She was sunk on mud flats on Swan Island in Port Phillip Bay in 1912 after being stripped of equipment and machinery.

Lonsdale was one of several torpedo boats ordered by the government of Victoria in 1882 to protect the colony from a possible Russian or French attack, and was built by John I. Thornycroft & Company.

[3] The boat had a maximum speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph), which she would use to close rapidly with enemy vessels before attacking.

[4] Records indicate she was sunk on mud flats on Swan Island in Port Phillip in 1912 after being stripped of equipment and machinery,[1] however a dig later found that she had been buried in Queenscliff.

Despite the fact the boat is the oldest Royal Australian Navy vessel currently still in existence, and it represents a rare example of a wreck accessible without having to be reclaimed using diving equipment, no effort has been made to reclaim or preserve the vessel.