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HMAS Encounter was a Challenger class second class cruiser that spent most of the First World War on the Australian station. She had been given to the new Royal Australian Navy in 1912. In August 1914 the Australian government decided to attack German New Guinea, and organised a military expedition. The Encounter was part of the squadron led by the battlecruiser HMAS Australia which escorted the invasion fleet from Rossel Lagoon at the eastern end of New Guinea to Rabaul and then to Freidrich-Wilhelm Harbour. In early October the squadron then put to sea in case the German squadron under Admiral von Spee turned towards Australia. By the start of November the Encounter, along with the Australia and the Montcalm were at Suva, expecting orders which never came to chase von Spee across the Pacific.
Other than a short spell on the China station in 1915-1916, the Encounter spent the rest of the war on the Australia station, operating under the direct orders of the government at Melbourne. After the war she was used as a receiving ship at Sydney (1919-1923), then as a submarine depot ship (1923-1929) under the name Penguin. She was finally paid off in 1929 and scuttled in 1932.
Displacement |
5,880t |
Top Speed |
21kts |
Armour – deck |
1.5in – 3in |
- conning tower |
6in |
- gunshields |
3in |
- engine hatches |
5in |
Length |
372ft |
Armaments |
Eleven 6in quick firing guns |
Crew complement |
450 |
Launched |
18 June 1902 |
Completed |
21 November 1905 |
Captains |
Captain C. La P. Lewin (1914) |
Scuttled |
1932 |