HMAS Encounter (1902)

Encounter's ship's cat sitting in the muzzle of a 6-inch gun

Assigned to the Pacific Station during 1914–15, Encounter was part of the force which occupied German New Guinea.[6] In the course of that operation, she captured the steamer Zambezi on 12 August and, on 14 September, bombarded Toma Ridge to support the Australian Military and Naval Expeditionary Force which was besieging the town. That action made her the first RAN ship to fire in anger.[6] She covered the landing at Madang on 24 September.[5] In October, she was sent to the Fiji-Samoa area.[5] During a patrol of the region on 25 April 1915, Encounter captured the German sailing vessel Elfriede.[6][10]

In 1915, Encounter underwent refit in Sydney, then sailed on 21 July to transport a garrison to Fanning Island.[5] Sometime in 1915, the ship sustained hull damage from a coral reef at Johnson Island.[5] Temporary repairs were made at Suva, before the ship sailed to Hong Kong for permanent repairs.[5] The cruiser also operated in the Malay archipelago during early 1916, but was recalled to Australian waters on 11 February 1916, because all other RAN ships had been deployed elsewhere.[5]

In July 1916, during a visit to an unnamed island off the coast of Western Australia, two bronze cannons were discovered by Encounter officers Commander C.W. Stevens and Surgeon Lieutenant W. Roberts. The latter described:

approximately 25 paces from the water’s edge, we saw the two carronades protruding, through the sand 2/3rds of each being exposed so that they were easily lifted out. They were ... 6 feet apart and certainly had the appearance of leading marks ... a large number of the ship’s company landed and next day, shifted sand over practically the whole area for a considerable depth. The only other object found was a small portion of a brass bound chest. You can imagine the disappointment of the matelots who had visions of buried treasure

— Surgeon Commander Roberts, Letter from Surgeon Commander Roberts, 18 August 1933.[11]

Because the guns were erroneously thought to be carronades, the place was named "Carronade Island".[11][12]

On 12 January 1917, Encounter was ordered to New Zealand, where she met a convoy of Australian and New Zealand troopships.[6] The cruiser remained with the convoy until a rendezvous point in the Indian Ocean, where responsibility was handed over to ships of the East Indies Station.[6] On 6 July, Encounter assisted SS Cumberland, which had struck a mine off Gabo Island.[5] In August, the cruiser assisted in the search for the missing merchantman SS Matunga; it was not known until 1918 that she had been a victim of the German raider Wolf.[6][5] The ship visited Mopelia Island in September 1917, to search for the wreck of the German raider Seeadler.[5]

From December 1917 until April 1918, Encounter underwent refit in Sydney, and then returned to Western Australia.[6] The ship travelled between Fremantle and Sydney several times before the end of the war.[5] The cruiser's wartime activities were later recognised with the battle honour "Rabaul 1914".[13][14]

In early 1919, Encounter was sent to Darwin to protect Administrator John Gilruth, following the Darwin Rebellion. Gilruth and his family boarded her on 20 February 1919 and were taken to Melbourne.[15] The ship was permanently transferred to the RAN[5] on 5 December 1919. The ship was used in a training role, and acquired the nickname "the Old Bus".[5]

Encounter paid off into reserve on 30 September 1920.[6] She was assigned to the naval base at Garden Island as a depot ship in May 1923, and was renamed HMAS Penguin.[6] The ship was decommissioned on 15 August 1929.[6] She was scuttled on 14 September 1932 off Bondi Beach, Sydney.[5] Encounter lies at a depth of around 74 metres (243 ft) and is dived regularly.[16][17]