HMAS Psyche
Encyclopedia
HMAS Psyche (formerly HMS Psyche) was a Pelorus class
Pelorus class cruiser
The Pelorus class cruiser was a "third-class" protected cruiser class of eleven Royal Navy warships designed by Sir William White , based on the earlier Pearl class cruisers. They were ordered in 1893 under the Spencer Program, and laid down 1896–1900...
light cruiser built for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
at the end of the 19th century. She was transferred to the fledgling 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) in 1912.
Design and construction
Psyche was a third-class protected cruiserProtected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
of the nine-ship Pelorus or P class. She had a displacement of 2,135 tons, was 313 in 6 in (95.55 m) long overall and 300 feet (91.4 m) long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 36 in 6 in (11.13 m), and a draught of 15 feet (4.6 m). Propulsion was supplied by inverted three-cylinder triple expansion steam engines, providing 7000 ihp to two propeller shafts. Psyche was capable of reaching 20 knots (10.9 m/s), although she normally operated at the more economical speedo of 8 knots (4.4 m/s).
The cruiser was armed with eight single QF 4 in (101.6 mm) guns, eight single QF 3 pounder gun
3 pounder gun
3 pounder gun, 3 pounder, 3-pdr or QF 3-pdr is an abbreviation typically referring to a gun which fired a projectile weighing approximately 3 pounds...
s, two 4.7-inch guns, two field gun
Field gun
A field gun is an artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march and when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances, as to opposed guns installed in a fort, or to siege cannon or mortars which...
s, three Maxim machine guns
Maxim gun
The Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. It has been called "the weapon most associated with [British] imperial conquest".-Functionality:...
, and two 14 in (356 mm) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s sited above the waterline. The ship's company initially stood at 220, but this was later reduced to 188; 12 officers, and 176 sailors.
Psyche was laid down for the Royal Navy at HM Devonport Dockyard
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
, Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
on 15 November 1897. She was launched on 19 July 1988 by Miss E. Carr, sister of the dockyard's admiral superintendent. The cruiser was completed on 28 April 1899, and was placed in reserve until her commissioning on 2 May 1899.
Operational history
Psyche originally operated on the North America and West Indies Station. In December 1903, she was transferred to the Royal Navy's Australian SquadronAustralian Squadron
The Australian Squadron was the name given to the British naval force assigned to the Australia Station from 1859 to 1911.The Squadron was initially a small force of Royal Navy warships based in Sydney, and although intended to protect the colonies of Australia and New Zealand, the ships were...
, where she served until October 1913, when the Australia Station
Australia Station
The Australia Station was the British—and later Australian—naval command responsible for the waters around the Australian continent.-History:In the early years following the establishment of the colony of New South Wales, ships based in Australian waters came under the control of the East Indies...
was handed to the control of the fledgling RAN. In 1914, Psyche formed part of the escort for the New Zealand Force which occupied German Samoa
Occupation of German Samoa
The Occupation of Samoa was the takeover and subsequent administration of the Pacific colony of German Samoa in August 1914 by an expeditionary force from New Zealand called the Samoa Expeditionary Force and New Zealand's first action in World War I...
(now Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
). On her return to Sydney in late 1914, she was laid up.
Following an increase in German activity in the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, the 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...
requested that the RAN reactivate and man Psyche, which would then be used to investigate. The cruiser was provided with a ship's company (consisting primarily of untrained sailors), commissioned into the RAN on 1 July 1915, and sailed on 16 August. En route, the threat of a German-inspired uprising in India and Burma took precedence, and Psyche was diverted to Rangoon, from where she patrolled the Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
. From late 1915 to early 1916, the cruiser patrolled as far east as Singapore, served as escort to two ships carrying Turkish prisoners of war, was responsible for the transportation of two Chinese spies (one of whom escaped), and helped capture the ringleaders of an Indian soldiers' mutiny in Singapore.
While undergoing refit in Hong Kong during early 1916, personnel from Psyche were used to man the river gunboat in order to evacuate European civilians from Canton following disturbances. The gunboat was halfway up the Pearl River Delta
Pearl River Delta
The Pearl River Delta , Zhujiang Delta or Zhusanjiao in Guangdong province, People's Republic of China is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea...
when it was learned that the civilians had been recovered by another vessel, and returned to Hong Kong. In July 1916, sickness ran through Psyche; at one point, almost 60% of the ship's company were hospitalised ashore or were otherwise unfit for duty. During her stay in Hong Kong, the reassignment of flag officer
Flag Officer
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark where the officer exercises command. The term usually refers to the senior officers in an English-speaking nation's navy, specifically those who hold any of the admiral ranks; in...
s meant that Psyche was, for one day, Flagship of the China Squadron. After further patrols ranging as far as Japan and the Nicobar Islands
Nicobar Islands
The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean...
, the ship returned to Sydney on 28 September 1917, and was paid off on 16 October.
Psyche was reactivated on 20 November 1917 for service along Australia's north-east coast, but after uneventful patrols, she was decommissioned for the final time on 26 March 1918.
Fate
The ship was sold to the Moreland Metal Company on 21 July 1922, who used her as a timber lighter. Psyche sank in 1940 at Salamander Bay, New South WalesSalamander Bay, New South Wales
Salamander Bay is a suburb of the Port Stephens Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Named after the adjacent shallow bay, itself named after the Salamander, a convict ship from the Third Fleet, which was the first European vessel to enter Port Stephens , it is...
. The wreck was later broken up by RAN clearance divers
Clearance Diving Team (RAN)
The Clearance Diving Teams of the Royal Australian Navy also act as commando frogmen: they consist of naval personnel who are qualified in diving, demolitions, underwater repairs, and reconnaissance...
during an underwater demolitions training exercise.