HMAS Psyche - Operational History

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 Squadron, where she served until October 1913, when the Australia Station was handed to the control of the fledgling RAN. Psyche was then assigned to New Zealand waters. In 1914, Psyche formed part of the escort for the New Zealand Force which occupied German Samoa (now Samoa). Psyche also escorted troop ships heading from New Zealand to the Middle East. She returned to Sydney in late 1914, and was decommissioned on 22 January 1915.

In May 1915, the Australian government suggested to the Admiralty that Psyche be reactivated and loaned to the RAN as a training ship. Approval was granted on 1 June, but before the ship's 1 July commissioning as HMAS Psyche, the Admiralty instead requested that the Australian Commonwealth Naval Board orchestrate a patrol of the Bay of Bengal, in response to the threat of a German-inspired uprising in India and Burma. Psyche was hastily fitted out, provided with a ship's company consisting primarily of untrained sailors, and sailed on 16 August with HMAS Fantome for Singapore. From there, the ships sailed to Ragoon, arriving on 10 September with Psyche's captain, Commander Henry Feakes, under instructions to establish patrols along the Burmese coast with the two warships, plus three British India Steam Navigation Company vessels. Command of the Burma Coast Patrol was passed to Captain George Hutter of HMS Diana on 20 September, with Feakes appointed as Senior Naval Officer Burma and overall commander of the three British India vessels and ten coastal launches. For Psyche, 10-to-12-day patrols along the Burmese coast were the norm, interspersed with crew training duties.

On 17 January 1916, the demobilisation of the Burma Coast Patrol was ordered, as the threat of insurrection in India and Burma had ceased, and German machinations had focused on the Malay Peninsula. Psyche arrived at Penang on 28 January, then sailed three days later for Port Blair. From here, the ship performed patrols of Sumatra. On 12 February, seven stokers refused duty in protest over the poor quality of food being provided to the sailors aboard. All seven were found guilty of disobeying orders, and were punished with prison sentences between 12 and 14 months, plus dismissal from the RAN. The remaining stokers were supplemented by native personnel until 25 April, when replacement RAN personnel arrived. During March, the ship patrolled the Gulf of Siam, and escorted a Russian troop convoy sailing to Europe. During April, further patrols of the Bay of Bengal were made, before Psyche sailed to Hong Kong for inspection and refit. During the period from late 1915 to early 1916, Psyche 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.

During the refit period, personnel from Psyche were used to commission the river gunboat HMS Moorhen on 6 July, and then man her to evacuate European civilians from Canton. The gunboat was halfway up the Pearl River Delta when it was learned that the civilians had been recovered by another vessel, and returned to Hong Kong, where Moorhen decommissioned on 23 July. Also during July, sickness ran through the ship, with 67 personnel sent to the naval hospital ashore, while another 41 were treated aboard: about 60% of the ship's company were unfit for duty during this period. Recurring illnesses had been a problem while the ship operated in tropical climates, and the ship's surgeon recommended the ship be deployed to cooler regions. For one day, the reassignment of flag officers meant that Psyche was Flagship of the China Squadron.

Released from dockyard hands on 14 August, Psyche began patrols along the Chinese coast, with a marked improvement of the health of all aboard. These continued until 14 October, when the cruiser was assigned to Singapore for further patrols of the Bay of Bengal and Sumatra. In March and April 1917, she was assigned to escort duties between Burma and India. On 11 August, Psyche was relieved by HMS Suffolk, and sailed to Sydney, where she arrived on 28 September.

The ship was paid off on 16 October 1917. 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.