Last Friday evening, April 17th, Cruising Group were delighted to host Commander Helen Ward of the Royal Australian Navy as the Guest Speaker at our monthly dinner.
Commander Ward has passionate interest in Australian Naval history and gave an extremely informative and entertaining talk, firstly on the story of HMVS Cerberus, the first Australian steam powered ironclad warship, built in Britain in 1868, and then undertaking an arduous delivery voyage from Britain to Melbourne, after which she spent the remainder of her commissioned life within the confines of Port Phillip Bay. Cerberus was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 1921 and eventually scuttled as a breakwater off Black Rock.
Commander Ward then gave us a brief but comprehensive history of the Royal Australian Navy (formed at federation in 1901), including WW1 (and their role at Gallipoli), WW2 and the interwar and post war periods. A thoroughly enjoyable evening was had by all, and our thanks go to Commander Ward.
Upcoming events:
Our next Guest Speaker Dinner will be on May 15th, when Dan Lyon (“Diver Dan”) will talk on his recent yacht delivery voyage from RBYC to New Zealand, in which they arrived just as Cyclone Vaianu was bearing down on the North Island.
A weekend cruise to Wyndham Harbour is planned for May 16th/17th, following Dan’s talk.
In June, Brenton and Robina Smith will be entertaining us with tales of their recent six-week cruise in South Australian waters. (Friday June 19th), and the first weekend of July ((4th/5th) sees the Frostbite Cruise to Melbourne City Marina in Docklands, coinciding with the Firelight festival.