HMVS Cerberus and HMS Glatton

The period between 1860 and 1900 saw massive developments in warship designs. Iron and then steel replaced wood, sail was replaced by steam-power, and the calibre of guns grew as the numbers of guns carried aboard a warship diminished. Things developed so fast at times that ships could be designed, built, and then be obsolete by the time they entered service.

In the UK, the old enemy France was first an ally (during the Crimean War), then a threat (in the run up to the Franco-German War), and then a colonial rival. At the same time, the power of Imperial Russia waxed and waned and the new German Empire began to emerge as a serious rival.

It is against this background that HMVS Cerberus and HMAS Glatton were built.

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HMVS Cerberus

By the middle of the 1860s, Russia was expanding its influence in the Pacific and this was perceived as a threat to the British colonies in Australia. As a result, the government of the Victoria ordered a ship to supplement the existing coastal defences at Port Philip Bay. The ship was a breastwork monitor and was named HMVS Cerberus.

She and her sistership HMS Magdala (which was built by Thames Iron Works, Blackwall) were designed by designed by Edward James Reed, Chief Constructor to the Royal Navy and was constructed by Palmers Shipbuilding at their Jarrow-on-Tyne shipyard. (HMS Magdala was ordered by the India Office for the Bombay Marine and was based at Bombay, now Mumbai.)

HMVS Cerberus was laid down on 1st August 1867, launched on 2nd December 1868, and completed in August 1870. The British Admiralty paid 80% of the cost (£117,556) on the understanding that if she required to perform any role other than the defence of Victoria, she would come under Admiralty control.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 3,340 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 225ft (68.6m)
• Beam: 45ft 1in (13.7m)
• Draught: 15ft 6in (4.7m)
• Propulsion: 5 x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Maudslay Sons & Field horizontal twin-cylinder, double-acting, steam engines each driving a propellor
• Speed: 9.75 knots (maximum); 6 knots (economical)
• Complement: 12 officers, 84 sailors (plus 40 additional in wartime)
• Armament:
• 2 x twin 10-inch (254mm) rifled muzzle loading guns
• 2 x single 12-pdr bronze howitzers
• 4 x 4-barrel 1-inch Nordenfelt revolving barrel guns (1883)
• 2 x single Nordenfelt 6-pdr quick-firing guns (1890)
• 2 x single Maxim-Nordenfelt 14-pdr quick-firing guns (1897)
• Armour:
• Belt: 6-inches to 8-inches (150mm to 200 mm), backed by 9-inches to 11-inches (230mm to 280mm) of teak
• Breastwork: 8-inches to 9-inches (200mm to 230mm)
• Turrets: 9-inches to 10-inches (23mm0 to 250mm)
• Deck: 1-inch to 1.25-inches (25mm to 32mm)

In 1887, HMVS Cerberus was fitted with torpedo nets, but soon afterwards she was reclassified as a storeship. When the Federation of Australia was created in 1901, she became part of the Commonwealth Naval Force. When the Commonwealth Naval Force became the Royal Australian Navy in 1911, she became HMAS Cerberus.

During the Great War she served as a guard ship and storeship even though her main armament was no longer operable. Her low freeboard made her an ideal candidate to act as a submarine tender when six J-class submarines were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy, and she was re-named HMAS Platypus II on 1st April 1921. She kept this name until she was sold for scrapping on 23rd April 1924.

After all the salvageable material had been removed, the remains of her hull was sold to Sandringham Council who scuttled her on 26th September 1926 at Half Moon Bay to serve as a breakwater for the Black Rock Yacht Club ... and her hull still remains in situ.

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HMS Glatton

Whereas HMVS Cerberus was designed with the threat of the Imperial Russian Navy in mind, HMS Glatton's expected opponent was the French Navy. Like HMVS Cerberus, HMS Glatton was designed by Edward Reed ... but her task in time of war was to defend Britain's coast and to maintain a close blockage on enemy (i.e. French) ports. As a result, her design was quite different from that of HMVS Cerberus. For example, she had a deeper draught so that she could operate in deeper water and a higher top speed.

HMS Glatton was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 10th August 1868, launched on 8th March 1871 and completed on 24th February 1872. She was immediately commissioned into the Dockyard reserve and served as a tender to the school of naval gunnery, HMS Excellent.

Her characteristics were as follows:

• Displacement: 4,912 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 245ft 9in (74.9m)
• Beam: 54ft (16m)
• Draught: 19ft 5in (5.92m)
• Propulsion: 2? x coal-fired boilers providing steam to 2 x Laird​ twin-cylinder steam engines, each driving a propellor
• Speed: 12.11 knots
• Complement: 185
• Armament:
• 1 x twin 12-inch (305mm) 25-ton rifled muzzle loading guns
• 3 x single 6-pdr Hotchkiss quick-firing guns (1881)
• 3 x single machine guns (1881)
• 2 or 3 x 14-inch (356mm) torpedo launchers (1881)
• Armour:
• Belt: 10-inches to 12-inches (250mm to 300 mm)
• Breastwork: 12-inches (3000mm)
• Turrets: 14-inches (360mm) on the turret face & 12-inches (300mm) on the sides and back
• Deck: 3-inches (76mm)

HMS Glatton joined the Particular Service Squadron in 1873 and was fired at during a live firing exercise. In 1881 she was fitted with the equipment needed to launch 14-inch (360mm) torpedoes as well as three 6 pounder Hotchkiss quick-firing guns and 4 machine guns. She was then returned to the reserve.

Six years later HMS Glatton was fully commissioned so that she could take part in that year's fleet manoeuvres, and 'defended' the Thames estuary alongside HMS Prince Albert. She then became part of the fleet's second class reserve, where she remained until she was sold in for scrap in July1903 as part of Admiral Fisher's pruning of the reserve fleet.