HMAS Anzac was a Parker-class destroyer leader that served in the Royal Navy (as HMS Anzac) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Launched in early 1917 and commissioned into the Royal Navy, Anzac led the 14th Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. In 1919, she and five other destroyers were transferred to the RAN, with Anzac commissioning as an Australian warship in 1920. Except for three visits to New Guinea and one to the Solomon Islands, Anzac remained in southern and eastern Australian waters for her entire career. The destroyer was decommissioned in 1931, sold for scrapping four years later, stripped for parts, then towed outside Sydney Heads and sunk as a target ship in 1936.
Design and construction
Anzac was a Parker-class destroyer leader, based on the Marksman or Lightfoot class. The ship had a displacement of 1,660 tons, was long overall and long between perpendiculars, had a beam of , and a draught of at maximum load. Propulsion was provided by four Yarrow boilers providing steam to Brown-Curtis geared turbines, which delivered 37,060 shaft horsepower to the destroyer's three propellers. The ship was designed to reach , but could only achieve an average of during full-power trials.
The order to build Anzac was placed with William Denny and Brothers in December 1915, and the ship was laid down at their shipyard in Dumbarton, Scotland on 31 January 1916. On 26 June 1917, Anzac went to the assistance of the submarine , which had run aground. In August 1918, Anzac was damaged in a heavy storm, requiring the replacement of her exhaust funnels and several of the ship's boats.