By Jo Morrice Commander A.I. Chapman RAN (Rtd) died recently at the age of 96. This is the story of a remarkable and redoubtable man who was affectionately known to ...
Royal Naval Engineering College Manadon’s Centenary
By Ron Robb Most engineering officers serving in the RAN have at some time or other studied in HMS Thunderer, the Royal Naval Engineering College at Plymouth in England. Ex-students ...
Azimuth Thruster Propulsion Systems
By Warrant Officer Hugh Johnson One of the enduring features of naval engineering is a desire for reliability, which may lead to conservatism. In some respects warship design has changed ...
Cocos and Christmas Islands
These small isles to our north represent a microcosm of historical events taking place on a larger world stage. They encompass early exploration, colonial rule, resource booms, communications technology, and ...
District Officers Boats
By Leyland Wilkinson Leyland Wilkinson is a member of the NHS and was the former head of the trade school for apprentice training at the Garden Island Dockyard Training School, ...
Our First Engineer Admiral Vice Admiral Sir William Clarkson, KBE, CMG, RAN.
By Chris Clark When Engineer Rear-Admiral Sir William Clarkson retired from the Royal Australian Navy on 1 November 1922 with the honorary rank of Vice-Admiral, it brought to a close ...
Translators in the RAN – Theodore Eric Nave
By Sub-Lieutenant Y.L. Zhang This essay came a close second in the Naval History Prize of the New Entry Officer Course intake No. 46. Sub- Lieutenant Yanyi Zhang is a ...
Dangers to Navigation
By Lieutenant Commander Tony Maskell, RAN (Rtd) OVER THE YEARS since the arrival of the First Fleet there have been a number of notable shipwrecks. Examples can be found from ...
Australian Hospital Ships
By Graeme Andrews Hospital Ships of World War One The provision of dedicated hospital ships to support soldiers injured in combat seems to have evolved at about the time the ...
The Early Surgeons of the RAN
By Richard Gardner Richard Gardner’s father was a well-known surgeon and a close friend of Surgeon Rear Admiral W. (Billie) Carr. Richard joined the RAN on his 18th birthday in ...
Nursing Memories of HMAS Penguin
By Christina Heath Christina Heath (nee King) served in the RAN Nursing Service first in a permanent role and later on a part-time basis in a reserve capacity for over ...
A Brief History of the Royal Australian Navy Health Service
By Commander Neil Westphalen, RAN Health care for Australian sailors began in medieval England and the Crusades. In May 1153, a fleet of 36 ships owned by Eleanor of Aquitaine left ...
Royal Naval Hospital Haslar 1753 – 2007
By Malcolm Stening Malcolm Stening was one of four brothers, two of whom served as medical officers in the RAN during WWII. His elder brother Samuel (Sam) served in HMAS ...
Rear-Admiral Lionel Lockwood CBE MVO DSC MD (Melb) BSc.FRACP FACMA RAN (1902 – 1987)
By Commander Neil Westphalen, RAN LIONEL LOCKWOOD was born in Natimuk, Victoria on 13 January 1902, the eldest of four children to Alfred Wright Lockwood, a journalist and owner ...
History of the Dental Branch
By Commodore Mike Dowsett, RAN (Rtd) The Fledgling Royal Australian Navy obviously and sensibly inherited its traditions and organisation from the Royal Navy. However, some aspects were distinctly Australian and ...
How the Role of Women has changed within the Royal Australian Navy
By Midshipman C.A Smith Midshipman Chanelle Smith hails from the small coastal town of Goolwa in South Australia. Her great grandfather served in the Australian Regular Army; her grandfather was ...
Submersible Aircraft Carriers
By Driftwood The Imperial Japanese Navy submarines I-yonhyaku-gata Sensuikan completed towards the end of WW11 were for many years the largest and potentially the most formidable submarines ever built. Displacing ...
816 Squadron – the Fighting Tigers
A chip off the Old Rock
S.Y.Aurora – Australia’s first Antarctic mail ship
By Richard Breckon Sir Douglas Mawson’s Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911–14 marked the effective commencement of Australian involvement in Antarctica – the subject of 100-year celebrations recently. The ship carrying ...
