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Historical Information
In 1867, the Government of the state of Victoria in deserted after a storm in the English Channel) with
Australia ordered a ship to guard Port Phillip Bay. Sir Cerberus finally arriving in Port Phillip Bay in 1871.
Edward Reed, then Chief Designer of the Royal She never left.
Navy, set about designing a suitable ship, based on
the class of ships known as monitors after the Cerberus was modified in 1879 to replace the twin
original, USS Monitor. These shallow-draught turret pole masts with a single military mast and shortly
ships were only suitable for rivers or sheltered afterwards to reduce the flying deck and provide a
seaways and Reed made a number of improvements secondary armament of machine guns and small-
to provide a more seaworthy ship. calibre weapons.
First, he designed a breastwork around the Her military service was unremarkable, never firing
superstructure and turrets. This raised the turrets her guns in anger. She was renamed twice - to
and, as it was heavily armoured, protected the turret HMAS Cerberus on federation of the Australian
bases. The breastwork also improved the sea- States in 1901, and to HMAS Platypus II in 1905
keeping of the ship (by raising the vulnerable deck- when the name HMAS Cerberus was given to the
turret gap) and meant that the main deck did not new RAN shore base.
have to be kept clear of obstructions such as
ventilators and raised hatches to provide clear arcs of By the start of WWI she was obsolete and had been
fire for the main guns. laid up on care and maintenance only. During WWI
she served as an accommodation ship and then as
The two turrets were laid out fore and aft, giving 360- an ammunition supply ship. After WWI she acted as
degree coverage and setting a design standard that tender for a short period to the RAN's newly acquired
would endure well past WWII. Reed's HMS J-class submarines. Cerberus was finally de-
Devastation of 1870 is better known as the first fore commissioned in 1920 and sold for scrap in 1925.
and aft turret ship, but HMVS Cerberus was both
designed and completed ahead of her. Each turret She was sunk as a breakwater in Port Phillip Bay in
carried a pair of 10" muzzle-loaded, rifled guns 1926 - her hulk is easily visible from the shore.
(MLR's). A flying deck above the turrets provided a Cerberus still has her turrets and main armament,
steering position and boat deck. though most fittings (including the engines) have
been removed and sold. She has slowly deteriorated
Cerberus was one of the first warships designed from and, in spite of a number of attempts at securing
the outset without sails, relying solely on steam funds to raise and restore her, she is probably close
power for propulsion. to the point where it will no longer be possible to
raise her. She was designated a National Monument
Named after the dog that guards the gates of the in 1985.
underworld in Greek mythology, Cerberus was laid
down in 1868, launched in 1869, and completed in Cerberus's near-sister ships Magdala and Abyssinia
1870. served as guardships at Bombay. Five other similar
ships were built for harbour-defense roles in other
When ready, fitted with a temporary sailing rig and British colonies. No other vessels of her class
raised bulwarks for the journey, the Cerberus set sail survive.
for Australia. En-route she became the first warship
to pass through the recently opened Suez Canal. The The model shows Cerberus as she appeared in
journey was beset by storms (most of her crew 1870.
Technical Details
Length : 225'/67.5m
Width : 45'/13.5m
Draught : 15'/4.5m
Displacement : 3,340 tons
Armament : 4 x 10"/25cm muzzle-loaded, rifled guns in twin Coles turrets.
Propulsion : 4 x boilers; 2 x Maudslay horizontal engines (250 Nominal HP); 2 x 4-bladed propellers.
Speed : 9.75 knots (trial speed - not armed or rigged)
Crew : 82
Tools required:
Sharp craft knife.
Steel ruler.
Pointed instrument for scoring fold lines (eg a compass point).
Tweezers for handling small parts.
Cutting mat, thick cardboard or newspaper to cut on.
Glue - water-based PVA or clear multi-purpose glue recommended.
Fine thread for rigging (optional).
Assembly Instructions
Print out the parts sheets. Sheet 1 should be printed onto 200 gsm card, sheets 2-4 should be printed onto 160 or
170 gsm card and sheet 5 should be printed onto 100-120 gsm paper. Sheets 3R and 5R should be printed on the
back of their respective sheets (eg print 2R on the reverse of sheet 2). Ensure the sheets are correctly oriented in
the printer feed tray before printing the reverse sides. After printing, spraying the sheets with a clear artist's fixative
will prevent smearing and damage from glue stains, but is not necessary if care is taken when handling.
The model has been designed for printing onto A4 sized paper (297 x 210mm). If it is necessary to reduce the
sheets to fit another paper size, ensure that the same reduction factor is used on all sheets (this can be easily done
TM
during printing using Adobe Acrobat ).
List of Figures
A Hull base & formers (plan)
B Hull, sides, breastwork, superstructure (plan and elevation)
C Breastwork and superstructure (plan and elevation)
D Flying deck and supports (plan and elevation)
E Bows (plan and elevation)
F Stern (plan and elevation)
G Misc part construction details
H Railings, lifeboats, anchors (plan)
I Masts, flagpoles, rigging (plan and elevation)
J Flying deck awning support rigging
K Pump handles
2 5 6 9
3 4 7 8 10 11 12
13
Front
35 32 28 27 26 31 36
Front
20 21
17 19
14 23 18 32 17 16 26 22
24
25
20 35 19 15 29 31 36 21
Front
C 34e 34g 34h 34i/j 32 28 27 26 29 31
17
34f 34g 34i/j 34k/l/m 34i/j 28 27 26 37 33 30
38
38
38 67 64 38 65 63 66 84
59 41 66 45 64 44 40 48 67 47 46 63 38 66 83 57 41
38 38
41 66 38 40 43 42 67 64 60 38 63 61 66 84 41 62
E 55(R) 50 43 78
41
80 79 78 73 53
55(R) 54 80 30 51 50 78
73
52
53
30
54 30 80 79 73 51 78 49
(C) 2000 Paper Shipwright/David Hathaway, All rights reserved Diagrams page 2 of 5
F Front
72 73 53 56 57 58 49 55
78 80 59
72 73 78 30 58 53 30 55 80 59
49 30 78 57 99 30 49 56 80 55 59
G i&j k,l&m
a h g h
b e i
c f
f g
e
h
d
c a
a d
b b
42
c c
f g
34 e d
d
b h
f b g b a c
d c f c 76/77 b
e a e f
c d b
b a b d e
a c a a
b a
44 a
39,46,48 49 50 51 52 53 54
b
57c
57b a
d&e h j 57a c
c d c c
c c b
56b a c b b
b a b a a
56a
a f g i a
55 56 & 57 60 62 74 & 75 78 80
(C) 2000 Paper Shipwright/David Hathaway, All rights reserved Diagrams page 3 of 5
H
90b 75 89c 88a 69 89b 70 90a 89a 69 88b 74
I
85 82 81 85
87a 72 87b 71
(C) 2000 Paper Shipwright/David Hathaway, All rights reserved Diagrams page 4 of 5
J 39 91a 91b 91a
Front
91b 91b
91b
K Front
Templates
a b c post
b post
post c
a
(C) 2000 Paper Shipwright/David Hathaway, All rights reserved Diagrams page 5 of 5
main deck
Flying deck
2 rail
2 rail
Flying deck
main deck