Adele (1906) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Adele was a steel screw steamer that was built in 1906 as a yacht. She was twice commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

(RAN), firstly as HMAS Franklin and later as HMAS Adele. She was wrecked at Port Kembla, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

on 7 May 1943.

Design and construction

Adele was built in 1906 by Hawthorns & Co Ltd, Leith

Leith

-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

as yard number 116. She was launched on 18 October 1906 and completed in November 1906.

Originally built as a yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

, she was later converted to steam power.

Propulsion

By 1930, Adele was powered by a 68 hp triple expansion steam engine with cylinders of 12 inches (304.8 mm), 19 inches (482.6 mm) and 33 inches (838.2 mm) bore by 22 inches (558.8 mm) stroke. The engine was manufactured by Hawthorns & Co Ltd. Adele was capable of 12 knots (23.5 km/h).

Official Number and Code Letters

Official numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers

IMO ship identification number

The IMO ship identification number is made of the three letters "IMO" followed by the seven-digit number assigned to all ships by IHS Fairplay when constructed. This is a unique seven digit number that is assigned to propelled, sea-going merchant ships of 100 GT and above...

. In 1930, Adele had the UK Official Number 123022 and used the Code Letters

Code letters

Code letters were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids. Later, with the introduction of radio, code letters were also used as radio callsigns.-History:...

HJRW.

Operational history

In 1915, Adele was purchased by the Australia Government for £21,500

Australian pound

The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...

from the estate of Henry Dutton of Kapunda, South Australia.

On 14 September 1915 she was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS Franklin. HMAS Franklin served as a tender to the Royal Australian Naval College. She was paid off on 31 March 1921 only to be recommissioned on 21 September.

Franklin was decommissioned on 18 September 1922 and gifted to the Administrator of Papua-New Guinea, serving there until 1929. By 1930, she had reverted to the name Adele and was owned by the Commonwealth Government of Australia and operated by the Department of Home & Territories. At the time she was homeported at Port Adelaide under the British Flag. In 1932, Adele was laid up at Rabaul

Rabaul

Rabaul is a township in East New Britain province, Papua New Guinea. The town was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash of a volcanic eruption. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of metres into the air and the...

. She was sold for £1,652 on 7 December of that year to W L Buckland of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia who refitted her as a private yacht and used her for cruising. Adele was later sold to C H Relph of Sydney and was laid up for some years at Rose Bay

Rose Bay, New South Wales

Rose Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rose Bay is located 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Waverley Municipal Council and Woollahra Council .Rose Bay has views of both the Sydney...

Port Jackson

Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...

, Sydney.

On 24 October 1939, Adele was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Adele. She was armed with two •303-in Vickers machine guns

Vickers machine gun

Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...

and employed as an examination vessel

Examination vessel

An examination vessel is a vessel used to inspect ships and boats entering a port during wartime.An examination vessel would typically be responsible for examining and verifying all merchant ships and small craft entering or departing a port...

. From December 1941, HMAS Adele was attached to .

Loss

On 7 May 1943, Adele struck the breakwater at Port Kembla and was subsequently declared a total loss. The wreck of Adele is protected under the New South Wales Heritage Act, 1977.

Legacy

Franklin is remembered in the naming of two other sail training yachts associated with the RAN College

HMAS Creswell

HMAS Creswell is a shore establishment of the Royal Australian Navy, a part of the Australian Defence Force, and consists of the Royal Australian Naval College , The RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range and an administrative support...