LAUNCH OF THE BRISBANE

Evening Post, Volume xc, Issue 79, 1 October 1915, Page 7

LAUNCH OF THE BRISBANE

AUSTRALIAN CRUISER TAKES THE WATER. SYDNEY, 30th September. In the presence of Sir Ronald MunroFerguson (Governor-General), Sir Gerald Strickland. State Governor, and naval, military, and Parliamentary

crowd, the cruiser Brisbane its laundaed, from the Cockatoo Dock. Mrs. Fisher, who performed the christening ceremony, wished the Brisbane suocess, and opportunities to win new honours for Australia and the King's Navy. As the_ cruiser took the water souvenir hunters in launches got in the way, and were almost run down. To avoid collision, the Brisbane's anchors were not dropped, and she drifted until her stern struck the mud. The services of three tugs were required to drag her off. She was undamaged. The Brisbane is the largest vessel ever launched in the Southern Hemisphere, and is the first cruiser to be built in any of the British dependencies. At the official luncheon, Mr. A. Fisher, Federal Premier, claimed that the policy of an Australian navy had fully justified itself. The Sydney's exploit in sinking the Emden had brought into existence the name of Australia as a minor Power in a way nothing else could have done. "We have made a j good beginning with our navy, but we have to go much farther." Mr. Hughes (Attorney-General) said: "We must continue launching ships ■whether we like it or not." The great ' problem of the future must be sought ' in the Pacific. He hoped that this would be the last war, but we must prepare for eventualities. He was sure that those present would live to eee^a squadron made up of Australian, Canadian, and New Zealand ships. Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson declared that the construction of the Australian Navy had been a triumph of policy. It was a complement to the British Fleet, "which was one of the main securities of the peace of the world. Mr. Jensen announced that he had decided to eend engineers to England to acquire knowledge with the object of building submarines in Australia. He boped the day was pot far distant when they would be building battleships. [The Brisbane, a sister ship to the famous Sydney, is of 5400 tons. She will be armed with eight 6-inch and four 3-pounder guns, and is to have a speed of 25 knote. The Brisbane was laid down on Ist February, 1913. The turbines for propelling her were built in England.]