AUSTRALIA'S FIRST WARSHIP

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 127, 22 February 1919, Page 7

AUSTRALIA'S FIRST WARSHIP

Somo interesting information concernintr Australia's fivst worship, tho uni Victoria—was given by a correspondent in a recent issue of tho .Melbourne Age. The War Victoria was built in Great Britain in 1855,"t0 the order of tho Government of this Stale,'and arrived m Port Phillip oil May 31, 18ot>. .iho \yas engaged in tho conveyance of troops to New Zealand, and in other services connected with the Maori war, between April, 1860, and April, IS6I, and in, \-i«iist of Uic latter year was sent to tlio"Gulf of Carpentaria with an expedition for tho relief of the explorers Burke and Willis, .returning lo Melbonrno ill March, 1862. Apart from theso two- expeditions, tho Victoria seems to have been chieflv employed on coast survey and light-housework, and, after the arrival of fhe turret ship Cerbenis in 1871, she naturallv declined ill importance as a means of naval defence. Tbe last official record of the vessel was given in r. Blue Book in 1880,' when she was still costing tho Stato over ,£3OOO for salaries and maintenance. Whether she was finally disposed of is not known by tho. correspondent,