Abstract
Australia’s military contribution to Allied success in the First World War is well represented in the academic literature. As the commemorations of the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings reminded us, it also continues to form a fundamental part of Australian national identity. Yet, the fact remains that Australia’s security paradigm is fundamentally a maritime one. That the country’s contribution to the First World War at sea has received no single-volume treatment since a volume of Charles Bean’s magisterial official history was devoted to the topic in 1928 therefore represents something of a lacuna. In All Respects Ready aims to redress this situation by reassessing the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) role in the War.
The book is arranged in a loosely chronological structure, with chapters divided between individual theatres and a series of distinct themes. Beginning in Australian waters, Stevens’ account moves fluidly through the Pacific, Mediterranean and North Sea and back again, culminating with the triumphant return of the RAN to Australia in mid-1919. The book’s structure does much to emphasize the diverse and varied nature of the RAN’s activities and also the global nature of the First World War at sea. Australian vessels fought in every theatre of the War, performing tasks as varied as delivering humanitarian aid to Pacific Island communities, curtailing German espionage in the China Seas and conducting anti-submarine operations in the eastern Mediterranean. Stevens recounts the RAN’s operational history with considerable skill and in vivid detail. In doing so he provides more than a purely national story; this book is also an important contribution to our understanding of the War at sea in general.
Stevens does an admirable job of integrating the global nature of naval operations with the Allied war effort as a whole, stressing the vital importance of seaborne communications to the ultimate defeat of the Central Powers. In particular he stresses the important role the RAN played in frustrating German plans to disrupt British trade in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, both in terms of conventional naval operations in 1914 and the activities of armed merchant vessels thereafter. The potential consequences of German activities in the region were demonstrated in late 1916, when the resumption of ‘cruiser warfare’ by Germany obliged Britain to temporarily suspend the transport of troops in the Indian Ocean until sufficient vessels could be found to institute a system of convoys. By highlighting the significance of maritime communications, Stevens provides an important reminder that control of the seas underwrote Britain’s ability to deploy colonial military forces in Europe. Here Stevens shows that naval operations should receive more attention in both the British and Australian national consciousness.
To focus upon the operational and strategic aspects of this work would be to neglect its full breadth, however. In All Respects Ready is as much about the history of Australian naval power and the people of the RAN, of all ranks, who donned the dark blue between 1914 and 1918, than it is about naval operations. This is reflected throughout the book in the biographical vignettes that accompany each chapter. From pioneering administrators and commanders to untiring stokers and the occasional brave yet disorderly seaman, this work examines the RAN’s activities from all angles. In doing so it displays a prodigious amount of research in various personal papers and official collections and provides a truly holistic sense of the RAN in the First World War. This is augmented by a wealth of high-quality photographs, which do much to provide a sense of connection to the individual characters woven into the text.
In All Respects Ready is an innovative, informative work that showcases the strengths of modern naval history. Its is a worthy addition to Bean’s classic official history of Australia’s contribution to the First World War and will be required reading for years to come.