By Ross Gillett Some of the most exotic campaigns of the Great War (1914 to 1918) were fought in Africa. All but forgotten today, they are fascinating stories in their ...
Australian Fleet Reviews 1788 to 1914
By Ross Gillett As an island nation, fleet arrivals and naval reviews have formed a major part of Australia’s naval history and tradition. Sydney Harbour and Port Phillip have provided ...
Occasional Paper 162: Port Phillip’s Fleet Review 1920
By Ross Gillett “In the perfect beauty of the crisp autumn afternoon, the Prince of Wales made his triumphant entry to the homeland of the Anzacs in the Australian destroyer ...
Occasional Paper 146: Early Naval Training
On Wednesday, 1 October 1913 the Sydney Mail newspaper featured the following detailed report on early naval recruiting and training. Just three days later, on 4 October, Sydney Harbour would ...
Pacific Support Vessel Reliant
By Ross Gillett Dodging showers, on Thursday, 21 July a baker’s dozen of Naval Historical Society members led by our president was invited to inspect the new Pacific Support Vessel ...
Occasional Paper 134: A Long Salty Voyage Home – The Delivery of Victoria’s First Torpedo Boat H.M.V.S. Childers
By Ross Gillett When the Victorian Government’s first-class torpedo boat HMVS Childers had moved safely out of Portsmouth on 3 February 1884, the 26-year-old commander, Lieutenant Martyn Jerram, went down ...
Occasional Paper 123: Royal Australian Navy 75th Anniversary Year: 1986
By Ross Gillett During 1986, more than any other time since the formation of the RAN, the focus of public and media attention was directed at events both naval and ...
The First Hundred Years
River Class Frigates in the RAN – a Brief History
Australia’s First Warship – The Torpedo Boat Acheron
Which was Australia’s first ‘real’ warship is a question often asked by naval historians. Today, what colony you originally came from or where you now reside, could be important elements ...
Book Review: Nelson to Vanguard
Title: Nelson to Vanguard, Warship Design and Development 1923-1945 Author: D.K. Brown Publisher: Chatham Publishing Nelson to Vanguard, Warship Design and Development 1923-1945 is the final volume in a three ...
HMAS Jervis Bay II announced
The Northern Patrol
Burra Bra — Ferry and Warship
A SLEEK PASSENGER FERRY for the Sydney to Manly service was launched at the shipyards of Morts Dock & Engineering Co. Ltd., Woolwich, New South Wales, on 17th June 1908. ...