OFFICIAL BADGE DESIGN Silver War Badge The Silver War Badge was an Imperial award issued to those who had been honourably discharged as a result of wounds or injuries received ...
The Creer Brothers in the RAN
Reginald Charles (Ferrers) Creer (1881-1958), and Herbert Victor Creer (1881-1969) ...
Occasional Paper 99: HMAS Tarakan fire 71 years ago
With Australian’s focussed on celebrating Australia day and long weekends the anniversary of the tragic explosion and fire in HMAS Tarakan (I) on 25 January 1950 passes relatively unnoticed most ...
Admiralty Fleet Dock 17 (AFD 17)
The dock had been based at the Royal Navy Depot at Reykjavik, Iceland and was undertaking the longest ocean tow in history, at that time, from Reykjavik to Sydney, a ...
Occasional Paper 87: Disposition and Employment of Royal Australian Navy Ships following Cessation of Hostilities 15 August 1945
By David Stratton, Hugh Farmer and Dennis Weatherall At the end of the War in the Pacific in August 1945 the strength of the Royal Australian Navy was 36,976 men ...
Letter from Frederick Merrill RAN on the sinking of the S.M.S. Königsberg
Butcher, 2nd Class Frederick Priest Merrill, R.A.N., H.M.A.S. Pioneer, wrote to his parents in Sheffield with his account of the sinking of the S.M.S. Königsberg in the Rufiji delta, German ...
Australian Naval History on 26 October 2019
HMAS Melbourne III decommissioned at Fleet Base East. Since commissioning in 1992, Melbourne had steamed more than 900,000 nautical miles, deployed on operations to the Middle East eight times and ...
Before her time – the tale of Navy’s first female sailor
Twenty-one years before the first Women’s Royal Australian Navy members (WRANs) entered service due to a shortage of telegraphists during the Second World War, a young Tasmanian girl was enlisted ...
Special feature interview with an incredible veteran on the 80th anniversary of WWII
Alan Jones hosted a special feature interview to mark 80 years since Australia joined World War II. On September 3, 1939, Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced to the nation that ...
Australian Naval History on 30 August 2019
The future HMAS Stalwart III, was launched by Spanish shipbuilder Navantia at its Ferrol shipyard ...
Australian Naval History on 2 February 1994
The decommissioned USS Goldsborough arrived at Garden Island after purchase from the USN for equipment to establish training facilities for maintenance personnel and spare parts for RAN DDGs ...
Australian Naval History on 3 September 1981
HMAS Swan becomes the first RAN ship to visit China in 32 years, docking at Shangahi. ...
Australian Naval History on 11 May 2019
Keel laid for HMAS Arafura , Offshore Patrol Vessel ...
Australian Naval History on 30 June 2019
HMAS Newcastle decommissioned. ...
Australian Naval History on 29 June 2019
HMAS Success II decommissioned. ...
Special Service Squadron ‘down under’ March to April 1924
In 1924 the Royal Navy’s Special Service Squadron visited Australia and New Zealand. Ships involved: Battlecruisers under Rear Admiral Sir Frederick Field – HMS Hood (Captain John K Im Thurn) ...
Big wave of destruction
A voyage from Fremantle to Cocos Islands to farewell the Royal Yacht SS Gothic at the successful end of Queen Elizabeth II’s first visit to Australia ended badly when two ...
Occasional Paper 40: Secret History of the First Australian to be given Penicillin
On Thursday 9th August 2018 the ABC 7.30 Report broadcast a story by Tracy Bowden about the first use of penicillin in Australia. Tracy has given permission to the Naval ...
Occasional Paper 35: Loss of HMAS Parramatta (II): First Hand Accounts
September 2018 Recently the Naval Historical Society of Australia was favoured with two handwritten letters from survivors of the sinking of HMAS Parramatta (II) off Tobruk overnight 27 November 1941. ...
Occasional Paper 33: HMAS Cerberus – Early History and Observations
August 2018 This paper was developed after locating a 1970 HMAS Cerberus Wardroom mess dinner menu. The menu included observations by prominent citizens about HMAS Cerberus and its location at ...
Occasional Paper 32: HMAS Voyager (I) or What’s in a Coat of Paint?
August 2018 During WWII ships of the RAN were painted in a number of different colour schemes as these photos of Voyager illustrate and information on both peacetime and wartime ...
Occasional Paper 30: HMAS Hobart
Several events concerning the three HMA Ships Hobart come together with a memorial and commemoration service at the Garden Island Chapel on Sunday 22nd July starting at 10.00am. HMAS Hobart ...
Occasional Paper 37: Allan Charles Green [1878-1954], the man behind the Photos
In the State Library of Victoria we have an amazing photographic collection of ship photo thanks to Allan Green. He was born in Daylesford, in the Central Victorian goldfields ...
Occasional Paper 38: RAN Returns to the Unit System of Machinery Layout
After World War 2 the Daring Class destroyer was designed taking into account the lessons learnt for the ships damaged during the war. Many destroyers had been rendered unpowered because ...
Occasional Paper 40: Secret history of the first Australian to be given Penicillin
On Thursday 9th August 2018 the ABC 7.30 Report broadcast a story by Tracy Bowden about the first use of penicillin in Australia. Tracy has given permission to the Naval ...