Colony of Victoria (AU)

HMVS Yarra (as the joke ran she, like the river, was slow, stank and was usually full of water) started life as a Harbour Trust barge, but before any work was half done ,it was decided to be sold to the VCN for rebuilding into a minelayer and training ship, as the VCN lacked both thanks to the sale of the long venerable HMVS Nelson and the fact naval mines were getting bigger and bigger, becoming too cumbersome for the small mining craft in the employ of the VCN.

What started as a cost cutting measure soon became gradually a nightmare. A 6" armour belt around the waterline was locally made from riveting 6 1" plates together to offer a limited degree of protection against mines. The indigenous meaning of the river's name was "Ever-flowing", something that would prove true the night after her launch in July 1909, the cold night caused gaps to to open in her bow, to the degree that when the workers entered the Willliamstown yard, they were surprised to find her with her fore deck awash the morning swell. After pumping her dry, it was found she had to re-enter the drydock as she leaked so profusely from the rivets in the belt, that the onboard pumps were running constantly. After a week of repairs, more bad news was to come. The rebuild had eaten into the fitting out budget, to the point wherea new QF 12pdr wasn't an option in the face of the oncoming drain of the Cape Class. So she entered service without a mounted gun, armed with only 30 mines and basic small arms. However sea trials revealed more faults with the Yarra, she pitched heavily, and with the capsize of the half-sister, the barge Seal in Warnambool due to shifting cargo, raised concerns about stability. Her two steam engines were not stellar, only generating enough horsepower to just get her over 10 knots on a good day. 3 months into service she finally received a QF14 pounder, returned from China, previously aboard HMVS Cerberus. Five months of the year she conducted training cruises from Williamstown to Hastings, other than that she would be kept either in reserve at Point Cook, Mine warfare training at Swan Island or acting as a mothership for the Point Class torpedo boats around the bay. In the first World War, she received a rebuild to address some issues as well as helping clearing mines laid by the Raider Wolf. After the war, she was laid up in reserve at Flinders Naval Depot where she languished as almost entirely static training ship until 1934, still in a decent state, she was rebuild a third time, only a basic rebuild to carry paravanes, replacing her gun with a 4" and building up the superstructure and enclosing the foredeck fully, and partially enclosing the quarterdeck.

In 1945, Yarra was all but decommissioned, she could never make the journey to areas that need minesweeping abroad, so she was tasked with the occasional search whenever a mine was spotted. In 1947-1948, she was tasked with disposing of surplus explosives and war material off the Victorian Coast, being a disposable ship in case of an accident. Returning again to training service, she was deemed too old to be relevant and was laid up until selected in 1953 for use as a helicopter trial vessel to assess and train with the Bristol Sycamore. Her aft deck was extended fully over the quarter deck, the area aft of the deck house was stripped clean of all features to provide a large helipad for testing. By this stage it was evident the Yarra was beyond saving, her engines seizing up continually, being found in the mornings with a fair few inches in her holds and coal (being almost entirely phased out in the VCN), being keep solely for her. By 1954, she was stripped and scuttled in a gunnery exercise south of Cape Schanck, despite being the worst ship to serve on in the VCN, she had still managed a long service.

Yarra as of Launch
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Yarra 1910
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Few more to come.

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Work list(Current)
Miscellaneous|Victorian Colonial Navy|Murray Riverboats|Colony of Victoria AU|Project Sail-fixing SB's sail shortage
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"Loitering on the High Seas" (Named after the good ship Rodondo)
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Beautiful, simply stunning concept, back story and a drawing that fits. All the markings of a good AU thread. Keep it up, 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"

Excellent work. An interesting little ship and a nice backstory too. I can't wait to see how the Yarra changes over time.

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Thanks for the kind words

I've run into trouble with the 1950's version, cannot find an era sensible or practical placement for the ships launch/plane guard.

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Any ideas?

what about putting it on the bow, with a crane?
the only other option would be lowering the boat every time a helicopter needed to land or having it in a cutout under the flight deck, both of which are a lot more troubling then the position you see quite often on yachts these days (with the footnote that yachts don't go out in rough weather)

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Quote:

she was deemed too old to be relevant and was laid up until selected in 1953 for use as a helicopter trial vessel to assess and train with the Bristol Sycamore. Her aft deck was extended fully over the quarter deck, the area aft of the deck house was stripped clean of all features to provide a large helipad for testing. By this stage it was evident the Yarra was beyond saving, her engines seizing up continually, being found in the mornings with a fair few inches in her holds and coal (being almost entirely phased out in the VCN), being keep solely for her.

Doesn't sound like she is going out into much rough weather.

Cant you just hang it out (like the earlier boats) but just have it forward under the bridge ?

JSB

The bows seem the only logical place, unless you have it in davits at the forward end of the flight deck.

Very nice Sycamore BTW!

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