By William (Bill) Burrell On 18 October 2018 Mr Bill Burrell, aged 84, contacted the Sea Power Centre Australia (SPC-A) to confirm that the vessel he had recently seen on ...
The Emden Guns
By Wes Olson When the small German cruiser SMS Emden was destroyed by HMAS Sydney at the Cocos-Keeling Islands on 9 November 1914 the British Admiralty was presented with a unique opportunity ...
RAN controlled minefields in World War 2
By Mike Turner and Hector Donohue Very little has ever been reported about the controlled minefields laid at ports along Australia’s east coast in 1942 as part of Australia’s defence ...
A Hundred-Year-Old Mystery Solved: What Really Happened to AE1
This important commentary by Rear Admiral Peter Briggs AO CSC RAN (Rtd) provides a summary of research that led to the successful discovery of the remains of AE1by MV Fugro ...
The Military Technology College, Muscat: Department of Marine Engineering
By Captain John McGrath RN, Rtd The Sultanate of Oman occupies the strategically important south-eastern coast of the Arabian Sea at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. While it has ...
Occasional Paper 39: The Story Of Commander Paul Hugill Hirst RAN 1899-1963
November 2018 Compelled to Resign: The Story Of Commander Paul Hugill Hirst RAN 1899-1963 by Lieutenant Commander Terry Feltham RAN Ret’d “Just because something ends doesn’t mean it never should’ve ...
Occasional Paper 31: Captain Edmund Anstice, RN
July 2018 The following is a brief passage from the memoirs of Geoffrey Dobbin who was both a Merchant Navy and Royal Naval Reserve Officer. Geoffrey Dobbin was related through ...
Occasional Paper 28: Cockatoo Island – An Historical Account
June 2018 Cockatoo Island has a long association with the RAN. The Island has World Heritage Listing and some additional information can be found on our website at https://navyhistory.au/naval-heritage-sites/cockatoo-island. This ...
Occasional Paper 27: Royal Naval House, ‘Johnnies’: Some Personal Reminisces
May 2018 Royal Australian Naval House has always been known affectionately as ‘Johnnies’, although the origin of the name is hard to trace. From 1968 to 1970 a young Able ...
Occasional Paper 26: Salvage of the German Seehunde Midget Submarine
May 2018 Roger Buxton, an active member of the Society’s Victorian Chapter obtained the original, report of the 1945 recovery of a German Seehunde class midget submarine by Lieutenant V ...
Occasional Paper 25: Recovery of German Midget Submarine and Torpedo, Dover, January 1945
April 2018 Report by LEUT J.V.Steele RNVR, DTM(I) Roger Buxton, an active member of the Society’s Victorian Chapter has obtained two original, typed reports of the 1945 recovery of German ...
Occasional Paper 24: Sydney Harbour Minefield
April 2018 Through the Society’s relationship with the Australian National Maritime Museum, stories are shared between the two organizations. The following is an Article from ‘All Hands’ December 2017 edition, ...
Occasional Paper 22: HMAS Advance faces 50
An Article from ‘All Hands’ December 2017 edition The Australian National Maritime Museum Volunteers’ Quarterly Newsletter By Wal Robson The museum’s popular patrol boat has a significant birthday coming up ...
Naval Cutlasses – an Overview
By John McGrath This article is a complement to that on officers’ swords which appeared in the March 2018 issue of the Naval Historical Review. Like that article, it does ...
The RAAF at Sea before World War II
The following article first appeared in the Air Power Development Centre Bulletin Pathfinder, Issue 175 dated April 2012 and is reproduced with their kind permission. The perspective of our sister ...
The Unit Citation for Gallantry of the Royal Australian Navy Helicopter Flight Vietnam Extraordinary and Gallant
By CDR Ian (Max) Speedy, DSC, RANR With the passing of the years, we tend to forget just how defining the Vietnam War was in so many aspects. It was ...
Australian Merchant Navy Day – Remembrance Address
By LCDR Desmond Woods, RANR Membersof the Merchant Navy War Memorial Fund, Veterans, War Widows, Merchant Mariners, members of associated organisations, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. The maritime history of ...
A Short History of STS Young Endeavour
By Isabelle Hazell Young Endeavour, the tall ship making waves in the lives of young people all over Australia, has a history as rich as the lives it has impacted during ...
Occasional Paper 14: Interview with Lieutenant Commander Mackenzie Gregory, R.A.N. Rtd
Amended interview with Australians at War Film Archive This original interview is from this page, the Australians at War Film Archive. There is also a copy of the uncorrected interview ...
HDML 1321 and what she represents
Java is heaven, Burma is hell but you never come back alive from New Guinea – Japanese wartime saying An eagle-eyed member of our Society drew attention to this short ...
Rear Admiral Claude Lionel Cumberiege and his influence on the RAN
The Naval Historical Society was recently favoured with copies of two volumes of an unpublished five volume set comprising the autobiography of Rear Admiral Cumberiege. The volumes came from his ...
Women’s Emergency Signalling Corps: Forerunner of the Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service
By Dr J. K. Haken The Women’s Emergency Signalling Corps (WESC) was formed by Mrs. Florence Violet McKenzie in March 1939 at 9 Clarence Street, Sydney, months before WWII was ...
An American at War in the Pacific Memoirs of Chief Radioman John Ottomar Adams, USNR
A long standing member of our Society, David Mattiske, was a friend of John Adams who died early in 2017. David presented us with a self-published memoir of John Adams ...
Operation Solania: Regional Security in the South West Pacific
The following article first appeared in the Air Power Development Centre Bulletin Pathfinder Issue 281 dated February 2017 and is reproduced with their kind permission. The perspective of a sister ...
Two Osborne Houses
To add confusion to our early naval history there are two residences named Osborne House which both became naval academies. The first of these was in England and the second ...