and wagons. The Fremantle Naval Artillery was eventually disbanded and reformed as the Fremantle Artillery Volunteers. Royal Navy in Australia In the years that followed the settlement of Australia in 1788 the Royal Navy did not maintain a permanent force in the new colony. The new Port Jackson colony was placed under the protection of the East Indies Station, vessels were detached occasionally to visit the new colony. From 1821 the Royal Navy maintained a permanent man-of-war in the colony. Over the next 20 years the vessels based on Port Jackson included the sixth rates , , , , and , and the sloops , and . On 25 March 1859 Captain William Loring of was authorised to hoist a commodore's blue pennant and to assume command as senior officer of Her Majesty's Ships on the Australia Station. This new command was independent of the Commander-in-chief, East Indies. Commonwealth Naval Forces The colonies maintained control over their respective navies until 1 March 1901, when the Commonwealth Naval Force was created. Initially, like the colonial forces that proceeded it, this new force also lacked ocean-going ships, and its creation did not lead to an immediate change in Australian naval policy. In 1909, Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, while attending the Imperial Conference in London, sought the British Government's agreement to end the subsidy system and develop an Australian navy. The [[Admiralty (United Kingdom) |Admiralty]] rejected these approaches, suggesting instead that a small fleet of destroyers and submarines would suffice. Deakin was unimpressed and had previously invited the American Great White Fleet to visit Australia in 1908. This visit had fired public enthusiasm for a modern navy and in part led to the order of two 700-ton destroyers. The surge in German naval construction prompted the Admiralty to change their position in 1909 and the Royal Australian Navy was subsequently formed in 1911. On 4 October 1913, the new fleet steamed through Sydney Heads, consisting of the battlecruiser , three light cruisers, and three destroyers, while several other ships were still under construction. As a consequence the navy entered the First World War as a formidable force. See also List of Queensland Maritime Defence Force ships List of Royal Australian Navy ships Notes References Royal Australian Navy Military history of Australia