1880

1880	24-May	Lt Bower, RN, HMS Conflict, schooner, inter-ceded in a dispute between Wesleyan missionaries and the captain of the recruiting schooner Ninafow at the Duke of York Islands.
1880	12-Jun	Lt G. Bower, RN, HMS Raleigh, frigate, reported conflict between English and German trading companies in the Duke of York Islands.
1880	3-Jul	Capt M. B. Medlycott, RN, HMS Turquoise, composite steam corvette, sailed from Callao on a six-month investigation of the political situation in the Pacific.
1880	15-Oct	Lt James St Clair Bower, RN, and five of the crew of HM schooner Sandfly were massacred by natives at Nogu Island in the Solomons. A sixth member of the crew was killed the next day when an attempt was made to recover the bodies of the victims.
1880	2-Nov	A report from HMS Beagle to the Commodore Commanding the Australia Station described the French colony established at Port Carteret, New Ireland.
1881	5-Apr	HMNS Batavia, Lt Cdr M. A. Medenbach, cruised the north-east coast of New Guinea distributing Dutch flags and coats of arms to native villages to counter British and German influence in the area.
1881	17-Apr	HM ships Cormorant, corvette, Cdr James Bruce, RN, and Renard, schooner, Lt W. S. King RN sailed from Sydney on a punitive expedition to Florida Islands in the Solomoms.
1881	12-May	Cdr James Bruce, RN, HM ships Cormorant and Renard, blockaded the Uji area of Florida Island to force the natives to surrender the murderers of Lt Bower, RN, and six of his crew. The blockade was enforced to 22 May when Holambosi, the chiefs son, was delivered to the ships. Three more natives surrendered on 5 June and were executed at the site of the massacre.
1881	29-Jun	HMS Nelson, armoured belt cruiser, flagship of the Imperial Squadron on the Australia Station. Two warships of the same name were in Australian waters at this period. HMS Nelson, 1st Rate, later HMVS Nelson, reduced to a single deck ship, was flagship of the Victorian Navy.
1881	6-Jul	The Detached Squadron of the RN, HM ships Bacchante, iron steam corvette, Carysfort, steam corvette, Cleopatra, steam corvette, Tourmaline, steam corvette, and Inconstant, iron steam frigate, arrived in Sydney on a flag-showing cruise.
1881	15-Oct	Lt Stokes-Rees, RN, recorded the problems of cockroaches aboard HMS Beagle. ‘When my ship returned to Sydney after the first cruise she was infested with cockroaches. She was emptied and her lining torn out; she was towed alongside HMS Sapphire, corvette, and steamed and fumigated. She was then moored alongside Garden Island and filled with water. The ship’s company of 25 lived under canvas on the island and for three days fumigated their kits. Then the schooner was pumped till the pumps choked with cockroaches. The rest of the water was bailed out and dead cockroaches were passed by thousands of buckets. New lining was put in, the ballast was carefully picked over before being replaced— and in it were found may pairs of leg-irons for convicts — new stores were supplied and in three weeks the cockroaches were swarming again.’
1882	16-Jan	HMS Wolverine, screw corvette, was presented to the NSW Government as a ‘royal gift’. The ship was used for training the NSW Naval Brigade.
1882	20-Jan	HM colonial ship Wolverine sailed on her first training cruise with the NSW Naval Brigade.
1882	21-Jan	A Russian Squadron consisting of the steam frigate Afrika and the corvettes Vestnik and Platon commanded by Admiral Aslanbegoff arrived in Australian waters. The ships visited Sydney, Hobart and Auckland.
1882	11-Mar	The ‘Queenslander’ wrote that Melbourne ‘could be shelled and brought to surrender easily in 24 hours by such a fleet as that commanded by Admiral Aslanbegoff’. The Russian squadron, however, committed no unfriendly act in Australian waters.
1882	23-Mar	The Report of a Royal Commission into Colonial Defence ordered by the British Prime Minister Disraeli, was published in part. Sections dealing with the unpreparedness of Australian colonies to defend themselves were suppressed.
1882	23-Mar	The Melbourne Age stated that the Russian Fleet was ‘ready to pounce on the colonies’ and would loot £10 million from both Melbourne and Sydney and £3.2 million from Brisbane.
1882	3-Jul	The RN established the Directorate of Intelligence under Admiral Sir George Tryon. Both Tryon and Admiral Sir Lewis Beaumont, who later directed DNI, served on the Australia Station and contributed to the formation of the RAN.
1883	18-Mar	The German corvette Carola sailed from Sydney to lay claim to New Guinea. The German inten-tions were forestalled by the Queensland Premier, Sir Thomas Micillwraith, who ordered the Government steamer Pearl to Port Moresby.
1883	5-Jun	SMS Carola, corvette, lent assistance to the Australian schooner Fanny after it had been attacked by natives in New Britain. Cdr Kurcher reported the incident to the Commodore Commanding Australia Station and requested the stationing of a British man-o’-war in the area to assist the Germans in keeping the peace.
1883	15-Sep	The Deputy Commissioner for the Western Pacific, H. H. Romilly, embarked in the steam corvette HMS Diamond, reported blackbirding and the sale of arms to natives in the islands. His report was forwarded to the Flag Officer Commanding the Australia Station.
1884	14-Feb	HMVS Victoria, steam gunboat, Capt A. B. Thomas, RN, sailed from Portsmouth for Australia.
1884	16-Mar	HMVS Childers, torpedo boat, was diverted to Suakin to participate in the Sudan War. The Victorian gunboats Victoria and Albert joined her on 19 March but the war was already won and the services of the colonials were not required.
1884	1-May	Tasmania’s only warship, an unnamed 2nd class torpedo boat, arrived at Hobart.
1884	13-May	HMQS Gayundah, gunboat, was launched at Newcastle upon Tyne, England.
1884	25-Jun	VN torpedo boat Childers arrived in Port Philip on her maiden voyage.
1884	16-Jul	HMQS Mosquito, 2nd class torpedo boat, was launched in the UK.
1884	28-Jul	The Admiralty requested the services of either HMQ ships Gayundah or Paluma for survey duties in northern waters. Paluma was selected.
1884	26-Aug	The Brisbane Courier reported: ‘Three Russian ironclads were under orders to proceed at once to reinforce the Russian Naval Forces on the China Station’. Fears of Russia were rife in all the Australian colonies in the second half of the nineteenth century.
1884	26-Sep	The QN gunboats Gayundah and Paluma completed shipbuilder trials on the Tyne River. Both vessels attained a speed of 10.5 knots.
1884	30-Sep	HM colonial gunboat Protector, Capt J. C. P. Walcot RN arrived in Port Adelaide, SA.
1884	6-Nov	The Protectorate over British New Guinea was proclaimed by Cdre Erskine off board HMS Nelson at Port Moresby.
1884	13-Nov	HMQS Gayundah, gunboat, sailed from Newcastle upon Tyne for Brisbane. The ship was under the command of Capt Henry Townley Wright, RN, for the voyage.
1884	17-Dec	The text of a signal from Cdre Erskine, RN, Commanding Australia Station, to the Admiralty reporting the formation of German colonies in New Guinea and adjacent islands was: ‘Raven arrived Cooktown. Swinger returned to Port Moresby. Reports that German ships Elizabeth, Marie and Hyeine were found at Matupi. The Captain of the Elizabeth states that they have hoisted the German flag on the north coast of New Guinea, from 141 Meridian as far as Huon, Gulf, including Admiralty, Hermit, Anchorite, New Britain, New Ireland Groups’.
1885	23-Jan	The Queensland Naval Brigade was formed under Lt Walton Drake, RN.
1885	3-Mar	The Australian contingent to the Sudan War sailed from Sydney in the troopships Iberia and Australasian.
1885	25-Mar	Cdr 1. C. P. Walcot, RN, was conimissionc commandant of the South Australian Navy Brigade.
1885	27-Mar	Admiral Sir George Tryon, CB, presented his proposals on the defence of Australia to the Governments of the Australian Colonies. The report recommended one fleet for all the colonies and New Zealand.
1885	28-Mar	HMQS Gayundah, gunboat, arrived at Brisbane on her maiden voyage.
1885	13-Apr	HMS Diamond, corvette, was stationed at Port Adelaide to guard against an attack by Russian commerce raiders.
1885	2-Jun	The strength of the NSW Naval Brigade reached 640 in all ranks.
1885	4-Jul	Rates of pay for the Queensland Navy. Commander:£1200; Senior Lieutenant: £720; Lieutenant Instructor: £300; Chief Engineer: £600; Assistant Engineer: £360; Gunner and instructor: £360; Master at Arms: £240; Ship Steward: £240; Wardroom Steward: £192; Captain’s Servant: £120; Chief Boatswain’s Mate: £192; Stokers: £168 to £192; Cook: £180; 2nd Class Petty Officer: £168; Armourer: £164; Seaman: £144; Wardroom Officer’s Servant:~96; Boy:~24. The rates quoted are annual but few members of the service were engaged on a permanent basis.
1885	9-Sep	The Admiralty asked the Australian colonies to raise, maintain and command local defence forces.
1886	19-Mar	The German warship Albatross landed a punitive expedition of three boatloads of sailors on the Gazelle Peninsula, New Britain, to punish the natives of Kobaira and Kabakada for attacks on German settlers. The sailors were outnumbered by the natives and forced to return to the ship.
1886	24-Jul	VA Freiherr von Schleinitz, High Commissioner for German New Guinea, sailed from Finschhafen in the Government steamer Ottilie to explore the Sepik River.
1886	2-Sep	The Admiralty approved the hoisting of the White Ensign in the Queensland gunboat Paluma while the vessel was engaged in survey duties.
1887	30-Jan	The Admiralty agreed to provide eight cadetships a year for Australians and two for New Zealanders at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Approval was also given for the formation of Naval Reserves in both colonies. The decisions followed demands for increased colonial involvement in naval defence.
1887	23-Jul	His Excellency, Sir Hercules Robinson, GCMG, telegraphed a proposal made by Sir William Jervois for the purchase of an ironclad for port defence in NSW to the Earl of Carnarvon. The NSW Government, however, took no further action on the proposal.
1887	5-Oct	The anthem ‘Advance Australia Fair’ was first performed. Bands of the RAN played the anthem in 1919.
1888	20-Jan	The Russian steam corvette, HIRMS Rynda, arrived at Newcastle. Rynda had sailed from Vladivostok in 1887 on a cruise of New Guinea waters.
1888	16-Feb	Calliope Dock opened at Auckland, New Zealand. The dock was used for ships of the Australia station.
1888	5-Jun	HMS Australia, 1st class belted cruiser, joined the Mediterranean Fleet for exercises.
1888	13-Jul	The SA Government came under bitter criticism for not despatching the SA gunboat Protector to sea to search for survivors of the sailing ship Star of Greece. Protector stood by in Port Adelaide with steam up but the order was not received.
1888	4-Sep	British New Guinea was annexed. HMS Opal, Cdr Field, RN, arrived at Port Moresby and landed the Administrator Designate, William McGregor, MD, CMG, with a guard of honour composed of Royal Marines and sailors from Opal The Administrator was sworn in and the British flag was raised at 4 p.m.
1888	25-Oct	Police Commissioner D. T. Seymour removed Capt H. Townley-Wright, RN, from his ship HMQS Gayundah in the Brisbane River. Townley-Wright had been ordered to hand over his command to another officer and refused to comply with the order. The Battle of Brisbane, with police snipers lining the river banks and Gayundah’s guns manned, was narrowly averted.
1888	26-Oct	Plans for a protected cruiser for the VN were prepared by Sir William Armstrong & Co., England, and placed before the Victorian Government. The 1040-tonne ship was designed to carry three 15.2-cm breech loaders, four 2.7-kg guns, six 1.4kg guns and six Gatling guns, in addition to two 45 7cm torpedo tubes. The ship was not built.
1888	15-Nov	Capt Henry Coey Kane, RN, HMS Calliope, gave evidence before a NSW parliamentary Committee on the relative merits of various ports in Australasia as the location for a base for ships of the Australia Station.
1888	2-Dec	HMS Penguin commenced anti slavery patrols off Zanzibar. Lt T. El. Hibbert, RN, and Mr Job, RN, boatswain, received a commendation from the Foreign Office for capturing two slave dows and releasing 14 slaves at Pemba during the ship’s first patrol.
1889	11-Feb	The Sydney Morning Herald reported HM ships Orlando and Dart were docked in Calliope Dock, Auckland, because Sydney facilities could not undertake the work.
1889	3-Mar	HMS Calliope, screw corvette, was despatched from Sydney to Samoa to forestall German and American plans to annex the island.
1889	15-Mar	HMS Calliope, corvette, survived a disastrous hurricane at Apia, Samoa, which caused the loss of the German warships Eber, Olger and Adler, the US warships Nipsic, Vandalia and Trenton and 19 merchant vessels. More than 150 lives were lost in the disaster. Calliope’s escape was attributed to superior British seamanship and good Westport coal. The hurricane defused a political situation in which the three powers were engaged.
1889	4-Apr	HMS Calliope, corvette, returned to Sydney after surviving the hurricane at Apia, Samoa.
1889	30-Jun	The Victorian Fleet consisted of Nelson, cut down battleship; Cerberus, turret ship; Batman, armed auxiliary; Fawkner, armed auxiliary, Childers, torpedo boat; Nepean, torpedo boat; Lonsdale, torpedo boat; Victoria. gunboat; Albert, gunboat; Gordon, torpedo launch; Commissioner, torpedo launch; Lion, torpedo launch; Gannet, armed tug; and Lady Loch, armed auxiliary.