By Commander Neil Westphalen, RAN Let us assume it’s 0915 on a Monday and you are the CPOCSM for a major fleet unit that is due to sail at 1000. ...
The Frigates that ‘did nothing in particular, and did it very well’ – with apologies to W.S. Gilbert.
By John Ingram Fifty years ago, the Whitlam Labor government cancelled the troubled Light Destroyer (DDL) project and set in place the acquisition of six patrol frigates of the Oliver ...
Occasional Paper 163: Able Seaman Frank McGovern OAM 1919 – 2023
By Commander Steve Youll OAM RAN (Retd) Frank McGovern, at 19 years of age joined the Royal Australian Navy on the 30 August 1939. After initial training he was posted ...
Occasional Paper 158: John Palmer: The Colony’s First Principal Commissary
By Cheryl Timbury. This paper was first published on 6 February 2012 by the First Fleet Fellowship Victoria Inc ©. John Palmer (1760 – 1833) the first Commissary-General of New ...
Battle of the River Forth: Britain pays full Military Honours to German Aircrew
By Carole Welch One of our United Kingdom readers was recently going through some family mementoes and asked if we would be interested in this story emanating from the early ...
The Sydney Harbour Invasion
By Colin Randall Many Australian harbours are defended against enemy attack and none more so than Sydney, which has had shore-based fortifications since the days of the First Fleet. Potential ...
The Enterprising Enderbys
By Walter Burroughs The English Civil War During the 18th and 19th centuries the name Enderby was well-known in shipping circles in Great Britain and its colonies in America and ...
A Lonely and Dangerous Vigil: New Zealand and Coastwatching in the Second World War and RNZN Involvement 1939-1945
By Michael Wynd In Australia we possess a plethora of material on Coastwatchers but know very little of a similar operation on the other side of the Tasman. This fine ...
An Essay on the 2005 Nias Island Sea King Crash
By MIDN T.D. Craig This well researched essay providing a critical analysis of serious problems within the Fleet Air Arm was a runner up to the Naval Historical Society history ...
The NSW Department of Main Roads (DMR) at War
By Rohan Goyne This story complements an article in the June 2022 edition of the Naval Historical Review concerning the wartime construction of airfields on Norfolk Island and New Caledonia. ...
Our First Patrol Boats
By Walter Burroughs In recent times Australia could be considered a mecca for the patrol boat industry: from a slow post war start with the Attack class, they were replaced ...
The River Clyde: The cradle of British shipbuilding and the birthplace of the Royal Australian Navy
By CMDR Tony Vine RAN Rtd The River Clyde in Scotland has long been described as the cradle of the British shipbuilding industry and in 1909 it became the foundation ...
Occasional Paper 153: County Class ships of the Royal Navy: A photographic review
By Conrad Waters The following feature was first published in the Ships Monthly magazine and subsequently by the Heritage Machines website on 19th October 2022. The Royal Navy’s series of ...
What’s in a Name: The Ben Boyd National Park
By Walter Burroughs The French Revolution of 1789 declared ‘All men are born and remain free and equal in rights’. This virtually brought about the end of slavery but it ...
Emperor to General: the last days of Napoléon Bonaparte
By Fairlie Clifton In 2021 at the time of the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon, the author of this article was reminded that Napoleon’s surrender to England had ...
HMAS Bombo and Able Seaman Robert Klippel RANR
By Colin Randall Less than two hours south from Sydney lies the picturesque coastal town of Kiama. On the outskirts sits Bombo Heads with a huge bite taken out of ...
An Essay on Lessons to be Learnt from the Korean War
By MIDN Li-Chun Chen RAN Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen grew up in Melbourne where they developed a love of learning with particular interests in science and philosophy. The younger ...
My Father’s Service in the RNZAF during WWII: Airman Pilot Ian Speedy RNZAF
By Max Speedy This article first appeared in the June 2022 edition of the RAN Fleet Air Arm magazine Slipstream Vol 33 No 2 and is reproduced by kind permission ...
MV Fairsea and Fire at Sea
A recently joined member of our Society, Kristiane Molloy, has provided an interesting story of her first voyage as a twenty-one-year-old nurse in 1969. She was a passenger aboard the ...
Cruising into Calm Waters or Stormy Seas
By Walter Burroughs Until the viral pandemic of the 2020s cruising was the wonder of the travel industry; starting in earnest in the 1960s it became a worldwide phenomenon with ...
The Tobruk Run – The Loss of HMS Auckland
By Andreas Biermann A 1200-ton general purpose sloop about to enter the building program was assigned the name HMS Heron, but was renamed and commissioned as HMS Auckland on 16 ...
The Changing Role of Naval Chaplaincy
By Senior Chaplain Richard Quadrio RAN Observing from afar, most especially with new uniform badges worn by Chaplains and later the introduction of Maritime Spiritual Wellbeing Officers (MSWO), it is ...
The Seas of Change: Integrating Women aboard Australian Submarines
By LEUT L.M. Dunsmore RAN Earlier this year this essay was awarded the Naval Historical Society History Prize from candidates of the New Entry Officer Course 65. Publication was withheld ...
Norfolk Island goes to War and New Zealand’s Aircraft Carrier
By Walter Burroughs Since 1788 Norfolk Island has been occupied and governed from the Australian mainland. As the following story unfolds, however, we shall see that for six years during ...
Finding HM Bark Endeavour
By Fairlie Clifton Much of the modern history of Australia and New Zealand arises from the discoveries of James Cook and his fine ship Endeavour. For this reason Endeavour is ...