The Royal Austrian Navy in WWI (Part I)

HMAS Sydney

In 1900 the Naval defence of Australia was in the hands of the British Admiralty. The need for an Australian Navy, run by Australia for Australian purposes was keenly felt in the Antipodes. By 1914, the fledgling Royal Australian Navy was the first Australian unit to engage with German troops and by the end of 1914, they had claimed an important victory which would keep the Indian Ocean more or less free from threat from Germany.