Over recent timeswhat was the Naval Health Services has undergone a significant transformation, becoming part of a unified Defence Health Services organisation. To many past members of the wider naval ...
Naval Fuel Oil
By Peter Colthorpe With recent announcements that the redundant naval oil fuel installation beneath the Sydney Domain is to be used in an extension to the Art Gallery of NSW, ...
Lieutenant (SP) H.L. Billman, DSC, RANVR
By Hector Donohue Harold Leon (Bill) Billman had a relatively short war in the RAN of just three years, but as a bomb and mine disposal officer he was regularly ...
Officers’ Swords of the Royal Navy – A Brief History
By John McGrath Captain John McGrath, RN is a retired officer with a lifelong interest in naval swords. With Mark Barton he co-authored British Naval Swords and Swordsmanship published by Seaforth ...
Jack – The Australian Sailor Monument
By Gavin Ryan Gavin Ryan a retired RAN leading signalman is convenor and director of The Australian Sailor Pty Ltd, an important project to provide a suitable mark of respect to ...
The Australian – Indian Relationship – Part 3
Previous editions of this magazine examined the Australian – Indian relationship from the establishment of the first Australian colony in 1788 to the conclusion of the Second World War. This ...
Naval Health Services – an Introduction
By CDRE Liz Rushbrook, Director General, Naval Health Service I am pleased to participate in this retrospective glimpse of our Naval Health Service. The Service, like the RAN, came into ...
Bomb and Mine Disposal (BMD) Operations in the Pacific
By Hector Donohue During World War II, RAN personnel operated with their RN counterparts in the dangerous and demanding tasks of BMD in the waters around UK and on shore, ...
Malta Revisited: Wartime Memories of HMAS Vendetta’s Malta Sojourn in World War II
We are indebted to ex Supply Assistant Gordon Hill for this wonderfully illuminating description of his wartime service in the destroyer HMAS Vendetta when based at Malta. The George Cross Island ...
HMAS Suva: the ship that shaped the future of the Australian Naval Station
By John Smith Possibly not many have heard of HMAS Suva as she had an extremely short history as a commissioned Australian warship. She did however have the distinction of wearing ...
Occasional Paper 19: Surgeon Commander Alexander Ruan Caw, RAN
December 2017 Surgeon Commander Alexander Ruan Caw, RAN MB BS. Adelaide. 1879-1924 These biographical notes on CMDR Alexander Caw who served in HMAS Australia during World War 1 were provided ...
Occasional Paper 20: Surgeon LCDR Jack Rupert Law Willis, RAN
December 2017 Surgeon LCDR Jack Rupert Law Willis, RAN 1888-1971 MB BS Melb These biographical notes on LCDR Jack Willis who served in HMS Prince of Wales during World War ...
Occasional Paper 17: Fleet arrival in Sydney – 4 October 1913
October 2017 At an Imperial Conference held in 1909, it was decided to deploy to Australian waters a naval unit consisting of at least a battle cruiser, three second class ...
Dubbo born Olympian in command of His Majesty’s Australian Squadron – Robert Dalglish
By Captain John McGrath, Royal Navy This fascinating article received from a Royal Naval colleague covers an often overlooked period of our naval history leading up to the Great Depression. ...
The Sailors of Fromelles
By Commander Tony Vine, RANR In the eyes of the Australian public the Royal Australian Navy’s role in the Great War is generally limited to the capture of New Guinea, ...
Australian – Indian Relationship: Part 1
This is the first of a three part series covering the Australian-Indian relationship. Australians fought alongside Indian troops in two world wars, but what do we know about them? Both ...
‘Mission to Kerguelen’ – An Australian Military Operation in the Sub-Antarctic islands in 1941
By Rohan Goyne I refer to the excellent article Antarctica the forgotten Continent by Hugh Farmer in the Naval Historical Review Vol. 38 No2 June 2017 and offer the following ...
HMAS Platypus – a Submarine Naval Base
By Peter R. Smith This paper was prepared by the Submarine Institute of Australia to help mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the formation of a submarine base ...
Occasional Paper 15: Battle of Bita Paka 11 September 1914
September 2017 The Battle of Bita Paka (11 September 1914) was fought south of Kabakaul, on the island of New Britain, and was a part of the invasion and subsequent ...
Occasional Paper 14: LCDR Mackenzie Jesse Gregory
September 2017 LCDR Mackenzie Jesse Gregory RAN Ret, (9/02/1922- 27/08/2014) was to my mind a fine example of the qualities a Naval Officer needed to have. He could communicate well, ...
Occasional Paper 12: Personal Experiences: Aftermath Of Japanese Submarine Attack: Sydney Harbour
August 2017 The following are accounts of individual contributions made by two remarkable people in the aftermath of the Japanese midget submarine attack in Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942. ...
Occasional Paper 13: Local Australian/USA Submarine Initiative Helps Turn the Tide of War Against Japan in 1942
August 2017 The following story provided by Commodore Bob Trotter OAM RAN (Ret’d), National President of the Submarine Association is about a little-known part of the shared Australia/USA submarine history ...
Occasional Paper 10: The Loss of HMAS Kuttabul
The following address was delivered Captain Christopher Skinner RAN Rtd during the 75th anniversary ceremony conducted by HMAS Kuttabul on Garden Island, Sydney 1 June 2017. Good morning to you ...
Occasional Paper 9: The Sinking of HMAS Armidale on 1 December 1942
July 2017 The following address was delivered by Dr Kevin Smith OAM to members of the Naval Historical Society of Australia in Sydney 18 April 2017. In 1798 at the ...
Occasional Paper 11: The Remarkable Short Life of HMAS Nestor, The Ship That Never Came Home
July 2017 The following address was delivered Commander Walter Burroughs RAN Rtd during the 75th anniversary ceremony conducted by the RAN on Garden Island, Sydney 16 June 2017. I am ...