Operational History
On completion, Melbourne sailed from Portsmouth for Australia, arriving in Fremantle on 10 March 1913. Until August 1914, the cruiser was primarily involved in training cruises and port visits around Australia. During August and September, the cruiser operated with other Australian warships in the Pacific as a counter to the German East Asia Squadron, and was involved in the capture of several German colonies. Melbourne returned to Sydney on 20 September, and on 1 November joined the escort of the convoy transporting the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps to Egypt. The cruiser left the convoy while in the Indian Ocean, and headed for Gibraltar, where she was then instructed to head for the Azores in search of the German cruiser SMS Karlsruhe.
By the time she reached the Azores on 12 December, Melbourne had been reassigned to Bermuda as part of the North America and West Indies Station. While on the Station, the cruiser patrolled the western Atlantic from Canada to Brazil. In August 1916, she sailed for Devonport in England, where she spent a month before joining the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron of the British Grand Fleet, stationed at Scapa Flow. From January until June 1917, Melbourne was docked at Birkenhead for major repairs to her propulsion system. The cruiser remained with the Grand Fleet until 30 November 1918: during the entire war, Melbourne was not involved in any sea battles. Initially, the cruiser was not awarded any battle honours, but a reorganisation of the RAN honours system published in 2010 retroactively awarded the honours "Rabaul 1914" and "North Sea 1916–18" to the ship.
Melbourne stayed in Portsmouth until 7 March 1919, then sailed for Sydney via Suez, Singapore, and Darwin. The ship was paid off into reserve on 5 August 1919 until 14 April 1920, when she was recommissioned. From 1920 until 1924, Melbourne operated primarily in Australian waters, with cruises to New Zealand and the Pacific islands, and served as Flagship of the Australian Squadron from 1922 until she was returned to reserve on 29 September 1924. The cruiser was returned to service on 8 October 1925, and left Sydney for England on 23 November. Melbourne returned in August 1926, and resumed duties as Flagship.
Read more about this topic: HMAS Melbourne (1912)
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