The Navy Vol_64_Part2 2002 - Navy League of Australia

The Naval Board was reconstituted in March 1911 withCreswell promoted and knighted as the first Naval member.The King approved the title Royal Australian Navy and theright to fly the white ensign on 10 July 1911. and theAustralian Commonwealth Navy became the Royal AustralianNavy.After Jackie Fisher retired as First Sea Lord in 1910. thelevel of cooperation dropped significantly. Any move towardgreater independence for the RAN was rapidly overtaken bythe onset of WW 1. when the Fleet was placed underAdmiralty control.What was actually done to bring all thisabout, this transformation frommoribund to modern fleet?Personnel was the obvious major challenge:• The Fleet Unit required 2.500 men. with another 900ashore (no sea shore ratio in those days!).• They needed an additional 3.160 officers and men! Thestrategy sounds familiar: New pay rates.• Expand Williamstown training depot.• Commence the TING1RA training ship scheme.• Activate the Senior Naval Officers in the states asrecruiters.• jnvite Australians in the RN to transfer.• Recruit retired ex RN POs. and.• Borrow the balance from the RNThe breakdown on 1 June 1913 was:• RN loan 900.• Ex RN retired 480.• Australians transferred back from the RN 360.• Recruited and trained in Australia 1.6601.660 in say 3 years, was an extraordinary feat from astanding start.On the logistics front the fledgling Navy was veryfortunate to have the services of Paymaster-in-Chief EldonManisty RN (later Rear Admiral), as the Finance and Civilmember of the Naval Board.The Board had three years to prepare for the reception,support and administration or the new fleet.The Naval Secretary. George Macandie remarks thatManisty's thorough knowledge of the needs of a modem navy,his legal qualifications as a barrister and his untiring energy,enabled him to push on with preparations which caused theFleet Unit to be in a state of readiness for the war whichoccurred on 4 August 1914.Of course the RAN inherited a substantial legacy fromthe RN - a first class naval dockyard in Sydney anda comprehensive infrastructure of victualling yards andammunition depots. But there was much more to be providedfor a modem fleet and the Henderson Report of 1911 had laidthis out - the establishment of the Naval Board itself: navalbases and so on.TINGIRA was commissioned for boys' training in April1912.The cruiser ENCOUNTER was borrowed from the RN forcrew training before BRISBANE, then building at Cockatoo,became available.The cruiser PIONEER was also borrowed, this time forgunnery training. Recruit training was undertaken atWilliamstown Naval Depot.Soon recruits were coming in faster than could be handled.By March 1913 there were I .(KM men under training. Schoolswere established for wireless telegraphy, signalling, gunneryand torpedo training. These were later transferred to FlindersNaval Base.These matters are easy to trivialise but in the aggregate,they amounted to a stupendous administrative achievementfor which Manisty deserves full credit. The other keypersonality in this process was Captain, later Vice Admiral. SirWilliam Clarkson. Clarkson was a trained naval architect andengineer, who accompanied PROTECTOR to Australia in1884 as the second engineer. He served with Creswell inSouth Australia and saw active service in PROTECTORduring the Boxer rebellion in China. He was heavily involvedin the design and construction of the three River Classdestroyers and was highly regarded by various Ministers ofthe day. who commissioned him to purchase and establish thesmall arms factory at Lithgow. This was in addition to hisnaval duties; he was appointed as the third member of theNaval Board at its establishment in 1911.The initial term of the Naval Board was not a happy one.Clarkson fell out with Creswell over the siting of bases arisingfrom the Henderson Report and the establishment of CockatooIsland as a shipbuilding dockyard. I must say history hasborne out the wisdom of Clarkson's stances.At the outbreak of War. Clarkson was appointed by theGovernment to oversee shipping and maritime transportationin addition to his duties as third naval member, which includeda very successful shipbuilding programme.This was the beginning of a series of high exposurepostings to controversial and contentious public duties forClarkson. His success was rightly recognised by hisknighthood and promotion to Engineering Vice Admiral - theRAN's first (and possibly only such promotion).It is hardly surprising and perhaps typical of thedysfunctional Board thai preparations for the two submarinesarrival were lacking. Two months before their arrival theNaval Board was discussing where to base them: less thanthree weeks before their arrival it was decided to advertise forsuitable depot ship. Perhaps Creswell's earlier opposition tosubmarines fostered an air of antipathy amongst many seniorofficers.So who was the Father?Rear Admiral George Tryon as the first Flag Officer andC-I-C of the Australia Station deserves an honourable mentionas one of the grandfathers.Creswell is traditionally viewed as the professional fatherof the RAN. However, the impression I develop in reading therecords and his correspondence is of a man with strongly heldviews, which dated from his experiences as a juniorLieutenant in the Royal Navy, and who did not move with thepolitical, technology and strategic factors, which were sorapidly shaping the environment.Consequently, his political masters frequently ignored hisadvice. He argued courageously, but to no effect against theLords of the Admiralty, with whom he became persona nongrata. His letter to Deakin protesting the latter's decision toorder submarines in 1907. Deakin having rejected Creswell'searlier arguments against the purchase, was. in my opinion, aclassic example of a letter which should be left in the bottomdrawer overnight, and then never sent;• Prime Ministers are not noted for changing publiclyannounced decisions on such matters;• Creswell had after all. also achieved his major goal -purchasing six destroyers, after years of politicalvacillation.Experience with AE-I and AE-2 indicates that his technicalconcerns over mobility and sea keeping were vastly overstated. AE-2 steamed 30.000nm in its first 12 months incommission without incident, although there were somechallenging engineering feats needed to achieve this record.He gets full marks for determination and persistence - for hisunwavering advocacy for an independent Australia Navy andinfrastructure nec.essary to defend the Ports and sea bornetrade.A review in 1915 of the Department of Defence's financialand business operations functions, conducted by a respectedbusinessman commented critically on Creswell. who he found32 VOL. 64 NO. I THE NAVYto be: "an exceedingly pleasant old gentleman". but with"only the foggiest idea of modern management" and "andexpensive luxury in his present position".The Minister of the day. Jensen, who chaired the NavalBoard, must bear the majority of the blame; he failed to leadand appeared determined to exploit for his own advantageany disunity. Couldn't happen today I hear you say!! This ishardly the setting for the successful birth of a navy!Looking behind the numerous conferences, committees,plans and proposals to those who made the decisions. 1 wouldsuggest that Deakin and Jackie Fisher shared the honours forconception.Deakin's involvement began with his leadership of theAustralian delegation at the 1887 Naval AgreementConference. He continued to provide this leadership invarious roles as Minister and Prime Minister, for the next 31years. He settled on the strategic objective of an independentNavy, controlled by the Commonwealth Government, fromthe earliest. He correctly recognised that this could only beachieved with the wholesale support of the Royal Navy andresisted efforts to proceed ahead of such agreement. When theopportunity came he acted with alacrity.Jackie Fisher was the other half of the duo. who initiatedthis journey. He displayed the courage to back his convictionsand a drive, which brooked no bureaucratic delays in theAdmiralty.The decision made, the Royal Navy was unstinting inproviding talented personnel to support the endeavour.The colonial sceptic would say that the strategic andfinancial circumstances facing Britain provided the mother ofnecessity.Finally. I suggest the successful result relied heavily onthe individual efforts of Manisty and particularly. Clarkson toMATCHHMAS STUARTachieve the end result.Paymaster-in-Chief Eldon Manisty RN. as the logisticianand Engineering, and Captain William Clarkson as theengineer on an otherwise dysfunctional Naval Board must beregarded as the midwives. without whom the successful birthwould not have been achieved.ConclusionsIt is a fascinating period of our history.I could not help but note the familiar themes:• The lack of trust between the politicians and the navalprofessionals - both operating with great dedication,but to different agendas.• The misguided influence of the partly informed media.• The well-intentioned but badly informed vocalminority of citizens.• The failure to recognise the contribution of thelogistician and engineering specialist and their role atthe strategic level of management - which continuestoday.• At the end of the day. the ability at the sharp end to geton and make things happen, despite all theaforementioned negative assistance.• As a result, in less than 4 years Australia had a Navy,albeit one commanded by Royal Navy Officers forsome years to come.In my opinion Creswell's reputation as the professionalfather of the RAN must be tempered by his limitations inmanaging the political and strategic issues. Without Deakin'svision and the drive of Jackie Fisher, responding to the pressof Strategic circumstances, the Royal Navy's unstintingsupport and the individual efforts of Manisty and Clarksonthe story would have been quite different. J,Hatch, Match & DispatchOn 17 August 2002 NUSHIP STUART was commissionedinto the RAN as HMAS STUART.STUART is the fourth of eight Anzac ships that arc beingconstructed in Australia for the Navy by Tenix. HMASANZAC was the first to be commissioned in May 1996 withPERTH to be the last to commission in October 2006.The STUART is the first warship of its class to becommissioned and home-ported in Sydney."The Anzac ships arc highly modern, multi-role frigatesthai undertake a number of important tasksincluding surveillance and patrol, protection ofshipping and strategic areas, naval gunfiresupport in support of the Army, regional disasterrelief and search and rescue." said DefenceMinister Senator Hill who attended thecommissioning ceremony along with CDFGeneral Cosgrove and Chief of Navy ViceAdmiral Ritchie.Senator Hill said the frigates' surface andsub-surface warfare capabilities would be furtherenhanced with the installation of the Harpoonsurface-to-surface missile, which will beproduced this financial year and enter intoservice in 2004. The Harpoons will be fittedbehind the bridge in two Mk-141 octuplelaunchers.Other enhancements being considered under the AnzacShip Alliance, a long term alliance contract signed in July2001 by Defence. Tenix Defence Systems and Saab Systemsfor development of all future Anzac ships capability changepackages, include a further mine and obstacle avoidance sonarand torpedo self-defence system.The $5,279 billion Anzac ship project, which is proceeding ontime and on budget, has provided significant employment andbusiness opportunities across Australia, with around 600companies involved in the provision of equipment andservices to the project's prime contractor. Tenix DefenceSystems.NUSHIP STUART on sea trials off Melbourne (Tenix)THE NAVY VOL. 64 NO. I 33