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on August 12, the Australian fleet, consisting of the Australia, Sydney, New Zealand, Melbourne, various torpedo boats and 2 submarines, appeared in front of Rabaul. One of the torpedo boats had entered the harbour and sent a pinnace ashore demanding that the colony surrender, while the rest of the fleet remained outside. The Australians were told that the seat of government no longer was in Rabaul but had been moved inland
and that surrender was out of the question. Already preparations had been made for the defence: all able Germans had been conscripted and the hospital, and the approach to it, had been marked with Red Cross flags. The Australians realised they would encounter a rigorous defence and they might have also feared that the German fleet could well surprise them, and so the Australian fleet retreated back to Sydney on the following day. During the night, the governor had returned aboard the surveyor ship “Komet”, with the lights out and no doubt passing the German fleet, and more preparations