Cerberus received torpedo netting and spars in 1887, then worked as a storeship during the 1890s. In May 1900 one member of the ship's company showed symptoms of bubonic plague, leading to the whole company being quarantined. Federation transferred the ship to the Commonwealth Naval Forces in 1901, and she entered the Royal Australian Navy when it received that name in 1911. By 1909 her boilers could no longer raise enough steam for propulsion, while her long-embedded anchors required specially built derricks. During the First World War she remained in use as a stationary guard and ammunition ship even though the main guns no longer worked. In 1913 the Royal Australian Naval College personnel still appeared on her pay books because the college was not yet a commissioned establishment.
Chapter · 14:36-16:27
From Victorian flagship to stationary support ship
Refits, storeship work, federation, and training administration kept Cerberus useful after her machinery and guns lost their fighting value.