HMQS Midge
Encyclopedia
HMQS Midge was a torpedo launch
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
that served with the Queensland Maritime Defence Force, the Commonwealth Naval Forces and 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...
.
Construction
Following the formation of the Queensland Maritime Defence Force the colonial government decided to supplement the recently acquired vessels with a small torpedo launch. HMQS Midge was specifically built in England for this purpose and shipped out to Australia in 1887. She was of wooden construction using a combination of teak and mahogany.Service
Like Mosquito, she was never commissioned but simply placed into service when required and therefore was usually moored at the Naval Stores Depot at Kangaroo PointKangaroo Point
Kangaroo Point can be either:* Kangaroo Point, New South Wales - a suburb in Sutherland Shire, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia* Kangaroo Point, Hornsby, New South Wales - a suburb in Hornsby Shire, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
on the Brisbane River
Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in south east Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay. John Oxley was the first European to explore the river who named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane in 1823...
.
With federation in 1901 she was transferred to the Commonwealth and served as a training ship. Midge was still on strength in 1911 when the Royal Australian Navy was formed but she was stripped and paid off the next year. Midges engines were found to be in such good condition that they went on to be used for many years at the Royal Australian Navy's engineering school. The hull was sold as a private yacht in 1912, and was renamed Nola II.