Notes on Royal Australian Navy Mail

Australian ships served in many countries overseas and an indication as to where they served can be found in the abbreviated schedules. It is hoped that some Australian naval items may be discovered in specialist country collections.

HMAS AUSTRALIA (I)
Battle Cruiser
Indefatigable Class
Number of Crew 820
Construction completed 21st June 1916

Service in Pacific and Atlantic during WW1

1914
August-September. Departed Sydney to Rabaul New Britain, Bougainville, Port Moresby, Noumea New Caledonia, Suva Fiji, Apia Samoa, Suva, Herbertshoe New Britain, Rabaul,

October- December. Rabaul, Suva, Fanning Island, Chamela Bay Mexico, Galapagos Islands, Colombia, Panama, Colombia, Peru, St.Felix Island, Valparaiso Chile, Magellan Straits.

1915
January. Falkland Islands, Brazil, Cape Verde Islands

28th January. Arrived Plymouth England. Until April 1916 patrolled North Sea from naval base at Rosyth, Scotland. Also operated from Scapa Flow.

1919
15th June.
Returned to Sydney, its home base

1924
12th April. Scuttled.

Censorship
Two types of censor marks used on board (Fig.1).

Fig 1

Mail is cancelled with a security canceller the shape of propellers (Fig.2) or crosses (Fig.3) and other security canceller types.

Fig 2

Fig 3

Machine cancellers were used at the larger naval bases and (Fig.4) shows machine cancellers used at the Fleet Mail Office Scapa Flow.

Fig 4

An 8 bar dumb canceller used at shore bases which were issued in November 1914 to Scapa Flow base P.O. (Fig 5).

Fig 5

Postcards
Postcards of the crew and ships have been produced

Stationery
Australian lettercards were issued during WW1 with illustrations on back of some Australia I crew (Fig 6).

Fig 6