HMVS Cerberus
Encyclopedia
HMVS Cerberus (Her Majesty's Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
n Ship) is a breastwork monitor
Breastwork monitor
A breastwork monitor was one of a number of ships designed by Sir Edward Reed, the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy between 1863 and 1870....
that served in the Victoria Naval Forces, the Commonwealth Naval Forces (CNF), and the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
(RAN) between 1871 and 1924.
Built for the colony of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Cerberus was completed in 1870, and arrived in Port Phillip
Port Phillip
Port Phillip Port Phillip Port Phillip (also commonly referred to as Port Phillip Bay or (locally) just The Bay, is a large bay in southern Victoria, Australia; it is the location of Melbourne. Geographically, the bay covers and the shore stretches roughly . Although it is extremely shallow for...
in 1871, where she spent the rest of her career. The monitor was absorbed into the CNF following Federation
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
in 1901, and was renamed HMAS Cerberus when the navy became the RAN in 1911. By World War I, Cerberus weapons and boilers were inoperable; the ship was retasked as a guardship and munitions store, while carrying the personnel of the fledgling Royal Australian Naval College on her paybooks. In 1921, the ship was renamed HMAS Platypus II, and tasked as a submarine tender for the RAN's six J class submarines.
In 1924, the monitor was sold for scrap, and was sunk as a breakwater off Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay, Victoria
Half Moon Bay is a bay and neighbourhood on Port Phillip, south east of Melbourne. Located in the suburb of Black Rock, it is home to the Black Rock Yacht Club. This bay also gets a mention in the Cat Empire song, "The Wine Song". Half Moon Bay is also home to HMVS Cerberus, the last surviving...
. The wreck became a popular site for scuba diving and picnics over the years, but there was a structural collapse in 1993. There have been several campaigns to preserve the ship (one of which is ongoing), as she is one of the last monitors
Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...
, the only surviving ship of the Australian colonial navies, and one of only two surviving ships in the world with Coles
Cowper Phipps Coles
Captain Cowper Phipps Coles, C.B., R.N. , the son of the Reverend John Coles and his wife Mary Ann Goodhew Rogers, was an English naval Captain and inventor. Coles died when HMS Captain, an experimental warship built to his designs, sank with him onboard.-Naval career:He entered the Royal Navy at...
turrets. (The other surviving ship is the Huáscar).
Design
Named for CerberusCerberus
Cerberus , or Kerberos, in Greek and Roman mythology, is a multi-headed hound which guards the gates of the Underworld, to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping...
, the three-headed guard dog of Hades
Hades
Hades , Hadēs, originally , Haidēs or , Aidēs , meaning "the unseen") was the ancient Greek god of the underworld. The genitive , Haidou, was an elision to denote locality: "[the house/dominion] of Hades". Eventually, the nominative came to designate the abode of the dead.In Greek mythology, Hades...
from Greek mythology, Cerberus was the first of the 'breastwork monitor
Breastwork monitor
A breastwork monitor was one of a number of ships designed by Sir Edward Reed, the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy between 1863 and 1870....
s', which differed from previous ironclad warships by the fitting of a central superstructure containing rotating turrets. The ship was designed by Edward James Reed
Edward James Reed
Sir Edward James Reed , KCB, FRS, was a British naval architect, author, politician, and railroad magnate. He was the Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy from 1863 until 1870...
, Chief Constructor to the Royal Navy. Cerberus had one sister ship
Sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class as, or of virtually identical design to, another ship. Such vessels share a near-identical hull and superstructure layout, similar displacement, and roughly comparable features and equipment...
, , and an additional five ships of similar design ( and the four Cyclops class
Cyclops class monitor
The Cyclops class monitor was a group of four ironclad breastwork monitors built for the Royal Navy during the 1870s. They were slightly modified versions of the s. The ships were ordered to satisfy demands for local defence during the war scare of 1870, but the pace of construction slowed down...
monitors) were constructed for coastal defence
Coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament...
around the British Empire. These seven vessels were unofficially referred to as the 'Monster class'.
The monitor was 225 feet (68.6 m) long, 45 in 1 in (13.74 m) wide, and with a draught of 15 in 6 in (4.72 m). Cerberus had a freeboard
Freeboard (nautical)
In sailing and boating, freeboardmeans the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship...
of 4 feet (1.2 m), while her breastwork
Breastwork (fortification)
A breastwork is a fortification. The term is usually applied to temporary fortifications, often an earthwork thrown up to breast height to provide protection to defenders firing over it from a standing position...
extended 7 feet (2.1 m) above the deck, and was 112 feet (34.1 m) long. She had a standard ship's company of 12 officers and 84 sailors, with an additional 40 to man the ship in wartime. Cerberus had a maximum speed of 9.75 knots (5.3 m/s), with an economical speed of 6 knots (3.3 m/s).
Her twin screws were driven by two horizontal twin-cylinder, double-acting, simple steam engines
Marine steam engine
A marine steam engine is a reciprocating steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. Steam turbines and diesel engines largely replaced reciprocating steam engines in marine applications during the 20th century, so this article describes the more common types of marine steam engine in use...
made by Maudslay Son & Field. They had 43 inches (109.2 cm) bore, 27 inches (68.6 cm) stroke, and were provided with 30 psi (206.8 kPa) steam produced by five coal-fired boilers with 13 furnaces. The steam engines generated 1369 ihp on trials and drove two propellers with a diameter of 12 feet (3.7 m) Cerberus was the first British warship to be solely steam-powered. The monitor had a bunkerage of 240 tons of coal; this would last just under five days at maximum speed (50 tons consumed per day), and ten days at economical speed (24 tons per day). The monitor was not suited to ocean travel.
Cowper Phipps Coles
Captain Cowper Phipps Coles, C.B., R.N. , the son of the Reverend John Coles and his wife Mary Ann Goodhew Rogers, was an English naval Captain and inventor. Coles died when HMS Captain, an experimental warship built to his designs, sank with him onboard.-Naval career:He entered the Royal Navy at...
.
The ship had armour plating ranging from 6 to 8 in (152.4 to 203.2 mm) in thickness for the waterline armoured belt
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
on her hull, which was backed by 9 to 11 in (228.6 to 279.4 mm) of teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
. The citadel armour protecting the breastwork ranged in thickness from 8 to 9 in (203.2 to 228.6 mm), and gun turrets had 10 inches (254 mm) faces and 9 inches (228.6 mm) sides. Cerberus was protected by an armored deck that was 1 to 1.25 in (25.4 to 31.8 mm) thick. For added protection, Cerberus could take water into ballast tanks, decreasing her already low freeboard
Freeboard (nautical)
In sailing and boating, freeboardmeans the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship...
until only the turrets and breastwork were visible.
Cerberus and ships of her type were described by Admiral George Alexander Ballard
George Alexander Ballard
Admiral George Alexander Ballard, CB was an officer of the Royal Navy and a historian. Ballard was the eldest son of General John Archibald Ballard , and his wife Joanna, the daughter of Robert Scott-Moncrieff, and was born at Malabar Hill, Bombay on 7 March 1862...
as being like "full-armoured knights riding on donkeys, easy to avoid but bad to close with." Robert Gardiner, Roger Chesneau, and Eugene M Kolesnik, the editors of Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1860–1905, pointed out that "[Cerberus] [represents] the beginnings of practical turret ship design in Britain, having no sail power and being fitted with fore and aft turrets with almost uninterrupted arcs of fire." When she entered service, the monitor was considered superior to any other warship operating in the Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
n region. The design of Cerberus was a major influence on battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
design until the early 1900s, when made all pre-dreadnought battleship designs obsolete.
Construction
In 1866, the Victorian government ordered a ship to supplement the shore-based fortifications of Port Philip Bay, and to defend the colony in the event of a Russian attack. Cerberus was ordered on the understanding that if she operated in any role other than the defence of Victoria, she would revert to AdmiraltyAdmiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
control.
The monitor was constructed by Palmers Shipbuilding at their Jarrow-on-Tyne shipyard. She was laid down on 1 August 1867, launched on 2 December 1868, and completed in August 1870. Cerberus cost £117,556 to build, with the British Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
meeting 80% of the cost.
Operational history
On completion, Cerberus was registered as a merchant vessel for the voyage to Australia. For the journey, the sides of the hull were built up to the height of the breastwork and along the length of the ship, to improve seakeepingSeakeeping
Seakeeping ability is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea states....
. She first attempted to sail from Chatham for Melbourne on 29 October 1870, but returned within days because of gale
Gale
A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are...
conditions, which made the ship uncontrollable. After returning to British waters, Cerberus was fitted with temporary masts so she could be rigged as a three-masted barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
; this was to provide redundancy to the steam engines, and maximise her range before recoaling was required. Cerberus departed for a second time on 7 November, and despite similar conditions, was able to persevere. The ship travelled via the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
(during which she flew the flag of Victoria
Flag of Victoria
The flag of Victoria, symbolising the state of Victoria in Australia, is a British Blue Ensign defaced by the state badge of Victoria in the fly. The badge is the Southern Cross topped by an imperial crown, which is currently the St Edward's Crown...
instead of the Red Ensign
Red Ensign
The Red Ensign or "Red Duster" is a flag that originated in the early 17th century as a British ensign flown by the Royal Navy and later specifically by British merchantmen. The precise date of its first appearance is not known, but surviving receipts indicate that the Navy was paying to have such...
so reduced transit rates for warships could be claimed), with frequent stops to refuel wherever possible because of her ten-day bunker capacity. Her flat bottom and shallow draught
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
meant that the monitor could roll
Ship motions
Ship motions are defined by the six degrees of freedom that a ship, boat or any other craft can experience.- Translation :HeaveSwaySurge-Vertical axis:Vertical axis, or yaw axis — an axis drawn from top to bottom, and perpendicular to the other two axes...
up to 40° from the centreline in bad weather. Her ship's company nearly mutinied on several occasions.
The monitor reached Melbourne on the morning of 9 April 1871. Following her arrival, she was designated flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the Victorian Navy. At the time of her arrival, public opinion of the ship was low, and she quickly attracted the nickname of 'Floating Gasometer
Gasometer
A gas holder is a large container where natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap...
'.
In 1881, five men from Cerberus were killed when their boat was destroyed by a mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
during exercises. These were the only personnel from the ship to be killed during her operational history. Following the flooding of the New Australasian Gold Mine
New Australasian Gold Mine disaster
The New Australasian No.2 Deep Lead Gold Mine, was a goldmine located in Creswick, Victoria, Australia, that is now infamous for being Australia's worst below-ground gold mining disaster....
at Creswick, Victoria
Creswick, Victoria
Creswick is a town in west-central Victoria, Australia. It is located 18 kilometres north of Ballarat and 129 km northwest of Melbourne, in Shire of Hepburn. It is 430 metres above sea level. At the 2006 census, Creswick had a population of 2,485...
in December 1882, two divers from Cerberus were sent to help find miners trapped in air pockets deep in the mine. They arrived on 14 December, two days after the flooding, but could not assist because incorrectly fitting dive suits had been sent with them, and only 500 feet (152.4 m) of air hose was available, despite the miners being at least 1500 feet (457.2 m) from the mine's entrance.
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Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
. Consequently, all of Cerberus personnel were quarantined at Point Nepean
Point Nepean, Victoria
Point Nepean marks the southern point of The Rip and the most westerly point of the Mornington Peninsula, in Victoria, Australia. It was named after the British politician and colonial administrator, Sir Evan Nepean. It is within the suburb of Portsea...
.
Following the Federation of Australia
Federation of Australia
The Federation of Australia was the process by which the six separate British self-governing colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia formed one nation...
in 1901, Cerberus, like all other colonial naval ships
Colonial navies of Australia
Before Federation in 1901 five of the six separate colonies maintained their own naval forces for defence. The colonial navies were supported by the ships of the Royal Navy’s Australian Station which was established in 1859...
, was transferred to the Commonwealth Naval Forces. This organisation was renamed the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
in 1911, at which point, Cerberus was given the prefix HMAS. By 1909, Cerberus could not generate enough steam to propel herself. She was used as a guard ship and munitions storeship during World War I. When the Royal Australian Naval College was founded in 1913, its personnel were initially listed on the paybooks of Cerberus, as the college was not a commissioned establishment. By 1914, the monitor's main guns were inoperable, and she was reliant on her light weapons for defence.
Following the transfer of six J class submarines to the RAN, Cerberus was renamed HMAS Platypus II on 1 April 1921 (taking her name from the submarine tender
Submarine tender
A submarine tender is a type of ship that supplies and supports submarines.Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies, nor to carry a full array of maintenance equipment and...
) and reclassified as a secondary submarine tender. For this role, she was towed to Geelong. Between this date and the monitor's departure form service in 1924, took the name Cerberus and was attached to the training base at Western Port Bay; the base in turn took the name
HMAS Cerberus, Victoria
HMAS Cerberus is the Royal Australian Navy's primary training establishment, located adjacent to Crib Point on the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is also an official bounded locality of the Shire of Mornington Peninsula...
in 1921.
Decommissioning and fate
Cerberus was sold to the Melbourne Salvage Company for £409 on 23 April 1924, with the buyer to break her up for scrapShip breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
. The warship was towed from Corio Bay to Williamstown Naval Dockyard on 14 May for disassembly. After the salvage company removed what they could, she was then sold on to the Sandringham
Sandringham, Victoria
Sandringham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Bayside. At the 2006 Census, Sandringham had a population of 8693.-History:...
council for £150. The monitor was scuttled on 26 September 1926 at Half Moon Bay to serve as a breakwater
Breakwater
Breakwater may refer to:* Breakwater , a structure for protecting a beach or harbour* Breakwater, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, Australia* Breakwater , a funk and soul band from the 1970s...
for the Black Rock Yacht Club. During her life, Cerberus never left Port Philip Bay, and never fired in anger.
The wreck sits in approximately 10 feet (3 m), less than 650 feet (198.1 m) from shore. Over time, the breakwater became a popular site for scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
. The ship was penetrable from many openings along both sides, and featured two submerged deck levels with heavy silting. With care and lights, it was possible to travel from stem to stern without leaving the ship. The interior of the ship has also seen use as a training course for assault swimmers. Her exposed decks were regularly used for picnics.
During the 1970s, the Cerberus Preservation Trust was formed to study the feasibility of raising and restoring Cerberus. However, by 1983, the Trust had made little apparent progress.
In 1993, there was a major structural collapse after rusting deck supports and staunchions gave way, leaving only the deck beams to support the deck, turrets, and superstructure. Cerberus began to subside at 16 millimetre (0.62992125984252 in) per year. Following this, a 100 metres (328.1 ft) exclusion zone was placed around the wreck.
In 2001, the Friends of the Cerberus organisation was formed, with the goal of preserving Cerberus. After campaigning by Friends of the Cerberus for funding to remove the four 18-ton guns from the monitor to reduce the load placed on the monitor's deck, the Victorian government provided an $A80,000 grant that was project managed by Heritage Victoria in October 2004. After being coated with preservative and receiving an electrolysis
Electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of using a direct electric current to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction...
treatment, the guns were placed on the seabed next to the wreck.
From late 2005, Friends of the Cerberus began to campaign for A$5.5 million in funding to stabilise the wreck site, first by installing additional supports for the deck and turrets (the latter weighing 200 tons each), then raising the ship off the seabed and placing her in an underwater cradle. To help attract funds from the Federal and Victorian governments, the wreck was nominated by Friends of the Cerberus and the National Trust
National Trust of Australia
The Australian Council of National Trusts is the peak body for community-based, non-government organisations committed to promoting and conserving Australia's indigenous, natural and historic heritage....
for heritage listing
Australian National Heritage List
The Australian National Heritage List is a list of places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia. The list includes natural, historic and indigenous places...
, which was achieved on 14 December 2005; Cerberus was also listed on the Victorian Heritage Register
Victorian Heritage Register
The Victorian Heritage Register lists places of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 1995 which establishes Heritage Victoria as the permit authority...
and is included on the local Heritage Overlay
Heritage Overlay
A Heritage Overlay or HO is one of a number of planning scheme overlays contained in the Victorian Planning Provisions, for use in planning schemes in Victoria, Australia...
. In July 2008, an application by Friends of the Cerberus for a grant of A$500,000 of federal funding was successful, with the National Trust of Victoria holding the funds on behalf of Friends of the Cerberus. Although this was originally intended for construction of a jacking frame and support cradle, the money has instead been earmarked for structual preservation work on the monitor's gun turrets, with tenders requested
Request for tender
A request for tender, commonly abbreviated to RFT, is a formal, structured invitation to suppliers for the supply of products or services. In the public sector, such a process may be required and determined in detail by law to ensure that such competition for the use of public money is open, fair...
in late 2010, and work to start during 2011.
Affiliations
- HMAS Cerberus, Royal Australian NavyRoyal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
- TS Cerberus, Australian Navy CadetsAustralian Navy CadetsThe Australian Navy Cadets is a voluntary youth organisation sponsored by the Royal Australian Navy. Together with the Australian Air Force Cadets and Australian Army Cadets, it forms the Australian Defence Force Cadets. It hosts over 91 units.-History:...
- (Former Unit)
Further reading
- British Battleships, Oscar Parkes, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 1990. ISBN 0-85052-604-3
External links
- Friends of the Cerberus, a community organisation currently seeking to preserve the shipwreck
- Ship specifications