With Pennant Number "55" painted on the bow, Parramatta was the first of the Australian group built by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Govan, Scotland in 1910.

[1] The class was noted for its length of 250 feet (76 metres) and displacement of 700 tons, a range of 2,400 miles (3,900 km) at a speed of fifteen knots.

[1] With the outbreak of war in 1914, Parramatta (I) immediately saw active service in German New Guinea serving with the Australian fleet led by HMAS Australia (I).

This powerful force included the light cruisers Sydney, Melbourne, Encounter and Pioneer; the two newly arrived E-Class submarines AE1 and AE2; and Parramatta's sisters Yarra and Warrego.

Their duty was to flush out the feared German Pacific cruiser squadron under Admiral Maximilian von Spee (which had in fact already fled).

However, funding and other constraints delayed the project with the stern finally being mounted in Queens Wharf Reserve, Parramatta in 1981 and the bow at Garden Island in 1986.

[1] HMAS Parramatta (II) was constructed at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, for the Royal Australian Navy as ship number 131.

[1] The wreck site of the former HMAS Parramatta (I) lies in shallow water within Cascade Gully in the Hawkesbury River, near its northern bank.

This included a conservation program to limit water ingress into the memorial, stabilise rust activity, and to replace damaged sections of external plating.

The stern was repainted to an original World War One colour scheme, whilst the memorials brick support was cement rendered and painted.

The striking sheer bow section retains a naval grey colour scheme and is set onto a low brick support base.

[1] With limited historic building plans and photographs of Parramatta (I), the archaeological remains hold the potential to document state-of-the-art destroyer design and construction pre World War One.

This work has resulted in limiting water ingress into the structure, repairing visible rust and corrosion damage, and through repainting, providing a durable outer finish to prolong survival.

[1] The HMAS Parramatta (I) Historic Shipwreck site is of State heritage significance as the only readily accessible survivor of the torpedo boat destroyers ordered in 1909 and built for the developing Commonwealth Naval Forces (CNF).

[1] Of principal significance is the vessel's status as the first completed and commissioned (1910) of the wholly Australian naval fleet ordered initially from British dockyards post federation.

[1] The wreck site is unique in NSW for being located in three distinct places, following the removal of the bow and stern sections for public education and display in 1972.

[1] HMAS Parramatta shipwreck and memorials was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 15 December 2006 having satisfied the following criteria.

The wreck of the former HMAS Parramatta (I) is of State significance for its early associations with the establishment of wholly owned and administered Australian naval forces.

These have included His Royal Highness, Prince Philip, who opened the bow memorial in 1986, the Admiral of the Fleet Earl Mountbatten of Burma KG, PC, CCB, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, FRS who was provided with life membership in 1970, and Admiral Victor Smith KBE, CB, DSC, then Chairman of the Chief of Staffs (Defence), who opened the stern memorial in 1982.

[1] The Parramatta (II) memorial is the focal point for veteran remembrance services to the 138 crew lost when the vessel was torpedoed in action off Tobruk, North Africa, in World War Two.

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

The bow and stern memorials constructed from major elements of the Parramatta (I) shipwreck site demonstrate particular aesthetic values in their use of salvaged wreck materials.

However, funding and other constraints delayed the project with the stern finally being mounted in Queens Wharf Reserve, Parramatta in 1981 and the bow at Garden Island in 1986.

HMAS Swan lies submerged and partly buried by silt in dangerous water within the Hawkesbury but has been damaged by explosives.

The former HMAS Parramatta (I) wreck site is the only accessible vessel that has survived from the first fleet units ordered from Great Britain for the newly formed Commonwealth Naval Forces (CNF) - later the proclaimed Royal Australian Navy.

It is representative of the type of small naval attack vessel then built for the British Navy that saw active and useful service in World War One.