HMVS Cerberus
Jan. 6th, 2008 09:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xenithI thought HMVS Cerberus & the campaign to save her might be of interest.
Built in 1868, Cerberus is a breastwork monitor, an improvement on the American monitors. The Heritage At Risk site has a 'now' photo of her rusting away in Half Moon Bay (near Melbourne) and a good 'then' photo, and a good background.
Throughout her 53 years of service, HMVS Cerberus was never required to fire a shell at an enemy.
The closest she came was in 1878 in an attempt to apprehend a small trading vessel which was trying to evade customs duties by sneaking up Port Phillip Bay.
While the ship was lying at anchor in Hobson's Bay, the crew spotted the trading vessel and sprang into action to fire a shot at it.
Unfortunately they had not realised that the tide had turned, turning the ship around so that its guns faced towards the shore.
A shot from the ship's guns blew the roof off a chemist's shop in St Kilda. The crew then turned the gun around and fired again, this time hitting the Gellibrand Lighthouse. The crew were then ordered to cease-fire.
The offending vessel was later apprehended at daylight.
Now the Friends Of site is back up, which has the campaign details, although it's a rather awful site to navigate.
This is a a well done page though and the Wikipedia page is informative.
Also, you download a free paper model to assemble or look on Google Maps.
Built in 1868, Cerberus is a breastwork monitor, an improvement on the American monitors. The Heritage At Risk site has a 'now' photo of her rusting away in Half Moon Bay (near Melbourne) and a good 'then' photo, and a good background.
Throughout her 53 years of service, HMVS Cerberus was never required to fire a shell at an enemy.
The closest she came was in 1878 in an attempt to apprehend a small trading vessel which was trying to evade customs duties by sneaking up Port Phillip Bay.
While the ship was lying at anchor in Hobson's Bay, the crew spotted the trading vessel and sprang into action to fire a shot at it.
Unfortunately they had not realised that the tide had turned, turning the ship around so that its guns faced towards the shore.
A shot from the ship's guns blew the roof off a chemist's shop in St Kilda. The crew then turned the gun around and fired again, this time hitting the Gellibrand Lighthouse. The crew were then ordered to cease-fire.
The offending vessel was later apprehended at daylight.
Now the Friends Of site is back up, which has the campaign details, although it's a rather awful site to navigate.
This is a a well done page though and the Wikipedia page is informative.
Also, you download a free paper model to assemble or look on Google Maps.
