This is the first of three mockumentaries created to humorously highlight the hitherto unknown facts of a historic ship and its crew that saved the colonial state of Queensland from an Imperial Russian invasion in the 1880s. The crazy captain is up to all sorts of tricks, which makes this movie a must-see event.
In the 1870s, Britain’s influence in Australia had diminished, and individual colonies had begun to plan their own defence forces. During this time, Imperial Germany and Russia were exercising considerable influence in the Pacific, so in 1884, the Queensland colonial government under Premier Sir Thomas McIllwraith established the Queensland Maritime Defence Force. During that year, Queensland also placed an order for two gunboats, HMQS Gayundah and HMQS Paloma. HMQS Gayundah was a flat-iron gunboat. At the time, she was armed with an eight-inch (200mm) and a six-inch gun (152mm), making it the most heavily armed gunboat in the world. The Gayundah was launched at Newcastle Upon Tyne on May 13, 1884, completing its trials in October of that year. She sailed for Australia in November 1884, arriving in Brisbane, her home port, on March 28 1885. The total cost of the two ships to the Queensland government was £70,000 starling. During its wartime history, the Gayundah served under three separate flags: the Queensland, British and the Australian flags. Although the Gayundah’s large guns were never fired in anger, the ship became the Queensland Navy’s flagship and served with some distinction during the First World War, arresting two Dutch smuggling vessels in West Australian waters. In 1903, she was the first warship on the Australian Station to successfully operate wireless telegraphy from ship to shore. In 1921, the Gayundah was decommissioned and sold to a civilian company, which used the vessel as a sand and gravel barge in the Brisbane River. In 1930, she sank at her moorings at the Milton reach of the river but was refloated. In 1958, she was stripped and sold to the Redcliffe City Council for £400 and was beached at Woody Point to service as a breakwater structure. The remains of the vessel can be seen at Woody Point.
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