HMVS / HMAS Cerberus, Halfmoon Bay, Black Rock, Victoria (1870 - 1926)
The wreck of the HMVS Cerberus is of international significance. One of the earliest armoured steam powered warships in the world, she is the only surviving example of this type of vessel in the world. She was the first British warship powered purely by steam, the first with a central superstructure with fore and aft gun turrets, the first 'breastwork monitor' class warship (with low freeboard), the flagship of the Victorian Navy, and is the only surviving inaugural warship of the Royal Australian Navy. Her design became the model for later battleships.
Built between 1867 and 1870 to the design of E. J. Reed, the Chief Constructor to the British Navy, her design was a complete break with tradition. A twin screw, iron, armour clad turret ship of 2,107 tons, equipped with two turrets each containing two, ten inch muzzle loading rifled guns, she was the first warship in the British Empire to operate without sails. The Royal Navy followed her successful lead with HMS Devastation.
As the major unit in the colonial navy of Victoria, HMVS Cerberus was absorbed into the Commonwealth Naval Forces in 1901, and transferred as HMAS Cerberus to the Royal Australian Navy when it was formed in 1911. As recently as 1921 she was in use as a submarıne depot ship, re-named HMAS Platypus, but, in 1924, she was stripped and the hull was scuttled as a breakwater off Black Rock in Port Phillip Bay two years later.
She is the sole surviving example in the world of this important change from wooden, high-sided sailing warships, to iron, low-sided steam powered warships, and despite settling further into the sands of Port Phillip Bay, attempts are still being made to save her. Her square box boilers and Maudslay return connecting rod engines are gone, along with most of the fittings, but there is still a good chance of restoring her to something approaching her original design.
Of international significance, HMVS Cerberus is inscribed on Australia's National Heritage List (2005), was previously included in the Register of the National Estate, is included and protected on Victoria's Heritage Register, is included on the Victorian War Heritage Inventory, and is included on the National Trust's register.
The HMAS Cerberus naval depot at Flinders, Victoria, is named after the HMVS Cerberus.
References:
Lloyd, Brian. 'HMVS Cerberus: the last of the Monitors' in Heritage Australia : the journal of the Australian Council of National Trusts, Vol.9 No.4 1990, pp.16-19].
Richards, Mike. 'Workhorses in Australian Waters: a History of Marine Engineering in Australia', Turthon and Armstrong, Wahroonga, 1987, pp.253-4
Australia's National Heritage List (2005)
Register of the National Estate
Victoria's Heritage Register
Victorian War Heritage Inventory
National Trust's register
See also: Save the Cerberus
Author: Ken McInnes, 2025.
