Campaign to save HMVS Cerberus, the 1st modern battleship

[Liz]

Currently a breakwater, HMVS Cerberus was built in the 1860s using leading edge technology. She was, for example, the first British warship to dispense completely with sail power. A campaign is underway to raise Cerberus and place her on a supporting structure. For more information, please see http://www.cerberus.com.au/index.html.

[jersey]

Don't know about HMVS Cerberus, but HMAS Cerberus was the ruination of many a young sailors dreams - spent a year there training and two years instructing
at a later date.
Let the thing rust in peace I say.
David

[Liz]

I'm not sure I quite follow your line of argument, but I'm pretty sure we're talking about the same ship:
> HMVS would have been the pre-Federation appellation (when she was the flagship of the Navy of the colony of Victoria) and
> HMAS would have been used from 1901 (when Victoria and the other Australian colonies federated to become the Commonwealth of Australia).

[jersey]

Liz,
Just using the association of names, Cerberus (HMAS) is the main training base at Crib Point for the RAN.
David

[Liz]

OK, but HMAS Cerberus the base only opened in 1920. HMVS/HMAS Cerberus the battleship is the only warship to have survived from all those that went into the Royal Australian Navy at its foundation.

[jersey]

Liz
Flinders Naval Depot was commenced as the RAN training depot in 1911. In 1921 it was renamed HMAS Cerberus after HMVS Cerberus which was sunk in 1926 to form a breakwater
in Port Phillip Bay.
The campaign to ressurect the remains of the old ship is probably just a new one following on from many other campaigns in the past which for one reason or another have failed
to materialize. I certainly can remember similar ideas when I lived in Melbourne. Whether it will succeed I don't know, there can't be too much left of the old hull, and whether it
is a worthwhile project I could not say.
David

[Hank]

Well, RN types, it's your vessel and your heritage. Here in the States the issue of preservation has come up regarding vessels out of commission, especially those in , shall we say, rough condition. One solution might be to use the parent material in creating the next generation of warships and transports, as with some of the wreckage of the twin towers of 9/11 being used in the hull of the name class New York. Something about that sits well with me, the coin placed in the mast well before the mast is reset.