Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

Pelorus Class,Third Class Protected Cruiser HMAS Pioneer pictured in her role as Guard Ship at Port Phillip Bay,October 1914.

Pelorus Class, Third Class Protected Cruiser HMAS Pioneer pictured at Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne in 1914. Built at Chatham Dockyard in 1900, she was transferred to the fledgling Royal Australian Navy in 1912. During World War I, the Cruiser captured two German merchant ships, and was involved in the East African Campaign, including the blockade of the Cruiser SMS Königsberg and a bombardment of Dar-es-Salaam. She returned to Australia in late 1916 and was decommissioned. Pioneer was used as an Accommodation Ship for the following six years, then was stripped down and sold off by 1926. She was scuttled outside Sydney Heads in 1931.

Pelorus Class, Third Class Protected Cruiser HMAS Pioneer pictured c1913.