HMQS Gayundah

HMQS Gayundah

Company type	Flat-iron gunboat
Industry	Naval defense
Founded	May 13, 1884 (1884-05-13) at Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Fate	Decommissioned 1918; sold to civilian firm 1921; grounded as breakwater 1958
Headquarters	Brisbane , Australia
Products	Naval vessel (gunboat)

HMQS Gayundah was a flat-iron gunboat initially commissioned by the Queensland Maritime Defence Force and subsequently incorporated into the Royal Australian Navy under the designation HMAS Gayundah. Launched in 1884, she remained active until her decommissioning in 1918 and was later sold to a civilian firm in 1921. Following her naval service, she functioned as a sand and gravel barge operating in Brisbane until the mid-20th century. In 1958, the vessel was intentionally grounded at Woody Point, Queensland near Redcliffe City, Queensland to act as a protective breakwater.

Construction

Gayundah's BL 6 inch 80 pounder gun exhibited outside the Australian War Memorial in 2016

By the 1870s, British military forces in Australia had diminished, prompting the individual colonies to begin organizing their own defence strategies, which ultimately resulted in the Jervois-Scratchley reports. Responding to anxieties over Russian expansion in the Pacific region, Queensland established its Maritime Defence Force in 1884. That same year, the colony commissioned its initial vessels: a torpedo boat named HMQS Mosquito and two gunboats, Gayundah and HMQS Paluma.

The gunboats Gayundah and Paluma were constructed following a type B1 flat-iron gunboat blueprint by Sir W.G. Armstrong, Mitchell & Co. A nearly identical vessel, HMVS Albert, was also built in 1884 for service with Victoria's colonial navy.

The ship displaced 360 tons and measured 120 feet (37 m) in length, with a beam of 26-foot (7.9 m) and a draught of 9.5 feet (2.9 m). Propulsion was provided by horizontal direct action compound steam engines driving twin screws capable of generating 400 ihp (298 kW), enabling a cruising speed of 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) and a range between 700 to 800 mi (1,100 to 1,300 km). The vessel was also equipped with sails as auxiliary power. Initially, her armament included one BL 8-inch (203.2 mm) gun, one BL 6-inch (152.4 mm) gun, two 1.5-inch Nordenfelt guns, and two machine guns. The crew complement numbered 55 personnel across all ranks; her name derived from an Aboriginal term meaning "lightning".

HMQS Gayundah was launched at Newcastle upon Tyne on 13 May 1884 and entered service in the United Kingdom after completing sea trials in October of that year. The construction expenditure amounted to 35,000 pounds sterling. Under Captain Henry Townley Wright’s command, she departed for Australia in November 1884, navigating through the Suez Canal and arriving at Brisbane on 27 March 1885.

Operational history

In the early period of the vessel’s service, Captain Wright—who also led the Queensland Maritime Defence Force—found his expenditures surpassing his official salary, leading him to appropriate government supplies and alcohol for personal use. Due to his behaviour and management style within the colony’s naval forces, the Queensland government sought his dismissal in late 1887; however, immediate removal was deferred, allowing Wright to remain until his term ended in late 1888 under the condition that he no longer had authority to procure supplies for Gayundah. In September 1888, Wright requested leave until year-end along with lump sum payment of his outstanding salary: leave was granted but salary payments continued monthly, and he was instructed to hand over command of Gayundah to Lieutenant Francis Pringle Taylor.

Wright reacted by threatening to lodge a complaint with the British Admiralty over what he perceived as an affront to his rank and prepared the vessel with coal and provisions for departure to Sydney. On 24 October, Taylor was officially ordered by the Under Colonial Secretary to assume command. Viewing Taylor’s actions as mutinous, Wright had him detained, sent multiple protest letters to authorities, aimed Gayundah’s aft 6-inch gun toward Queensland Parliament, and warned that he would take the ship out to sea if his authority continued to be challenged. Subsequently, the colonial government removed Wright from all positions within the Maritime Defence Force; Queensland police boarded the ship intending to forcibly remove him if necessary. After failing to have them leave his vessel by command, Wright wrote another letter of protest before releasing Taylor and allowing himself to be escorted ashore by police.

In subsequent years, Gayundah functioned primarily as a training platform and achieved a milestone by conducting Australia's inaugural ship-to-shore radio transmissions. However, due to economic downturn during the 1890s depression, she was placed into reserve status in 1892 and reactivated annually for Easter training exercises. A refit in 1899 upgraded her weaponry: her original 6-inch BL gun was replaced with a QF 4.7 inch Gun Mk I–IV, while her two Nordenfelt guns were substituted with two QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun pieces.

After Australia's Federation in 1901, both Gayundah and her sister ship HMQS Paluma were incorporated into the newly formed Commonwealth Naval Forces. On 9 April 1903, Gayundah transmitted what is recognized as Australia's first wireless message received from a ship at sea by an Australian shore station. The historic communication sent to Brisbane read: "Gun drill continued this afternoon and was fairly successful – blowing squally and raining – prize firing tomorrow. Marconi insulators were interfered with by rain but easily rectified and communication since has been good. Good night." The ship utilized a tall bamboo pole affixed to her mast as an aerial antenna.

HMAS Gayundah photographed in Brisbane River in 1912

In March 1911, following the renaming of Commonwealth Naval Forces to Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Gayundah received the designation HMAS Gayundah. Between April and August that year, under Commander G.A.H. Curtis’ leadership—acting on behalf of External Affairs and Trade & Customs Departments—the vessel sailed from Brisbane to Broome along Australia's northwest coast to enforce territorial waters and fishing regulations. At Scott Reef on 25 May, she intercepted two Dutch schooners carrying illegal catches of trepang (sea cucumber) and trochus shell; these vessels were escorted into Broome on 29 May where officers later testified during court proceedings against their captains. To increase coal storage capacity for this mission’s extended range, her forward six-inch gun was removed prior to departure.

From January through August of 1914, Gayundah underwent extensive refurbishment at Sydney’s Cockatoo Dockyard. Modifications included improvements to her forecastle structure, crew accommodations, seaworthiness enhancements, and replacement of her original eight-inch gun with a four-point-seven-inch weapon. With World War I commencing shortly thereafter, she was tasked with patrolling coastal areas around Moreton Bay and eastern Australia. In mid-1915 one of her twelve-pounder guns was removed; by 1917 she conducted patrol duties off Port Jackson and within the Spencer Gulf region due to concerns about German raiders like Template:SMS Seeadler, although no enemy encounters occurred during this period.

Decommissioning and ultimate disposition

Gayundah stranded near Woody Point, photographed in 2006

After concluding her naval service, Gayundah was officially paid off on 23 August 1918 in Melbourne. In 1921, ownership transferred to a civilian firm, Brisbane Gravel Pty Ltd. She returned to Queensland waters, where she was employed in transporting sand and gravel along the Brisbane River. While docked at Melton Reach in October 1930, Gayundah unexpectedly sank but was promptly salvaged. Her operational use continued into the 1950s, at which time the decision was made to dispose of her as scrap. Early in 1958, she was towed to Bulimba Wharf for dismantling. Subsequently, the hull was acquired by the Redcliffe Town Council. On 2 June 1958, Gayundah was deliberately grounded and now functions as a breakwater adjacent to the cliffs of Woody Point, near Redcliffe.

Her artillery pieces were later repurposed for coastal defense installations. The 6-inch gun is preserved and displayed at the Australian War Memorial, alongside a scale model of the vessel that was obtained from Armstrong Whitworth & Co. Ltd. in 1925.

See also

• List of Queensland Maritime Defence Force ships

References

• Frame, Tom; Baker, Kevin (2000). Mutiny! Naval Insurrections in Australia and New Zealand. St. Leonards, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-351-8.
• Gillett, Ross (1977). Warships of Australia. illustrated by Colin Graham. Adelaide: Rigby Limited. ISBN 978-0-7270-0472-7.
• Grey, Jeffrey (2008). A Military History of Australia (3rd ed.). Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-69791-0.
• "HMAS Gayundah". Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
• "The 'Special Cruise' of HMAS Gayundah – 1911" (PDF). Semaphore: Newsletter of the Sea Power Centre Australia (10). Sea Power Centre – Royal Australian Navy. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2008.

External links

• HMQS Gayundah: Dedicated website chronicling the history of Gayundah and her crew.