HMAS Melbourne was a Town class light cruiser operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship was laid down by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in England in 1911, launched in 1912 and commissioned in 1913. At the start of World War I, Melbourne was involved in attempts to locate the German East Asia Squadron, and participated in the capture of German colonies in the Pacific, before being assigned to the North America and West Indies Stations. In 1916, the cruiser joined the Grand Fleet in the North Sea, where she remained for the remainder of the war. Melbourne spent late 1919 and early 1920 in reserve, then was flagship of the Royal Australian Navy from 1920 until 1928, except for a second period in reserve during 1924 and 1925. HMAS Melbourne paid off in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1928, and was scrapped in 1929. Design and construction Melbourne was a Town class light cruiser. The ship had a standard displacement of 5,400 tons, was long overall and long between perpendiculars, had a beam of , a maximum draught of , and a mean draught of . The propulsion machinery consisted of Yarrow boilers feeding Parsons steam turbines, which supplied 25,000 shaft horsepower to the ship's four propellers. Although only designed to reach , Melbourne was capable of sailing at . The ship's company consisted of 485: 31 officers, and 484 sailors. The cruiser's main armament consisted of eight BL Mk XI* 50 calibre guns. This was supplemented by a single QF 3-inch anti-aircraft gun, two .303-inch Maxim guns, and two 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (with seven torpedoes carried). A single QF 12-pounder 8 cwt gun field gun, four QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss saluting guns were also carried. Armour plating consisted of side belts thick amidships, tapering to thick at the bow and stern, along with protective decking over the engineering and magazine spaces, and an armoured conning tower. The ship was laid down by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in England on 4 April 1911. She was launched on 30 May 1912 by Mrs. F. F. Braund, daughter of Australian philanthropist Robert Barr Smith. Construction was completed on 18 January 1913, the same day Melbourne was commissioned into the RAN. She was the first cruiser launched for the RAN, and the first completed. The ship cost 405,000 pounds to build. Operational history On completion, Melbourne sailed from Portsmouth