- Yes - In the Tech Tree.
- Yes - Event/BP.
- Yes - Premium.
- No - I would not like to see HMAS Una in game.
Description:
HMAS Una was a very unique ship, as she was not originally built for use within the Royal Navy, or Royal Australian Navy, as was common for the time in the RAN. Instead being built for the Imperial German Navy as the Komet, as the Colonial Yacht for German controlled New Guinea in the build up to the First World War.
She would be captured by the Australian Naval and Military Expedition Force (ANMEF) as a prize, and would be converted for use within the RAN as a general purpose sloop and patrol vessel in late 1914.
This suggestion is for her fit as she commissioned into the RAN in 1914.
History:
Imperial German Navy:
Laid down as the Komet, by Bremer Vulkan AG at Bremen-Vegesack, on the 2nd of August 1910, she would launch on the 4th of April 1911 for use as the Colonial Yacht for the then German controlled New Guinea.
During this time she would be armed with a 37mm Hotchkiss gun and a 8mm MG. However, her main advantage was her high quality radios, which allowed for quick communication from Berlin. This represented itself in the design, as her masts had extensions solely for the antennas, raising her height to 24m. She would arrive in New Guinea in late 1911, operating around these waters through to 1914 and the start of the First World War.
Upon the outbreak of that war on the 4th of August 1914, she would sail from Rabaul bound for Friedrich Wilhelm Harbour, now Madang, as to embark the Acting Governor of New Guinea, Dr Eduard Haber. This allowed her to avoid the HMAS Sydney, Yarra, Yarramatta, and Warrego, which had arrived at Rabaul the next day.
She would continue to avoid the Australian ships looking for her by moving ports every few days and hiding in anchorages, during this time she had been taken over by the German military and had become the SMS Komet. However her first home of German New Guinea had been taken over by the Australians, who were searching for her and other German ships in the area, and she had to be continuously moving as to avoid them.
This remained so, with the Komet avoiding the Australians in the area, sometimes leaving ports hours before the Australians arrived, until the 11th of October, where locals revealed her anchorage in Talasea. She would surrender to the HMAS Nusa, another steam yacht. She would not be damaged, with only warning shots being fired to initiate her surrender. She would be taken to Rabaul, then onto Sydney with the former Governor, Haber, and 11 German POWs.
Royal Australian Navy:
She would be taken into Fitzroy Graving Dock on Cockatoo Island, for general maintenance and re-armament into a sloop. She was fitted with three BL 4-inch Mk.VIII, and two 12pdr 12cwt guns. One of her 4 inch guns would be placed on the fo’c’sle, and the other two on the quarter deck. She would commission into the Royal Australian Navy on the 17th of November 1914, as the HMAS Una.
On the 30th of November she would sail for New Guinea under the White Ensign, in her holds during this time were two aircraft and four pilots, with one B.E.2a, and a MF.11 Shortorn Floatplane to be used ashore. During this voyage she would also escort the troopship Eastern. Upon arriving she would discover the situation to be stable, and the aircraft were never unpacked from their crates.
She would continue operating in this area under the RAN, mostly visiting many ports in the area and training. Most of this work would be carried out around North Australia, New Guinea, New Britain, New Hebrides, and Malaysia. While at New Hebrides, she would assist the French Government in putting down a rebellion, suffering one man killed.
These operations would continue into the post war, until she was paid off on the 23rd of August 1920, being sold to the Port Phillip Pilot Service as the official inspections yacht, being renamed to Akuna. She would again be sold on the 6th of January 1925 for service with the Port Melbourne Pilot Service.
Upon the start of the Second World War, she would perform vessel examinations in Victoria, but would not be recommissioned, she was returned to her pilot vessel status in 1943. She was finally retired in 1953, being sold in 1959 for scrap.
Her original German 37mm Hotchkiss gun, as well as her wheel and anchor, are being displayed in the Naval Heritage Centre at Garden Island, Sydney.
| General Characteristics: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name: Una | |||||
| Country: Australia | |||||
| Type: Patrol Sloop | |||||
| Class name: Komet | |||||
| Year of commission: 1914 | |||||
| Refit: 1914 | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Dimensions: | |||||
| Length: 210ft (64m) | |||||
| Beam: 31ft (9.4m) | |||||
| Draught: 15ft (4.5m) | |||||
| Displacement: 993t | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Propulsion: | |||||
| Powerplant: coal fired triple expansion steam @ 1,350 ihp (1006 kW) across one shaft | |||||
| Speed: 16kt | |||||
| Endurance: Unknown | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armament & sensors: | |||||
| Compliment: 114 | |||||
| Primary armament: 3x1 BL 4-inch Mk.VIII | |||||
| Secondary armament: 2x1 12pdr 12cwt | |||||
| Tertiary armament: Small arms | |||||
| Radar: -nil | |||||
| Sonar: -nil |
Sources
Gillett, R. (1983). Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945 (pp.40-41)
HMAS Una - Wikipedia
HMAS Una - a Work Horse - 1914 - Naval Historical Society of Australia
SMS Komet, the RAN’s first captured warship: a valuable prize and our first aircraft carrier - Naval Historical Society of Australia
Pacific Wrecks - Komet (HMAS Una)
HMAS Una, sloop, captured German survey ship - British Empire warships of World War 1
Australian Naval Aviation - Part 1 - Page 2 of 4 - Naval Historical Society of Australia