Australian steamer Adele

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Steamer of the Royal Australian Navy

title: "Australian steamer Adele" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["shipwrecks-of-the-illawarra-region", "merchant-ships-of-australia", "iron-and-steel-steamships-of-australia", "auxiliary-ships-of-the-royal-australian-navy", "1906-ships", "maritime-incidents-in-may-1943", "1901-–-world-war-i-ships-of-australia", "interwar-period-ships-of-australia", "ships-built-in-leith", "individual-yachts"] description: "Steamer of the Royal Australian Navy" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_steamer_Adele" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Steamer of the Royal Australian Navy ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ship"]

Field	Value
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	HMAS Franklin.jpg
image_caption	HMAS Franklin
section2	{{Infobox ship/career
name	*Adele (1906–1915)
owner	*Henry Dutton ( –1915)
registry	*United Kingdom Australia (1907–15)
builder	Hawthorn & Co Leith, Scotland, United Kingdom
yard_number	116
launched	18 October 1906
completed	November 1906
identification	*UK Official Number 123022
fate	Wrecked 7 May 1943
section3	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
type	Steel screw steamer
tonnage	*
length	145 ft
beam	22 ft
draught	13 ft
sail_plan	Yacht
propulsion	1 × 68 hp triple expansion steam engine (Hawthorns & Co Ltd, Leith)
speed	12 kn
armament	2 × .303-in Vickers machine guns (HMAS Adele)
::

|section1={{Infobox ship/image |image = HMAS Franklin.jpg |image_caption = HMAS Franklin

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |name=*Adele (1906–1915)

HMAS Franklin (1915–22)
Adele (1922–39)
HMAS Adele (1939–43) |owner=*Henry Dutton ( –1915)
Royal Australian Navy (1915–22)
Administrator of Papua-New Guinea (1922–29)
Commonwealth Government of Australia, Department of Home & Territories (1929–32)
W L Buckland (1932– )
C H Relph ( –1939)
Royal Australian Navy (1939–43) |registry=*United Kingdom Australia (1907–15)
Australia Royal Australian Navy (1915–22)
[[File:Flag of the Territory of New Guinea.svg|25px]] Territory of New Guinea (1922–29)
United Kingdom Port Adelaide (1929–39)
Australia Royal Australian Navy (1939–43) |route= |ordered= |builder=Hawthorn & Co Leith, Scotland, United Kingdom |original_cost= |yard_number=116 |laid_down= |launched=18 October 1906 |completed=November 1906 |christened= |acquired= |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |identification=*UK Official Number 123022
Code Letters HJRW

|fate=Wrecked 7 May 1943 |notes=

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |type=Steel screw steamer |tonnage=*

Adele was a steel screw steamer that was built in 1906 as a yacht. She was twice commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), firstly as HMAS Franklin and later as HMAS Adele. She was wrecked at Port Kembla, New South Wales on 7 May 1943.

Design and construction

Adele was built in 1906 by Hawthorns & Co Ltd, Leith, Scotland as yard number 116. She was launched on 18 October 1906 and completed in November 1906.

Originally built as a yacht, she was later converted to steam power.

Propulsion

By 1930, Adele was powered by a 68 hp triple expansion steam engine with cylinders of 12 in, 19 in and 33 in bore by 22 in stroke. The engine was manufactured by Hawthorns & Co Ltd. Adele was capable of 12 kn.

Official Number and Code Letters

Official numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. In 1930, Adele had the UK Official Number 123022 and used the Code Letters HJRW.

Operational history

In 1915, Adele was purchased by the Australia Government for £21,500 from the estate of Henry Dutton of Kapunda, South Australia. HMAS Franklin served as a tender to the Royal Australian Naval College.

Franklin collided with the Sydney Harbour ferry, Vaucluse in 1916 injuring two passengers. Franklin's sharp bow smashed halfway through the wooden ferry's hull almost sinking her, however, the ferry was towed to nearby Garden Island where the dock's pumps kept her afloat.

Franklin was paid off on 31 March 1921 only to be recommissioned on 21 September.

Franklin was decommissioned on 18 September 1922 and gifted to the Administrator of Papua-New Guinea, serving there until 1929. In 1932, Adele was laid up at Rabaul. She was sold for £1,652 on 7 December of that year to W L Buckland of Melbourne, Australia who refitted her as a private yacht and used her for cruising. Adele was later sold to C H Relph of Sydney and was laid up for some years at Rose Bay Port Jackson, Sydney.

On 24 October 1939, Adele was requisitioned by the Royal Australian Navy as HMAS Adele. She was armed with two .303-in Vickers machine guns and employed as an examination vessel. From December 1941, HMAS Adele was attached to .

Loss

On 7 May 1943, Adele struck the breakwater at Port Kembla and was subsequently declared a total loss. The wreck of Adele is protected under the New South Wales Heritage Act, 1977.

Legacy

Franklin is remembered in the naming of two other sail training yachts associated with the RAN College:

a yacht in the 1960s and 1970s, which took part in several Sydney to Hobart races;
a 25 m Hunter yacht acquired in 2005.

References

John Ware. (December 1972). "Millionaire's Yacht's Naval Service". Naval Historical Review.
(1 November 1909). "Adele".
{{csr
"On this day:1914–1918 > WW1". Naval Historical Society of Australia.
"AWM Collection Record: 300647". Australian War Memorial.
"HMAS ADELE EXAMINATION VESSEL ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY". Peter Dunn.
"NEW SOUTH WALES SHIPWRECKS". Encyclopedia of Australian Shipwrecks.
"Adele (+1943)". Wrecksite.
[http://www.defence.gov.au/news/NAVYNEWS/EDITIONS/4822/sport/story02.htm New fleet addition], RAN "Navy News" paper, edition V48, No22, 2005-12-01, accessed 2009-10-18

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