Propulsion: | |||||
| Powerplant: 18x Coal fired boilers driving 2x 4 cylinder triple expansion steam @ 12,500 ihp (9,300 kW) across two shafts | |||||
| Speed: 21kt | |||||
| Endurance: 1,225t of coal | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armament & sensors: | |||||
| Compliment: 475 | |||||
| Primary armament: 11x1 QF 6-inch Mk.I | |||||
| Secondary armament: 9x1 12pdr 12cwt, 6x1 QF 3pdr | |||||
| Tertiary armament: 3x1 .303 Vickers, 2x1 18" torpedo tubes | |||||
| Radar: - nil | |||||
| Sonar: - nil | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armour: | |||||
| Conning Tower: 6" (152mm) | |||||
| Deck: 1.5" to 3", (38.1mm - 76.2mm) Covering Boilers and Engines | |||||
| Gun Shields: 3" (72.2mm) |
Sources:
Gillett, R. (1983). Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945 (pp.27-28)
HMAS Encounter (1902) - Wikipedia
HMAS Encounter (1905 - 1932) - Naval Historical Society of Australia
Occasional Paper 62: The Navy in South Australia from Colonial Days to the Present - Naval Historical Society of Australia
https://seapower.navy.gov.au/history/units/hmas-encounter-i