The squadron maintained to protect these possessions was a very modern and powerful one, as Great Britain was to learn to her cost. It consisted of the armoured cruisers _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_, and the light fast cruisers _Leipzig_, _Nürnberg_, and _Emden_. The units of the British navy on the spot were the three old third-class cruisers _Psyche_, _Pyramus_, and _Philomel_; and upon these New Zealand, the Dominion most threatened, would have been forced to rely if Australia had not been provided with a navy of her own.
That navy had made ready for sea at the first sign of a great European war, and met at an appointed rendezvous off the coast of Queensland on August 11. One section of it, consisting of the battle-cruiser _Australia_, the light cruisers _Sydney_ and _Melbourne_, and the destroyers _Parramatta_, _Yarra_, and _Warrego_, set off to the Bismarcks in the hope of encountering the German squadron. The destroyers, under convoy of the _Sydney_, made straight for Rabaul, the chief German settlement there, although there were no charts of the harbour, while the big ship and the other light cruiser kept watch at a distance.
In the darkness of a pitch-black night the destroyers steamed into the harbour, and captured all the ships in the bay. Right up to the pier they steamed, and then out again, having effected their purpose for the time being. They set out from that point to a rendezvous at Port Moresby, in Australian New Guinea, while the _Sydney_ returned to Australian waters. The _Australia_ and the _Melbourne_ made for New Caledonia, where their presence was needed in aid of the Sister Dominion of New Zealand.
With the greatest secrecy the New Zealand Government had equipped a force of 1,300 volunteers from the province of Wellington, for an expedition against German Samoa. They knew the big German warships were somewhere in the vicinity, but that risk did not deter them. The men were sent on transports, and convoyed by one of the antiquated British cruisers; their first port of call was New Caledonia, distant five days. Fortune favours the brave, and this was a brave little adventure, if ever there were one such. But they won out all right, reaching New Caledonia safely, to receive a joyous welcome from the _Australia_, the _Melbourne_, and the French cruiser _Montcalm_, which were awaiting them at Noumea.