HMAS Geranium - Operational History

Operational History

After World War I, Geranium and two sister ships (Mallow and Marguerite) were sent to Australia to clear mines deployed by the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Wolf. Despite hard work in rough seas, the ships only found one mine.

Geranium and the other two ships were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy on 18 October 1919. The ships' minesweeper design made them suitable for handling survey equipment, and Geranium was commissioned on 17 January 1920 as the first RAN survey ship. The ship was poorly designed for survey duties in tropical Australian waters: she was designed for the North Sea Climate, and was required to carry a ship's company of 113, 36 more than the intended ship's company of 77. In 1923, the sloop ran aground on an uncharted reef off Vanderlin Island in the Gulf of Carpenteria. The ship's company were able to refloat the ship and patch the damage, and after repairs in Sydney, the ship resumed northern survey operations. In October, Geranium rescued the civilian steamship Montoro after she struck Young Reef.

In early 1924, the ship ran aground again in the MacArthur River.The ship was refloated and repaired. Later that year, Geranium was fitted to carry a Fairey IIID seaplane: the first RAN survey vessel to carry an aircraft. In May 1927, the survey ship assisted the steamship Tasman, which had hit a reef off Clarke Island.