HMAS Parramatta (D55) was one of the Royal Australian Navy’s first destroyers and among the vessels that formed the foundation of Australia’s fledgling fleet. Commissioned in 1910, she served in the Pacific and Mediterranean during the First World War, undertaking patrol, escort and anti-submarine duties.

Parramatta is also remembered for her association with HMAS AE1, Australia’s first submarine. On 14 September 1914, while operating off New Britain during the Australian capture of German New Guinea, Parramatta was the last vessel known to have communicated with AE1 before the submarine disappeared with all hands.

Following her decommissioning in 1928, Parramatta was stripped and sold for use as an accommodation hulk associated with works on the Hawkesbury River. After a series of ownership changes, the vessel was driven ashore and abandoned at Cascade Gully, where the remains of the hull survive today. In 1973, the bow and stern sections were recovered and preserved as memorials, with the bow displayed at Garden Island and the stern incorporated into a monument on the Parramatta River. Together, these surviving remnants provide a tangible connection to one of the Royal Australian Navy’s founding ships.