A Sopwith 1½ Strutter aircraft was successfully launched from HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser). ...
Australian Naval History on 28 February 1918
Recruiting commenced for the RAN Brigade (RANB) Naval Guard Section. The RANB had been formed in 1917, and applied retrospectively from 1914 to appropriate Naval personnel.They were given their own specially designed ...
Australian Naval History on 8 February 1918
The Australian Government purchased Williamstown Dockyard from the State of Victoria, a dockyard that had served the Colonial Victorian Naval Forces up until Federation in 1901 and was used as ...
Australian Naval History on 31 January 1918
MIDN E.F. Cunningham, RAN was drowned when the submarine HMS K17, in which he was serving, was rammed and sunk by a British warship in the North Sea. Cunningham was ...
Australian Naval History on 15 January 1918
C in C, China Station, received a signal which contained information solving the fate of the Burns Philp steamer MATUNGA, which disappeared mysteriously on a voyage from Sydney to Port ...
Australian Naval History on 14 January 1918
PO P. J. Kempster, DSM, died when HM Submarine G8 was lost in the North Sea. Kempster was an RAN rating on loan to the RN and had been awarded ...
Australian Naval History on 3 January 1918
The Minesweeping Section of the RAN, under LCDR F. J. Ranken, RNR, completed the first sweeping of a minefield in Australian waters. The field, off Cape Otway, was laid by ...
Australian Naval History on 25 December 1917
HMAS HUON, (torpedo boat destroyer), transported the Greek Prime Minister, M. Venizelos and his staff, from Taranto to Pireaus. A crewman wrote: ‘As we passed the British cruisers they gave ...
Australian Naval History on 18 December 1917
Flight Lieutenant F. N. Fox, RNAS, flew a Sopwith Pup aircraft from the quarterdeck of HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser). ...
Australian Naval History on 14 December 1917
CAPT Dumaresq, RAN, commanding HMAS SYDNEY, (cruiser), signalled Scapa Flow Aerodrome:- ‘As DUBLIN’s pilot has to return shortly request that CAMPANIA may be asked to supply a pilot and Camel ...
Australian Naval History on 12 December 1917
HMAS AUSTRALIA, (battle-cruiser), was damaged in a collision with HMS REPULSE, (battle-cruiser). ...
Australian Naval History on 8 December 1917
HMAS Sydney launched the first aircraft to take off from an Australian warship. On arrival at Scapa Flow in December 1917, her Commanding Officer Captain Dumaresq, borrowed a Sopwith Pup ...
Australian Naval History on 17 November 1917
HMS VENDETTA, (destroyer, later HMAS VENDETTA), participated in the light cruiser action off Heligoland. ...
Australian Naval History on 16 November 1917
HMAS PARRAMATTA, (torpedo boat destroyer), took in tow the torpedoed Italian transport ORIONE. While the lines were being passed to the disabled ship, a torpedo was fired by an enemy submarine ...
Australian Naval History on 15 November 1917
One officer and 97 ratings of the RAN Bridging Train transferred to the AIF in preference to being returned to Australia ‘for disposal’. ...
Australian Naval History on 11 November 1917
HMAS ENCOUNTER, (cruiser), destroyed the guns on the wreck of the German raider SEEADLER, at Mopelia Island. ...
Australian Naval History on 9 November 1917
HMAS ENCOUNTER, (cruiser), found the gutted wreck of the German raider SEEADLER, on Mopelia Island. ...
Australian Naval History on 8 November 1917
The Castle class trawler BROLGA, was requisitioned by the RAN as an auxiliary minesweeper. BROLGA, and her sister ships GUNUNDAAL and KORAAGA, operated along the NSW/Victorian coast searching for mines ...
Australian Naval History on 3 November 1917
The prolific naval author, James Edmond MacDonnell, was born in Mackay, QLD. He joined the RAN in 1934, and served until 1948, reaching the rank of Acting Gunner, (Warrant Officer). ...
Australian Naval History on 2 November 1917
Land was allocated to the First Australian Torpedo Boat Destroyer Flotilla at Brindisi, for the cultivation of a ships’ vegetable garden. ...
Australian Naval History on 14 October 1917
The Australian destroyer flotilla, HMA Ships WAREGO, PARRAMATTA, YARRA, SWAN, TORRENS, and HUON, began patrol operations in the Mediterranean, at the mouth of the Adriatic Sea, from a base at ...
Australian Naval History on 12 October 1917
The auxiliary minesweeper, (trawler), HMAS BROLGA, was commissioned. ...
Australian Naval History on 10 October 1917
The Australian destroyer flotilla HMAS WARREGO, PARRAMATTA, TARRA, SWAN, TORRENS, and HUON arrived at Taranto, Italy. They were based at Brindisi, Italy and begun patrolling operations at the mouth of the Adriatic ...
Australian Naval History on 8 October 1917
The trawlers KORAAGA and GUNUNDAL, manned by the Royal Australian Naval Brigade under LCDR F. J. Ranken, RNR, swept a German minefield off Gabo Island. Thirteen mines were destroyed. Minesweepers ...
Australian Naval History on 5 October 1917
HMAS SWAN, (torpedo boat destroyer), attacked a submarine disguised as a fishing schooner off Corfu. SWAN dropped depth charges, but the submarine dived and escaped, leaving her mast and sails ...