Jul and Oct 1982 - Navy League of Australia

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HMAS
ALBATROSS
Maid of all Work
by LEUTJ. H.STRACZEKRAN
ORIGIN
During the early 1920s the
lynch-pin of Australia's
defence policy was the
development of a large British
naval base at Singapore.
The intention was (or Britain to base a
natal squadron al Singapore which could
destroy any flcci thai presented a threat to
Imperial security in the East. Hiding
behind this proposed British Fleet,
successive Australian Governments began
to spend less and less on defence Accordingly,
when the British Labour Government
decided to defer the Singapore Naval
Base project in February. 1924. Australia
had virtually no defence policy no- any
modern naval forces.
With this reversal and the lack of
modern naval forces the Government
announced on June 27, 1924. that worldwide
tenders would be called for (he construction
of two cruisers and two oceangoing
submarines. The awarding of these
contracts to British shipyards caused a
nation-wide controversy, with the Labour
opposition demanding that the ships
should be built in Australia. By having
these ships built overseas the Government
was to save JCI million. However, on June
HMASMBA TROSS nilh * Seagull III in flight. (Photo ~ RAN).
HMAS A I.BA TROSS in Port Melbourne.
1929. (Photo - RAS)
10. 1925, the Government announced that
(he money saved was to be used to pay for
the construction of a seaplane lender at
Cockatoo Island and that the ship would
be named ALBATROSS.
At the time of the Government's
announcement, the Royal Australian
Navy had no requirement or plans to
build such a ship. However, shortly after
the announcement, a telegram was sent to
the Director of Naval Construction in
London requesting that they design a seaplane
carrier for the RAN. Along with the
request to design the ship were the RAN '..
specifications. These included:
t
taia maximum speed of not less than 21
knots; and
(b) a cost not exceeding £ I million.
Given the lack of detailed specifications
and the fact that the type and number of
seaplanes to be carried was not known,
the designers faced an extremely difficult
task. In an attempt to get around some of
these problems, the design team decided
to use (he Fairey HID, which was in
service with the RAAF. as the aircraft
around which to design the ship. Another
arbitary decision made by the design team
was that (he ship would carry nine
aircraft. Once these decisions had been
made the design of (he ship progressed
rapidly.
Basically ALBATROSS was designed
around a large hangar, which was divided
into three bays and ran almost half the
length of the ship. Above the hangar was
the flight deck with the catapult, which
was not fitted (ill 1936, and three large
electric cranes. These cranes weie
designed to assist in handling (he aircraft
whilst on deck as well as lif(ing the aircraft
into and out of the water.
Surrounding the hangars were the aircraft
Page Twelve October. 1982
October. 1982
THE NAVY
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