Collecting Ross Rifles In Australia

[Rowdy]

Having developed an interest in the Ross about 30 years ago it has been a long time trying to collect a reasonable range of rifles.
They were never used by the military and perhaps a few sporters may have arrived to satisfy the interest of some individuals.
You have to take what you can find mine have come from the US, Brittain, NZ, Chile and some local sporters as far as I can tell.
I was hoping this forum might have been more active and thus I could get some more information on these interesting rifles, as I seem to be the only collector over here but there must be some others lurking somewhere - maybe in NSW.
Anyway if I share some pictures of what I have been able to scrounge up over the years it might stir up some interest.

Information

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[tiriaq]

I assume that the Mk. III rifle with Chilean provenance is marked DA XXX on the left of the receiver.
Have a good look at the stock markings. These rifles were relegated to RN service after being withdrawn from Canadian front line use. See if there is a mark "CEF" over a Bn. number. You might be able to track use of the rifle on the Western Front. Addtionally, the rifle was likely aboard HMS Canada at Jutland in 1916. One of my DA rifles is marked to the 15th (Toronto Scottish) and 19th (Lincoln and Welland) Bns, the other to the 16th (Canadian Scottish). Both of these rifles were likely at 2nd Ypres in April 1915.
Your MK. II** target rifle is fitted with a Central sight. Interesting. Is it a commercial rifle, with a serial number stamped with 1/16" stamps on the left side of the barrel breech, or was it military issue? Brit. proof marks?

[Rowdy]

The Mk.III is marked DA-19 and the butt is marked CEF 16.
The Mk.II** is a commercial with an AG Parker sight and British proofs which would be good except for the ugly screwed to the wood side mount and the drill and tap for a small scope. It is the only one I have seen over here apart from a wreck.

[Rossguy]

HMS Canada (aka Almirante Latorre) Ross MkIII's- Let me throw a cat into the pigeons on this topic- DA33 rifle, bayo and scabbard is part of my collection.It's the latest serialled MkIII I've ever seen or even heard of- The serial is 433/1918 OX! The Quebec Roundel is clear, as is the Roman Numeral III. Right behind the receiver is "M over 291". It would appear to be one of the "Clean-up Run" rifles assembled after Canada's government expropriated the factory from Sir Charles in 1917. Both the stamped nosecap and early bolt-stop would support this.
Now: why would a 1918 Ross even be on that boat? Certainly it wasn't aboard at the Battle of Jutland.....Surely if replacements had been ordered for whatever reason, numbering would have continued on from the original series.
The Commercial MkII** Target Rifle appears to be an early one, with it's serial likely below 4,000, based on the features. I also have one with the Parker No.9 sight, but mine is mounted on the BSA Base that is shown in the BSA Catalog as part of the unique BSA No.9C sight, only for this rifle.No screws in the wood-
This may not be the place for it, but my annual "thinning of the Ross herd" will begin next week, offering thirty-odd Ross rifles up for adoption anywhere but back to Canada. A list can be provided in response to an E.

[tiriaq]

Is there any suggestion of the who and when about the DA numbers?
RN or Chilean Navy?
If they were applied by the Chileans, a 1918 rifle could have been supplied to top up the ship's stores. The numbering sequence would not relate to when the rifle was made or placed on board.

[smellie]

The DA numbers appear to be of Chileno origin: Departamento d''Armada: Department of the Navy.

As far as I know, the RN didn't mark the rifles at all, although it now appears that the Royal Marine Light Infantry DID mark theirs. This seems to be the origin of the PLY rifles: PLYmouth. There also COULD be PO (POrtsmouth), CH (CHatham) and possibly even other RMLI rifles which we have not yet identified. The one thing we DO know is that we now must begin searching out BRITISH formations which used Rosses after the Canadian Corps traded their in.

This would make your theory as to the very late rifle simply being added-in to make up the correct number for SHIP'S stores the most likely solution. They were only serialled with the distinctive DA XXX once they got to their new home.

As to the Chilean Battleship ALMIRANTE LATORRE, it was laucnhed before the Great War, being one of a series of three battleships being constructed by Armstrongs' yard. British battleships of the period were equipped either with 12-inch, 13.2-inch or (later) 15-inch guns. The Latorre and her sisters, once seized under Right of Angary, became the ONLY battlewagons in the Royal Navy mounting 14-inch guns. Britain did not at that moment have the cash to PAY for the ships (as demanded under Right of Angary: a belligerant Power may seize Neutral shipping and even warships, but it must also PAY for them; anything else is Piracy). Canada offered the money for one of the ships and so Latorre, then undergoing sea-trials, was renamed HMS Canada and served through the entire course of the War.
When the War was over, Britain found that it had a battleship with 14-inch guns in a Navy of 12-, 13.2- and 15-inch guns. Fortunately, Chile still wanted its battleship(s), so HMS Canada was renamed once more, back to her original name, run into dry-dock and given a COMPLETE refit to fully-serviceable, NEW-ship condition. When the Armada de Chile took delivery of THEIR ship, they were getting a completely-rebuilt, refitted, combat-ready Battleship, ammunition lockers and magazines filled, boilers rebuilt, rifle racks filled. Likely there would have been Armourer's Stores included as well and THERE is a treasure, if they have not been destroyed.
ALL deficiencies would have been made right, no matter what they might have been, and THAT is how a 1918 rifle managed to be added to her Ship's Stores when nearly every other Latorre Ross can be traced to Canadian formations which were known to be in combat quite early in the War.

And she served as the Latorre the best part of the next half-century, one of the very LAST Jutland ships.

Just my take on things.

[Surpmil]

The Almirante Latorre was I believe the last Super-Dreadnought class ship in existence. It's a great pity she was not preserved somewhere. The Kongo built for the Japanese also had the 14" guns IIRC. HMS Agincourt was another intersting ship expropriated in 1914: the largest number of big gun turrets ever fitted to a battleship, again, going from memory.