Posted on MARHST-L 24 June 2007 by Bob Nicholls, it's reproduced here by permission:
A few days ago I indicated that I would prepare a breakdown of the crew of the battlecruiser HMAS Australia. This is the best I could come up with, apologies for the length.
HMAS Australia was a battlecruiser of the British Indefatigable class purchased by the Australian government as the flagship of the Royal Australian Navy. She was launched in October 1911 and commissioned with a crew of about 820 officers and men.
As Australia was not a very advanced country technologically and the Royal Australian Navy was a brand new force it was necessary to acquire experts from the Royal Navy to operate the ship. This was a responsibility that the RN had accepted some while before.
At the time of the outbreak of war in 1914 the ship was fully operational.
I have been attempting to construct a breakdown of the composition of the crew at that time without success. What follows is a 'best bet' and I would be grateful for comments on my analysis.
One statement, albeit a press one, is that just under half (therefore say 400) were Australian.
I have been unable to take into account the effect of a swell in migration to Australia from the UK in the years before and the likelihood of retired RN personnel enlisting in the RAN.
The Navy List gives only Commissioned and Warrant officers, and even if I could uncover a crew list it wouldn't give any indication of the national origin of the personnel listed. However, I can make an assertion that they were racially Anglo-Saxon British or British stock.
I have divided the ship's company into categories and roughly apportioned the personnel and service source in each.
Commissioned officers (Executive, Engineering, Supply & Secretariat); 100 - 100 per cent RN, either on loan or transfer to the RAN.
Warrant officers; 20 - 100 per cent RN
Artificers (Engine room, Ordnance, Electrical (?)) 100 - the majority say 80 per cent RN
Artisans (Shipwright, Blacksmith, Painter, etc) 50 - half & half RN or RAN
Chief and Petty officers (all branches) 100 majority say 80 percent RN
Seamen (leading, able, ordinary, boy) 200 majority RAN
Stokers (as above) 200 majority RAN
Miscellaneous (medical, schoolmaster, cooks, stewards, storekeepers, writers) 80 half and half RN or RAN.
This totals around 400 crew members being RAN.
The following is a partial list of trades and skills present on board HMS Australia around the time of her commissioning in 1911. In no particular order, so as not to offend anyone. Seaman gunner, boatswain, signalman, telegraphist, sailmaker, artificer, mechanician, stoker, carpenter, shipwright, blacksmith, plumber, painter, cooper, armourer, electrician, torpedoman, sick berth steward, sick berth attendant, paymaster, clerk, writer, steward, steward assistant, ship’s cook, officer cook, master at arms, ship’s corporal, butcher, lamptrimmer, physical training instructor, band corporal, ship’s musician, coxswain, printer, diver.
This from the Ship’s Book in the Australian Archives, A4141/1 Vol I.
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