21st-23rd August 1914

[christine liava'a]

August 21,

1914, an Australian naval convoy, commanded by Rear Admiral Sir

George Patey aboard HMAS Australia (a Lion-class battlecruiser dispacing 20,000

tons and armed with eight 12-inch guns and 16 4-inch guns), and accompanied by the cruiser HMAS Melbourne, arrived in Nouméa, New Caledonia to join the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, en route to capture German Samoa.

(Field 1984: 6; Halpern 1994: 88; LeFleming 1961: 41)

August 22, 1914, the French armored cruiser Montcalm joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Nouméa, New Caledonia, en route to capture German Samoa. (Halpern 1994: 88)

August 23, 1914, the New Zealand Expeditionary Force set sail from New Caledonia for Suva, Fiji, and then to German Samoa, led by the Australian battlecruiser HMAS Australia and the French armored cruiser Montcalm.

(Field 1984: 6; Halpern 1994: 88)