Colony of Victoria (AU)

really nice, well done

Thank-You superboy, your AU is a lovely treat and I'm glad someone else does the Top Views and COAs for their AU!

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Work list(Current)
Miscellaneous|Victorian Colonial Navy|Murray Riverboats|Colony of Victoria AU|Project Sail-fixing SB's sail shortage
How to mentally pronounce my usernameRow-(as in a boat)Don-(as in the short form of Donald)Dough-(bread)
"Loitering on the High Seas" (Named after the good ship Rodondo)
There's no such thing as "nothing left to draw" If you can down 10 pints and draw, you're doing alright by my standards

Schanck returned to Williamstown in March 1918 for a small refit which was tied in with maintenance. During this phases of cleaning out the boilers and cleaning the bottom, she gained a "hat" as it became known to the crew, which was a protective canvas cover over the bridge and a smaller one over the spotting top. Also added, at recommendation from Captain of the Otway in her service around the rough Cape of Good Hope, was to install a shield under the bridge wings, this was to divert water away from the two entrances to the forward superstructure and over the side and the two ladders accessing the forecastle. It was deemed successful in the winter storms, crews being able to move from the forecastle and weather deck with a reduced risk of being knocked down by shipped waters and the forward superstructure was no longer an island up forward when the weather became horrible. Otway never ironically received this addition, only receiving her "hat" to help preserve the bridges timber from the sun in 1926

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Nice, very nice. Looking forward to see further updates to this thread.

Bit of text and history this time, the Tasmanian Government, having sold the obsolete TB1 to the South Australian Government in 1905, had only a handful of auxiliary vessels that were hardly warships by any stretch of the mind. However eyes were cast on Victoria, watching their indigenous Point Class develop. Whilst the original idea was to buy 3-4 Vessels of the same class like the South Australians had done with the HMSAS Sir William Jervois. However when one of these flimsy craft arrived in Launceston, onlookers were not impressed with the vessel's wetness and lively roll. Instead the Tasmanian Government appealed to the Brisish Government to lend them a "Torpedo Boat Destroyer" whilst they choose a builder to build 2-4 specialized destroyers. after a large amount of persuasion, the HMS Derwent was offered and accepted as well as small nucleus crew to train the Tasmanian Naval Brigade. Departing March 1906, it arrived in September, being towed across the Indian Ocean by a charted steamer. From there she hopped ports to Hobart, Arriving late due to a dispute with Victorian Naval Forces over the cost of coal. HMS Derwent was based out of Sandy Bay and occasionally, Lauderdale. Meanwhile on the Thames, work began on a first of what would be thee destroyers, HMS Thylacine (Tasmania would not be granted a special prefix until 1921). Emphasis had been on achieving at least 27 knots and have a range of at least 1500nm, all for the while being very stable and seaworthy on a hull less than 450ft long.

Eventually the design was finalized, and the ships were completed and arrived by 1910. On trials in Hobart small issues were found with the rudder which lead to vibration and poor turning radius. Attempt to rectify this were largely unsuccessful and it was found simply travelling at 18 knots seemed to lower the vibration.

It would be a good-life for these destroyers, operating mainly out of Dover and Sandy Bay during the peace. During the First world war, Thylacine would be shifted to Launceston, then further up the Estuary to Beauty Point to decrease response time. During the war the class didn't see any action except a few false alarms and just general training cruises. After the war, cut backs reduced their readiness for sea and the overall state of the boats until 1926 when new funding saw the boats overhauled and the Renah converted to a Submarine Hunter/Training Ship over the course of three years, thanks to delays in procuring new weapons and funding issues. WW2 saw them in the same positions. In 1937 Renah had fell victim to her lack of low speed maneuverability when after her port propeller was jammed with a fishing net after leaving Launceston, almost at the Mouth of the Estuary when the strong tide and the port propeller faltering resulted in the Renah being left stranded on a mud-bank for two weeks until a king tide enable her to be towed free. After this they added a sculpted section of steel plate to the trailing edge of the rudder. This finally achieved what they had tried nearly thirty years ago to correct, however the Sacrophilis dropped hers after 8 months and never was replaced due to the outbreak of war.

Due to the age of the ships and the relative distance of Tasmania to the frontlines, the ships were used mainly as escorts from Launceston, two ship wold be based there and 1 would be in Hobart, on a cycle. they served in this capacity until the end of 1944, when they were reduced to surveying and patrolling home waters. After the war, Renah was purchased by the Queensland government to help clearing naval mines from New Guinea waters. Thylancine and Sacrophilus were decommissioned in March 1946 and were partially scrapped and sunk upriver from Risdon. Renah was laid up Rabaul after an explosion in her boilers punctured her bottom in May 1946, she latter sank in Semester and was left in place

Launched in 1927, the Esk was a long time in the making. Based on the unfinished hull of a fishing vessel being built across from Ritchies Mill, the north bank of where the Esk flows from the Cataract Gorge into the Tamar River. Acquired on the slip when the original owners ran out of funds, by the Marine Body of Launceston and the Colonial Tasmanian Navy. Operating side by side with the dredge Ponrabbel II in marking new channels in the Tamar Estuary, she also was equipped for salvage operations, mail transport, hydrographical survey and in her Navy guise, minelaying, minesweeping and patrol boat.

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Throughout the latter half of 1929, she was engaged cleaning up the aftermath of the 1929 Flood which littered the waterfront and riverbed with wreckage. In 1932, to repay costs run up with coaling from the VCN, the Esk was loaned for 14 months to help with a major Hydro-graphical survey of the Victorian Coastline and to assist with the examination of the wreck of the SS Casino and retrieval of bodies.

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In 1934 she assisted the search for the SS Coramba, the Casino's replacement. Finding no trace of the missing vessel in the North Bass Strait, she returned to harbour duties. War broke out when the Esk was surveying Port Sorrell on the North of Tasmania. Returning to Launceston to ship her QF 12 Pounder that had been purchased for her use in 1936 from the VCN. During the war she mainly served as a patrol boat in the King Group, the Furneaux Group and along the North Coast.

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Seeing the war through quietly, she returned to her civil duties without her gun, being sold to the South Australian Fisheries Board as an inspection ship in 1947. In 1954, increasingly aging, she was sold to Tasmania again, initally serving in Hobart as a pilot boat then in her old role alongside the Ponrabbel in 1955. Receiving a refit to increase her range and complement, she also gained a new diesel engine, increasing her measly 8 knots to 10.25 knots. In this new shape, she completed a very comprehensive survey of the West Coast and another of the King Group/Furneaux Group. In 1967, she was sold to a Launceston fishing group and served in that role until 1985 when she was sunk in rough weather close to Hebe Reef, the entrance to the Tamar, the very reef she conducted a large amount of work upon.

Nice story and a beatiful little ship. I like those smaller and unusual ships!

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Any help and source material is always welcome.

Thanks DG!

Its pretty much based off the usual Tamar based trawlers I see from time to time, apparently they have a very long lifespan thansk to strong local timbers

Edit, fixed the broken link to the divers and Esk image

Beautiful drawing, excellent story line. Well done Rodondo!

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Thank you Kim for the crest

"Never fear to try on something new. Remember that the Titanic was built by professionals, and the Ark by an amateur"

Thanks Novice, my mantra for this AU is story-line should not be sacrificed for drawing's sake and I think its working out ok, hopefully

Shipbucket

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