Model Ship : River Class Torpedo Boat Destroyer HMAS Yarra (I)

Hand made scale model of HMAS Yarra (I) in a scale of 1/4 inch to the foot (1:48 scale). The hull is shaped from a composite of wooden sections, with a pair of low wooden funnels. The model is painted with a black lower hull and forward deck, medium grey upper hull, funnels and superstructure, and a natural wood deck. The number '79' is painted in black on each side of the hull below the bridge, and on the bow, the numbers here being separated by the rudder support. A pair of brass support pedestals are attached to the bottom of the hull, for display purposes.

Brass deck railings run the length of the ship. The forward deck is fitted with a jackstaff, handmade brass anchors, chains and capstans; a handmade metal and brass 4-inch QF gun with shield is mounted on a raised circular wooden platform forward of the bridge. The open bridge, fitted with brass wheel, binnacle, compass and controls, is modelled with a white painted cotton cover (to represent canvas) laced to the front and sides and supported overhead as a canopy. There is mounting pole to the starboard side of the bridge which supports a pair of manual semaphore signalling paddles; brass port (red) and starboard (green) lights are mounted to the exterior of the bridge wings. A brass searchlight on a semi-circular platform sits immediately behind the bridge.

The wooden main mast is fitted with a brass crows nest, cotton guy wires and a cage aerial, running down to the short stern mast.

Each low funnel is detailed with brass tuning to represent piping and vents. There are a pair of handmade 12-pounder QF guns mounted asymmetrically amidships to the deck either side of the rear funnel. Cowl vents and a Carley float are also fitted to this section. Behind the rear funnel are further cowl vents and a brass torpedo tube mounted on a circular platform. A pair of wooden lifeboats with associated davits sit between this torpedo tube and a second one of similar design, forward of the rear mast.

A pair of metal depth charge throwers are mounted to face outwards, either side of the rear mast. Behind the mast is a set of brass steering gear - a wheel, binnacle and compass - duplicating the bridge controls, and aft of this section is a third 12 pounder QF gun, facing aft, on a raised wooden deck. A long depth charge chute containing depth charges is mounted to the stern, overhanging the rear rails.

The stern hull is fitted with a fixed rudder and three triple bladed screws with associated shafts and support beams.

At the Memorial's request, this model was detailed to reflect the Yarra's appearance when serving as part of the Australian flotilla on anti-submarine duties in the Adriatic Sea in 1917-1918; this is reflected in the addition of the depth charge throwers, the depth charge chute, and the removal of the rear torpedo tube to accomodate the chute.

The River Class Torpedo Boat Destroyer HMAS Yarra was the second vessel laid down for the Australian Commonwealth Naval Forces. Built in the United Kingdom by Denny Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland with a displacement of 700 tons and a speed of 26 knots, Yarra was commissioned in September 1910. She reached Australia in November 1910, in the company of her sister ship HMAS Parramatta.

Following the outbreak of war in August 1914, Yarra took part in operations against the German Pacific colonies, including patrol operations in New Guinea waters in company with HMA ships Parramatta and Warrego. Returning to Australia in February 1915, Yarra was employed on patrol work locally, and in Malayan, Philippine and East Indies waters. At the request of the British Admiralty, the Australian Destroyer Flotilla was concentrated in the eastern Mediterranean to blockade the entrance to the Adriatic Sea and prevent Austrian submarines from entering the Mediterranean. Thus, in May 1917, Yarra joined Warrego, Parramatta, Swan, Torrens and Huon for these duties.

At Port Said, Egypt, Yarra had its new depth charge gear fitted – one of the crew contacted during the building of this model (Chief Engine Room Artificer Peterson) noted that this first system saw the depth charges 'placed over the stern and secured by rope which had to be cut loose with a knife when let go'. This system was later replaced. The Australian Destroyer Flotilla was based at the port of Brindisi in southern Italy, and from October 1917 spent much of the following year conducting patrols as part of the blockade of the Adriatic Sea. In April 1918 the flotilla was incorporated into the 5th British Destroyer Flotilla.

When the war ended in November 1918, Yarra assisted Japanese destroyers to convoy troopships to Salonika. She subsequently operated in the Black Sea, with Torrens, in December 1918. After a visit to England the Australian Destroyer Flotilla returned to Australia. Now obsolete, Yarra was laid up until 1929, when she was sunk off Port Jackson.

This 1:48 scale (1/4 inch to the foot) scale model of HMAS Yarra was commissioned by the Australian War Memorial in 1949 as part of its ongoing programme (interrupted during the Second World War) to represent each class of ship used by the Royal Australian Navy during the First World War.

The model maker chosen to undertake the construction was John B. Walker, of Seaford, Victoria, who had worked with the Ship Construction Branch of the Navy Office during the Second World War, and already had a reputation as a very competent modeller. He had come to the attention of the Memorial after his ship models were seen by the sculptor Ray Ewers, then working on aspects of the Memorial’s dioramas. Ewers wanted Walker to undertake the construction of the more difficult 'mechanical' models planned for his dioramas, but Walker declined, noting his expertise was solely in ship models. Correspondence between Walker and Memorial director John Treloar in early 1949 led to the Victorian being requested to quote for the construction of a model representing the Yarra – Walker having made the suggestion himself.

Agreement on cost (126 pounds), scale, sources and the period represented (anti-submarine service in the Adriatic from October 1917 to October 1918) was reached in March 1949. Due to his continuing access to the Navy Office and with the assistance of the Memorial, Walker was able to work closely from (1909) plans and wartime photographs. Even so, difficulties were encountered with sourcing accurate plans for the depth charges and throwers, installed at Malta in 1917 on the stern deck. Plans for the correct model (the Mark 1 /2 throwers using Type D depth charges) were eventually sourced from the Royal Navy’s Director of Underwater Weapons in London in October 1949.

Treloar's request for Walker to include a deployed captive observer balloon (known as Caquot balloons, used in the Mediterranean for submarine spotting), was abandoned due to lack of plans and practical display difficulties.

Working from his home workshop in Seaford, Walker also had to endure power cuts (caused by strikes in the coal industry) and the lack of availability of commercial ship modelling accessories (universal items such as portholes, anchors, windlasses etc) from post-war England. Because he was working in a commonly used naval modelling scale, Walker could have used these accessories, but found their cost higher than he expected. So instead he made his own, working from the original ship plans, and commented to Treloar that, as a result, they were far more accurate than the generic commercial examples would ever have been. Walker also mentioned that he was using sectional brass and dipped brass for these details.

The search for final details (funnel markings, placement of torpedo tubes, confirmation that the cowl vents were removeable to accommodate the movement of the torpedo tubes, the ship's correct number and placement, and panelling detail on doors) led Walker and the Memorial, in early 1950, to search out and interview ex-crew members of the Yarra, as well as the original ship builders. Finally, with everything resolved, the model was finished on 30 October 1950 and delivered to the Memorial’s Melbourne offices a month later. The final cost was 133 pounds.