Australian ships first saw action in the Asian and Pacific theatre; assisting in the attack on German New Guinea by the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF). Germany had colonised the northeastern part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups in 1884, and the colony was currently used as a wireless radio base, Britain required the wireless installations to be destroyed because they were used by the German East Asia Squadron which threatened merchant shipping in the region. The objectives of the force were the German stations at Yap in the Caroline Islands, Nauru, and Rabaul in New Britain. On 30 August 1914, the AN&MEF left Sydney under the protection of "Australia" and "Melbourne" for Port Moresby, where the force met the Queensland contingent, aboard the transport HMAHS "Kanowna". The force then sailed for German New Guinea on 7 September, leaving "Kanowna" behind when her stokers refused to work. "Sydney" and her escorting destroyers met the AN&MEF off the eastern tip of New Guinea. "Melbourne" was detached to destroy the wireless station on Nauru, while on 14 September, "Encounter" bombarded a ridge near Rabaul, while half a battalion advanced towards the town. The only major loss of the campaign was the disappearance of the submarine "AE1" during a patrol off Rabaul on 14 September 1914.