William Rooke Creswell Is Recognised As a Dominant Force in the Foundation of the Australian Navy
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University of Wollongong Research Online University of Wollongong Thesis Collection University of Wollongong Thesis Collections 2012 “So be prepared, a strong nation, for the storm that most surely must come”1: Creswell’s campaign for a naval defence of Australia Sheila Joy Dwyer University of Wollongong Recommended Citation Dwyer, Sheila Joy, “So be prepared, a strong nation, for the storm that most surely must come”1: Creswell’s campaign for a naval defence of Australia, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, 2012. http://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/3776 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] CERTIFICATION I, Sheila Joy Dwyer declare that this thesis, submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy, in the School of History and Politics, Faculty of Arts, University of Wollongong, is wholly my own work unless otherwise referenced or acknowledged. The document has not been submitted for qualifications at any other academic institution. …………………………………….. 1 DEDICATION The submission of this thesis is the end of a long road for me. It started 13 years ago when my youngest child began high school. With encouragement from my family I decided to pursue the education I had always wanted but, for various reasons, I had been unable to complete. I was accepted into the University of Wollongong’s Gateway Programme which offered a learning skills programme for mature age students seeking entrance to university. I wish to thank most sincerely the University of Wollongong for offering this opportunity as a means of furthering higher education for those not able to gain entrance to university in the usual manner. It commenced a journey of historical enquiry, to search for the answer to that most basic of enquiries, ‘Why’? The submission of my thesis is a significant milestone in this journey. My sincere thanks to the lecturers and tutors at the University’s School of History and Politics in the Faculty of Arts, for making study both enjoyable and nerve-wracking at the same time. In particular, I thank my Thesis Supervisors, Dr. Peter Sales and Dr. Stephen Brown. They have supported me with encouragement, patience and sound advice even though I may not have appreciated it at the time. I will now admit that they were probably right, most of the time. My biggest thanks must go to my family for their unfailing support over these years, my children thought me a little crazy for my choice of study topic, (The Foundation of the Australian Navy), but then ‘Mum was always a bit odd’. My husband Neil has my never-ending gratitude for his support and understanding my need to complete my education and for being my research assistant during this work. Thanks also must go to the staff of the Reading Room’s of the National Library, State Library of Victoria, State Library of South Australia and Archives New Zealand for making research material available as requested. A final dedication must be made to Elizabeth Sevior, the granddaughter of Admiral Creswell for her friendship and interest in this work. One final question – What’s next? 2 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the campaign for a naval defence of Australia and the role of its most significant advocate. William Rooke Creswell is recognised as a dominant force in the foundation of the Australian Navy. This thesis is neither a naval history, nor a biography of Creswell. It is about the influence of people and events on the status and direction of Australia, expressed through achieving that defining symbol of a maritime state, a naval defence. The campaign for a naval defence would be caught up in the aspirations for, and of, a commonwealth for Australia – in its destiny and identity. In creating a commonwealth out of six self-governing colonies, common defence was given as a reason for its being, entwined with a doctrine of self-preservation, but with a relaxed and comfortable attitude about subsidised British naval protection. This thesis seeks to establish both the nature of Creswell’s contribution to the foundation of the Australian navy and the reasons why the process of its formation was such a protracted and fraught process. Major factors working against this process were the expense of a navy and the infrastructure to support it, a small and isolated population, the intransigence of the British government and Admiralty, and the differences of opinion among Australian politicians over whether and how an Australian Navy should come into existence. 3 Creswell as a former Royal Navy officer understood and accepted the significance of Britain and of the Royal Navy in the defence of Australia. Yet he remained undaunted in his career-long self-imposed mission of a navy for Australia. His achievement was a naval defence with warships appropriate to Australian conditions and requirements and an infrastructure to support the fleet. It was Creswell who more than any other individual 4 “so be prepared, a strong nation, for the storm that most surely must come”1: Creswell’s campaign for a Naval Defence of Australia. A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY from UNIVERSITY OF WOLLONGONG by SHEILA JOY DWYER, Bachelor of Arts with Honours School of History and Politics, Faculty of Arts. 2012 1 Lawson, H. Australia’s Peril in Cronin, L., (ed) A Fantasy if Man: Henry Lawson Complete Works 1901-1922, Lansdowne Press, Willoughby NSW, 1984. p.246 5 Sir William Rooke Creswell, KCMG, KBE It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcomings; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy course; who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.2 2 Theodore Roosevelt, Speech to the Sorbonne (1910) in Fullilove, Michael. ‘Men and Women of Australia’ Our Greatest Modern Speeches, Vintage, Sydney, 2005 (Forward: G. Freudenberg). p 61 6 CONTENTS List of Photographs 4 Abbreviations 5 Introduction 6 Chapter I 1885-1900: “Have a fixed purpose of some kind for your country and yourselves” 18 Imperial Duty/Imperial Mission. Chapter II 1901-1903: Nationhood and the Sea: Destiny and Identity. 50 The Anglo/Japanese Alliance. Japan to protect Australia Chapter III 1904 – 1906: ‘All unprovided and unprepared, the outpost of the White!’ 97 Britain withdraws its modern warships from the Pacific Ocean. Chapter IV 1907-1908: Australia’s search for security. A False Dawn but a Rising Sun. 144 Chapter V 1909 – 1911: ‘A good, sturdy Naval Cub in the Pacific’ 191 Australian navy ships ordered from Britain. Chapter VI 1912-1913: ‘A great bond of union’ 228 At last, a navy for Australia – the arrival of the Australian Fleet.. Chapter VII Australia at War: ‘To sail to a foreign country, and fight for England’s name.’ 273 RAN ships leave Australia to fight a war in European waters. Conclusion 293 Bibliography 298 7 LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS. Sir William Rooke Creswell Page 2. Australian War Memorial. Lieutenant William Rooke Creswell, taken from Thompson P. (Ed.), Close to the Wind 23 Adelaide, circa 1890: Governor of South Australia with various members of the local armed forces including Lieutenant Commander William Rooke Creswell seated, right. Naval Historical Collection South Australian Archives. 33 Adelaide, SA. C. 1896. Captain William Rooke Creswell, (Centre) Naval Commandant of the South Australian Defence Forces with Staff Engineer William Clarkson on his right, and on his left Chief Gunner Edwin Argent and Sub-Lieutenant Patrick Weir, Naval Historical Collection, Australian War Memorial. 44 Captain Creswell as Commandant of the Queensland Naval Forces,1900, from the Naval Historical Collection, Australian War Memorial. 54 Captain Creswell observing the Commonwealth Naval Forces manoeuvres, Easter 1905 aboard the torpedo boat Countess of Hopetoun Royal Australian Navy. 113 John Arbuthnot Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher from The New York Times Current History of the European War (January–March 1915). Volume 2. p.928. 212 Australia’s First Naval Board. Back row: Staff Paymaster Eldon Manisty, RN, Engineer Commander W Clarkson RAN. Front row: Rear Admiral WR Creswell RAN, Defence Minister Senator George F Pearce, Captain Constantine Hughes-Onslow RN. 257 National Library of Australia. 8 ABBREVIATIONS AA Australian Archives ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ANZ Archives of New Zealand CBE Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire CDC Colonial Defence Committee CID Committee of Imperial Defence CMG Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George CNF Commonwealth Naval Forces CMF Commonwealth Military Forces CPD Commonwealth Parliamentary Debates CPP Commonwealth Parliamentary Papers DNI Director of Naval Intelligence DSO Distinguished Service Order HMAS His Majesty’s Australian Ship HMCS Her Majesty’s Colonial Ship HMCVS Her Majesty’s Colonial Victorian Ship HMS Her/ His Majesty’s Ship IJN Imperial Japanese Navy KBE Knight of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire KCMG Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George. NLA National Library of Australia OBE Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire RAN Royal Australian Navy RN Royal Navy SANF South Australian Naval Forces US/ USA United States/ United States of America VC Victoria Cross 9 INTRODUCTION To study the foundation of the Australian navy, one simply follows the trail that documents, historians, biographers and other writers have left us since the navy’s inception.