HMS Cossack - Australia
COSSACK – Australia.
Name Origin: HMS Cossack was the ship that bought Governor Sir Frederick Weld to the Tsien Tsin Harbour.
Nestled at the mouth of the Harding River some 12kms North of Roebourne. Cossack has experienced a somewhat chequered past to bring it to its present state of today. The town was originally named Tien Tsin after the boat which carried the first settlers in 1863. The town was established as the major shipping port for the Northwest. The township soon became home to a large pearling fleet, and named Cossack after a visit from Governor Weld in the war ship “Cossack” in 1871.
With the cry of Gold in the 1880’s, hundreds of prospectors streamed through the port to seek their fortunes in the Pilbara fields. Cossacks fortune changed in the 1890’s when the silting of the harbour along with the growing need for an increase in the size of ships servicing the flourishing pastoral industry made the Harbour impractical. In 1910 the facilities were relocated to Point Samson. Hard times followed resulting in the eventual abandoning of the town in the early 1950’s. From then until 1979 the majestic stone buildings lay in ruins but once the historical significance of the town was realised, restoration work began to return them to their former glory.
Today Cossack offers a unique look at our colonial past with a total of five of the original buildings now been fully restored. These include the Old Post office and Telegraph building which now houses the Art Gallery. The Old Court house which houses the Shakespeare-Hall Social History Museum, the Customs House now home of the Tea Rooms and Galbraith’s Store (See photo). It is planned that continued restoration work will be undertaken on the remaining buildings within the area. Cossack today beckons the traveller and offers truly a unique glimpse into out region’s past.
The WA Museum and University of Western Australia are conducting ongoing archaeology at Cossack. Many of the items recovered date back to 1808, and are on display in the Old Courthouse Museum. There are a number of Aboriginal rock engravings on the surrounding cliff faces of the beaches around Cossack.
This is the account of the first vessel named HMS Cossack, a title that would be passed on to five later ships and commemorated by the Royal Navy in the Cossack Building at HMS Raleigh.
The second Cossack was originally ordered by Russia for the Black Sea Fleet in December 1852 at a cost of 290,000 silver roubles. However, when relations between Britain and Russia deteriorated, Russia sold the vessels to the Hamburg trading firm Henry Mersk & Co.
This account covers the third vessel named HMS Cossack. Launched on 3 June 1886 and in service until 1905, she spent the majority of her career in the Far East, calling at India, Aden, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and other ports.
The fourth HMS Cossack received the first Battle Honour for participating in operations along the Belgian coast from 17 October to 8 November 1914. This section contains copies of the original construction contract and detailed plans showing her launch, deck arrangements, and machinery.
Credited with battle honours including Baltic 1855, Witu 1890, Dover Patrol 1914–1919, Narvik 1940, Norway 1940, Atlantic 1940–1941, the Bismarck Action 1941, and the Malta Convoys 1941, the HMS Cossack in service from 1938 to 1941 was a formidable presence.
During Warship Week in February 1942, the town of Esher raised £1,192,211, contributing to the construction of the warship HMS Cossack. The funds were collected by the public depositing money into a rubber-type float in a pool. Remarkably, the surplus was enough to fund a submarine as well. The story continues.
