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You are here: Home / Article topics / Publications / Naval Historical Review / Australasian Naval Forces and Commonwealth Naval Forces

Australasian Naval Forces and Commonwealth Naval Forces

Swinden, Greg · Jun 14, 2011 · Print This Page

Author
Swinden, Greg
Subjects
History - general, History - pre-Federation
Tags
Royal Australian Navy
RAN Ships
None noted.
Publication
June 2011 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)

[4] John Garfield Clubb. Born Balmain NSW 7 January 1889. Enlisted in ANF 2 May 1904. Served in HM Ships Mildura, Challenger and Pyramus. He was Medically discharged as unfit 19 April 1909.

[5] Noting the five years commenced from the time the man turned 18 so any service before this age ‘Boys Time’ did not count towards the period of service.

[6] Note that ANF ratings who completed their initial service in the Royal Navy and were discharged prior to 1913, and who later enlisted in the RAN, would be issued service numbers commensurate with their year of enlistment.

[7] In 1967 Harold Batt published a history of his service in the RN and RAN from 1909-1919 entitled Pioneers of the Royal Australian Navy. This is the only known book written by a member of the ANF.

[8] The last Australian to join the ANF was Leslie Norman Bartholomaues (Born at Broken Hill in 1895). He joined the ANF on 22 October 1912 and was allocated service number 1781. He was transferred to the RAN on 22 February 1913 and allocated service number 7868. He was discharged Services No Longer Required (SNLR) on 5 April 1918 following the HMAS Fantome mutiny. The last man to join the ANF was Thomas Henry George Hullah from the Chatham Islands, New Zealand who enlisted on 6 March 1914 and was allocated the last ANF Service Number of 1796.

[9] That said at least 25% of all RAN personnel in 1913 were Royal Navy personnel on loan to the RAN and several more were ex Royal Navy members who had joined the RAN directly

Notes:

[1] All states except Western Australia had naval forces consisting of ships and NSW and Victoria possessed naval brigades (naval infantry)

2 The Royal Navy ships of the Australian Squadron remained based at Sydney until October 1913 when the first RAN Fleet unit formally arrived in Australian waters. The flagship of the Royal Navy Australian Squadron was the cruiser, HMS Cambrian, which saluted the arrival of the Australian Fleet unit on 4 October 1913 and then, nine days later, she and several other British warships departed and returned to England for reassignment or decommissioning.   Some ships remained in Australian waters on loan to the RAN such as the cruiser Encounter.

3 This was linked somewhat to the Australasian Naval Defence Act of 1887 in which the Australian colonies had provided funding for the maintenance and manning of seven warships (five third class cruisers and two torpedo gunboats). Previously manning of the ships in Australia had been purely by Royal Navy ratings recruited in Great Britain although several Australian born individuals did travel to England to enlist directly in the RN.

4 John Garfield Clubb. Born Balmain NSW 7 January 1889. Enlisted in ANF 2 May 1904. Served in HM Ships Mildura, Challenger and Pyramus. He was Medically discharged as unfit 19 April 1909.

5 Noting the five years commenced from the time the man turned 18 so any service before this age ‘Boys Time’ did not count towards the period of service.

6 Note that ANF ratings who completed their initial service in the Royal Navy and were discharged prior to 1913, and who later enlisted in the RAN, would be issued service numbers commensurate with their year of enlistment.

7 In 1967 Harold Batt published a history of his service in the RN and RAN from 1909-1919 entitled Pioneers of the Royal Australian Navy. This is the only known book written by a member of the ANF.

Bibliography

AWM 266      Australasian Naval Forces Service Records, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, ACT

Australian Archives    RAN Service Records (A6770 – Ratings/A6769 – Officers).

 Atkinson J.J.   By Skill and Valour – Honours and Awards to the RAN for the First and Second World Wars, Spink and Son (Australia) Pty Ltd, Sydney, NSW, 1986.

 Bach J.            The Australia Station – A history of the Royal Navy in the South West Pacific 1821 – 1913, NSW University Press, Sydney, NSW, 1986.

 Bastock J.       Ships on the Australia Station, Child and Associates, Sydney, NSW 1988.

 Batt Lofty       Pioneers of the Royal Australian Navy, Central Coast Printery, Gosford, NSW, 1967

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Naval Historical Review, History - general, History - pre-Federation Royal Australian Navy

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