HMAS Brisbane was a Town class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built in Sydney between 1913 and 1916 to the Chatham subtype design, Brisbane operated in the Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Australian coastal waters during World War I. Following the end of the war, the cruiser was decommissioned and recommissioned on several occasions, and was reclassified as a training ship in late 1925. In 1935, Brisbane was reactivated to transport personnel for the new cruiser to Britain, after which she was decommissioned and sold for breaking up as scrap. Design and construction Brisbane was built by Cockatoo Island Dockyard to the Chatham subtype of the Town class cruiser design. Laid down on 25 January 1913, the cruiser was launched on 30 September 1915 by the wife of Andrew Fisher; Prime Minister of Australia on three occasions. Brisbane was commissioned into the RAN on 31 October 1916, although she was not completed until 12 December. The ship cost A£746,624 to build; unlike her Australian sister ships, the cost of adding armour was included in the original estimate. She was long overall, with a beam of and a maximum draught of . The cruiser had a standard displacement of 5,400 tons. Brisbane was propelled by Parsons steam turbines, which provided to four propellers. Although designed with a maximum speed of , Brisbane once reached during full speed trials. Her standard cruising speed was , which could be maintained for . The ship was fuelled by a combination of coal (1,196 tons at full load) and oil (260 tons). Her ship's company consisted of 31 officers and 454 sailors. The cruiser's primary armament consisted of eight BL Mk XI* guns, arranged in single mountings behind open-backed gunshields. A single quick-firing gun was used to protect the ship from air attack. Brisbane carried a 12-pounder field gun for ashore deployment. Four 3-pounder (47-mm, 1.9-in) quick-firing Hotchkiss guns were used as saluting guns. Ten .303-inch machine guns were carried for close defence work (eight Lewis guns and two Maxim guns). Two submerged 18-inch (450-mm) torpedo tubes were fitted: one on each side, firing broadside. 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. Operational history On 13 December 1916, Brisbane departed on a voyage to the Mediterranean. After reaching