rusting away

off duty

ancient defender

rusts away

HMVS Cerberus was built for the colonial government of Victoria in 1870 as  naval defence against possible Russian attack.  This design was the first turrented , motorised ironclad battleship without sails  making it highly innovative for its day. There were two swivelling turrents with 2 ten inch guns in each. Thick armour up to 9 inches, (230 mm) thick covered the ship). The Cerberus was  was not really suited to ocean travel and became uncontrollable in rough seas meaning it took quite some time to travel from Chatham England where it was built to Melbourne Australia. The warship never fired a shot in action and never left Port Phillip Bay.  after its arrival . In 1924 the Cerberus was sold for scrap and in 1926 what remained  , (a hulk) as seen in the photos was scuttled to form a breakwater at Black Rock on Port Phillip Bay.

Since then the ship has been rusting away and settling on the sand . Its a mecca for curious scuba divers, snorkelers and adventurous teenagers. Various signs warn of the dangers associated with entering the underwater holes in the ship or climbing onto the actual hulk.  Since 2005 a local group has been trying to raise funds to save what is left of the Cerberus as a significant part of Victoria and Australia’s naval heritage. This is a valiant effort.

These  images are for a very late contribution to the one a week Photo Challenge and this week for number  40 the challenge is RUST . For this years 52 weekly challenges planned by Cathy and Sandra visit Cathy’s blog at  https://nanacathydotcom.wordpress.com/one-a-week-photo-challenge-2017/