AUSTRALIA'S NAVY

Evening Star, Issue 16352, 19 February 1917, Page 5

AUSTRALIA'S NAVY

A PEEP BEHIND THE SCENES,

FLEET IN GOOD TRIM.

In view of tho part which the British Navy will be called upon to play to combat the ruthless _ sea warfare decided upon by Germany, it is of particular interest, to lertni from the Commonwealth naval authorities that the Australian fleet is at present in good trim, and looking forward with cheeiy confidence to the -.text meeting with the enemy (says the Melbourne 'Ape'). The Australia (tho flagship of the Royal Australian Navy), the cruisers Melbourne and Sydney, and the latest, addition to tho fleet, the cruiser .ISris-l-Miie. are all actively engaged in Britain's main war fleets. Tlteir precise location and the nature of their duties it is not, of EoiirEe, permissible to'describe in detail,'but Australiaiii may rest assured that they are placed where their services nay be of most itvHl. The crews are reported to be well snd in fine form.

Ouo of the most important units of the Australian Navy is the flotilla of destroyers, whji-h has recently been increased t-o" six vesse.s of modem type, lisgrh speed, and serviceable armamei;t. The vesseST are the Wnrrc-go, Ya-nu, Pnrramntta, S-,van, Torrens, and iluon They fonm what :s known as the •river" clasp, and it will be observed that - s , r p n3n - ed af,oi ' rivcrs -n each of the sevcra, uta'.c-s of tho Commonwealth. Half the fioiilla was born in Australia under war conditions, the vessels being the pr-iduc* of the Commonwealth dockyard, and only joining tee fleet quite reqrntly. Alreadv, however, the three Australian-built destroyers ; IV< : 7°i provod ihoir wori » "ml derionsvra.ed the excellence of the workmanship that v/as put mto them. They have all seen service under strenuous conditions and the Eiiffiive-room departments especially' rave been called upon tor teste of endurance and car.acity, wnicn have, been responded to l.t a mW praiseworthy manner AJthonijfh only out of the bmldexa- hands for a few months each one of the three new destroyers has steamed upwards of 7,000 miles.

In conformity with the general s.-.licnie of naval strategy, the destroyers of the <\ us . trolian Navy Jiave been kept to our ownVd neighboring waters. AVithout S pecitVn->-closely the nature of their duties, it eaii be said that they ate successfully taking tiieir

full share in the silent but mighty pressure of Britain's sea-power. The volume of Australian shipping, never greater than to-day, awl tho large number of troopships continually coming and going, provide ample prcof of tho Watchful care exercised by the Australian Navy over nil shipping in these waters Australian transports have been e.ble to travel the oceans in safety, thanks to Hie destroyer flotilla, and to accumulate earnings on freight representing approximately £6,500,000.

But tho destroyers are not the only represeutativcß qf the Royal Australian Navy hi these parts. Several other vessels are cooperating in the work of protecting srrppiag in the Fast and other interests of the A!host One of them, the small gunboat Una, which was captured from x.he Germans in New Guinea by a brilliant coup early in the war, had recently to perform the duty of lertdin? a pun : tivo expedition in tho New Hebrides! This was undertaken under direction of the Admiralty, in conjunction with the French, for the purpose of punishing.certain natives responsible for the murder of missionaries. The expedition w;is successful, and resulted in the total destruction of the natives' village, with considerable casualties to the vilha.bita.llU. The casualties of the Australian force were comparatively slight, and were chiefly confined to the native police.