- Yes - In the Tech Tree.
- Yes - Event/BP.
- Yes - Premium.
- No - I would not like to see HMAS Psyche in game.
Description:
HMAS Psyche was one of two Pelorus-class Protected Cruisers operated by the Royal Australian Navy, in which they would serve through the First World War. Both vessels were originally built for the Royal Navy, but would mostly serve on the Australian and New Zealand stations, spending most of their pre-war time around that area.
This suggestion is for HMAS Psyche’s fit upon commissioning into the RAN in 1915.
History:
Royal Navy Service:
Laid down on the 15th of November 1897 as HMS Psyche, by HM Dockyard, Devonport, England, she would launch on the 19th of July 1898, finally commissioning on the 2nd of may 1899.
Upon commissioning she would join the North America and West Indies Station out of Bermuda. While on this station her service would consist of squadron exercises, cruises around the West Atlantic and West Indies, as well as many port visits, as to show the flag. She would visit Bermuda, Panama, Cuba, and Nicaragua. She would return to Devonport on the 20th of August 1902 to be placed in reserve.
However she would join the Australia station in December of 1903, where she would operate in both the Indian and Pacific oceans. She would serve on this station until the creation of the RAN, being one of only three RN cruisers still serving in the station when the RAN’s first Fleet Unit arrived on the 4th of October 1913. As her duties in Australia would be filled by the new RAN, she would serve on the New Zealand Station.
As a ship on the New Zealand Station, though not under the New Zealand Force like the HMS Philomel, she would join HMS Philomel and her sister, HMS Pryamus for the occupation of German Samoa. The Samoan Occupation Force would land on the 29th of August 1914 with no opposition. She would escort NZ troop convoys to the Middle East until late 1914, after which she would move to Sydney, decommissioning there on the 22nd of January 1915.
In May 1915, the Australian Government proposed the Psyche be reactivated and loaned to the RAN for training. This would be approved on the 1st of June, and she would recommission as the HMAS Psyche on the 1st of July 1915.
Although acquired for training purposes, it was realised by the Admiralty that more patrol vessels were needed around the SEA and Indian Ocean areas, and as such requested that two vessels be sent to the Bay of Bengal. For this purpose the HMAS Psyche and Fantome were selected, and would depart Sydney on the 16th of August. She would arrive in Singapore on the 4th of September, then would depart two days later for Yangon. Her first patrol would start on the 22nd of September.
In this duty she would patrol for 10 to 12 days at a time, during which she would train extensively, but most of the work completed was stopping and searching various vessels. By January 1916, she would move from the Bay of Bengal to Penang, then onto Port Blair. On the 12th of February 1916 seven stokers would refuse duty, and be discharged. This would delay further operations, only returning to patrol duties in the Gulf of Siam on the 7th of March for ten days.
She would be relieved by HMS Venus on the 4th of April. with Psyche returning to Port Blair for duty back in the Bengal Bay. However she would make to Hong Kong for refit and repair on the 2nd of July. With work finishing on the 14th of August, she would patrol along the Chinese coast until the 14th of October. She would then be assigned to Singapore for patrols of the Bay of Bengal and Sumatra, then between March and April 1917, from Burma and India. She would sail for Sydney, arriving on the 28th of September.
She would pay off into reserve on the 16th of October 1917. She would recommission for a few patrols off the Australian coast, but would decommission again on the 26th of March 1918. She was sold to private hands and would be used as a timber lighter. She would sink in a storm in 1940, and would be used by the RAN for diver training from 1950-1973, she was then demolished by underwater explosives.
| General Characteristics: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name: Psyche | |||||
| Country: Australia | |||||
| Type: Protected Cruiser | |||||
| Class name: Pelorus | |||||
| Year of commission:1915 | |||||
| Refit: 1915 | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Dimensions: | |||||
| Length: 313.5ft (95.6m) | |||||
| Beam: 36.5ft (11.1m) | |||||
| Draught: 15ft (4.6m) | |||||
| Displacement: 2,169t | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Propulsion: | |||||
| Powerplant: 16 coal fired boilers, driving triple expansion engines @ 7,000 ihp (5,200kW) | |||||
| Speed: 16kt | |||||
| Endurance: Unknown | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armament & sensors: | |||||
| Compliment: 224 | |||||
| Primary armament: 8x1 QF 4-inch Mk.III, | |||||
| Secondary armament: 8x1 QF 3pdr | |||||
| Tertiary armament: 3x .303 Vickers, 2x1 14" torpedo tubes | |||||
| Radar: - nil | |||||
| Sonar: - nil | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armour: | |||||
| Conning Tower: 3" (76mm) | |||||
| Deck: 1.5" to 2" ( 38.1mm - 51mm) | |||||
| Gun shields: 0.25" (6.4mm) |
Sources
Gillett, R. (1983). Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945 (pp.29-30)
Australian Maritime issues 2010: P.Djokovic (2011). Australia’s Forgotten Cruiser. (pp175-180)
HMAS Psyche - Wikipedia
https://seapower.navy.gov.au/history/units/hmas-psyche
https://www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/H.M.S._Psyche_(1898)