THE DARWIN DISASTER has been too well covered for us to attempt to document Cyclone Tracy and its tragic aftermath. However, it is this Society’s duty to emphasise that the ...
Naval Actions in the Crimea War – Pictorial
The Navy’s role in the Crimea War was in the main support of the armies ashore. However, these operations were not confined to the Black Sea. Squadrons were in action against ...
For Valour- Naval Victoria Crosses of World War II
The Pusser’s Bus
The Seagull V amphibian or Walrus or Pusser’s Bus was the best known aircraft of the Royal Australian Navy in World War Two. Carried by all cruisers this ubiquitous aircraft ...
The 1929 Cruise of Albatross
HMAS Parramatta: First Born of The Commonwealth Navy
Navy’s First Ship to Become City’s Hovermarine Terminal
Parramatta was being stripped before being towed to sea as a gunnery target when the State Government conceived the idea of using her and her sister ship Swan as accommodation ...
The Blazing Trail – poem
‘Twas on the gallant Quickmatch With crew two hundred bold, To “Dusty” Rhodes the Captain, They were like sheep in fold. The men comprised of fighters, Their homes the Empire ...
HMAS Encounter finds the Raider Seeadler
The story of the raider Seeadler has been told many times yet still thrills all who read of her audacity. In this article the disarming of the raider’s gutted hulk ...
Antique Cannon at Garden Island
THE 12 CANNON in the Garden Island Collection cover a period of almost four centuries. The earliest, two brass Portuguese pieces believed to have been cast in Spain in the ...
Au revoir – poem
A poetical tribute to Lieutenant Commander R. (Dusty) Rhodes DSC, RAN, on his relinquishing command of HMAS Quickmatch in 1944. Now Cobbers, fellow shipmates, The time is drawing near When we shall lose that gallant man, ...
AUSTRALIA Sinks the Elenore Woerman
WHEN THE NEW BRITAIN – NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN drew to a close HMAS Australia was ordered to the Atlantic. The route selected was east across the Pacific, and so the ...
Out of the Past – pictorial
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Farewell to Old Sydney Forever
ALTHOUGH HER DAYS WERE NUMBERED, the shock announcement on July 20th ‘The transport HMAS Sydney is to be paid off. She will be withdrawn from the Australian Fleet and will ...
The Great Sea Battles of History 480 B.C.-1945
SalamisB.C. 480 Mycale479 Mylae260 Mount Ecnome256 Drepanum (Trapani)249 Egadian lslands241 Syracuse212 Coryce191 Myonnese190 Lemnos73 Nauloque35 Actium31 SinnigalliaA.D.551 Bravalla735 Paris885 BeirutJune7, 1191 ConstantinopleJuly 17, 1203 ConstantinopleApril 22, 1204 DammeMay 31, 1213 ...
British and German submarine statistics of World War II
THE GERMAN NAVY commenced World War II with fifty-six submarines, of which only twenty four were suitable for operations in the Atlantic. In the five and a half years of ...
Twins Were Pioneers of the RAN
An announcement that two brothers had been appointed to command sister ships in Australia’s Destroyer Squadron has brought to light the careers of twin brothers who were pioneers of the ...
Tokyo Bay – 2nd September 1945
The signing of the surrender document on Tokyo Harbour on 2nd September, 1945, ended World War II. These two photographs depict the scene on that memorable day. Representatives of all ...
Australia Station ships – HMS Torch and HMS Sealark
HMS Torch joined the Australian Station in February 1897 Originally the Consuelo, HMS Sealark joined the Australia Station in 1910 ...
The Maxim was the Maximum
THE MAXIM GUN was adopted by the Royal Navy in the 1880s. It was used with good effect in the Benin Campaign (modern Biafra) in 1896. The two seamen of ...
HMS Chatham – New Zealand’s First Cruiser
HMAS Parramatta – the RAN’s First Fighting Ship
HMAS PARRAMATTA, the first fighting ship of the Royal Australian Navy. PARRAMATTA now [Ed. August 1972] rusts on the mud flats above Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River but in the next ...
HMAS Sydney in the North Sea
The four photographs in this series are from the collection of Rear Admiral G. B. Moore, C.B.E. HMAS SYDNEY operated in the North Sea in the last years of World ...
Shenandoah at Port Melbourne, 1865
The arrival of five American ships including the Confederate raider SHENANDOAH in early 1865 startled the residents of Port Melbourne. The raider’s visit triggered an international crisis and involved the British Government in ...
HMS Orlando at Cockatoo Dock – 1887
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