HMAS AUSTRALIA (I) – THE FORGOTTEN FLAGSHIP: A Zoom Presentation

Presented by Karim (Kez) Hasanic.

To join this Zoom meeting just click on the following link 5 to 10 minutes before the presentation.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86565070600

Background

HMAS AUSTRALIA (I) – THE FORGOTTEN FLAGSHIP

On a beautiful sunny day in October 1913 the flagship of our new navy, HMAS Australia, a dreadnought battlecruiser and the most powerful warship in the southern hemisphere led the fleet into Sydney Harbour for the first time. Crowds lined the shores, children were given the day off school and songs and poems were written about the nation’s coming of age.

In April 1924 just over ten years later this unlucky and unhappy ship was towed through Sydney Heads and to a nation’s sorrow and anger, scuttled and sunk.

How and why could this happen?

This presentation will answer those questions and more. It will detail the story of a beautiful ship that was the pride of a nation, the men who sailed in her and the reasons why she has become the forgotten flagship.

About the Presenter

Kez has had a lifelong interest in History and in particular military and naval history. Before retirement in 2018 he served 40 years as a History teacher at Kogarah High School. During that time he taught a number of students who would win the NSW Premier’s Award for HSC History, was closely involved with the History Faculty at Sydney University for teacher training and was also involved in creating user scenarios for a number of historical military and naval computer simulations.

Currently Kez is active as a volunteer guide at the Australian National Maritime Museum and recently joined the museum’s speakers group. In addition he is a musician and motoring enthusiast.