• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Naval Historical Society of Australia

Preserving Australia's Naval History

  • Events
  • Members Area
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Contact us
  • Show Search
  • 0 items
Hide Search
Menu
  • Home
  • Research
    • Where to start
      • Research – We can help!
      • Self help
      • Naval Service Records
      • Library
      • Related Maritime websites
    • Resources
      • Articles
      • On This Day
      • Podcasts
      • Videos
      • Australian Military Ship Losses
      • RAN events on a  Google Earth Map
      • Related Maritime websites
    • Other
      • Newsletters: Call The Hands
      • Occasional Papers
      • Books
      • HMAS Shropshire
      • Book reviews
    • Close
  • Naval Heritage Sites
    • World Heritage Listings
      • Cockatoo Island
    • National Heritage Listings
      • HMAS Sydney II and the HSK Kormoran Shipwreck Sites
      • HMVS Cerberus
    • Commonwealth Heritage Listings
      • Garden Island NSW
      • HMAS Watson
      • HMAS Penguin
      • Spectacle Island Explosives Complex NSW
      • Chowder Bay Naval Facilities
      • Beecroft Peninsula NSW
      • Admiralty House, Garden and Fortifications
      • HMAS Cerberus
      • Naval Offices QLD
      • Garden Island WA
      • Royal Australian Naval College ACT
      • Royal Australian Naval Transmitting Station ACT
    • NSW Heritage Listings
      • HMAS Rushcutter
    • Close
  • Tours & Cruises
    • Navy in Sydney Harbour Cruise, East
    • Navy in Sydney Harbour Cruise, West
    • 81st. Anniversary Cruise: Sydney under Japanese Attack
    • Tour of Sub Base Platypus
    • Garden Island Dockyard Heritage Tour
    • Garden Island Northern Hill and Garden Tour
    • Tour Bookings
    • Close
  • About us
    • About Us
      • What we do
      • Our People
      • Office Bearers
      • Become a volunteer
      • Our Goals and Strategy
    • Organisation
      • Victoria Chapter
      • WA Chapter
      • ACT Chapter
    • Close
  • Membership
  • Shop
  • Become a volunteer
  • Donate
You are here: Home / Article topics / Book Review: Australia’s Colonial Navies

Book Review: Australia’s Colonial Navies

Book reviewer · Sep 27, 2021 · Print This Page

Author
Book reviewer
Subjects
Colonial navies, Early warships, Book reviews
Tags
Naval Historical Society
RAN Ships
None noted.
Publication
September 2021 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)

Australia’s Colonial Navies by Ross Gillett is a revised and expanded edition published by the Naval Historical Society of Australia and released in 2021.

In the 21st century most Australians have heard of the exploits of the Royal Australian Navy, but not many would know that five of the nation’s early colonies operated their own navies. These fleets ranged from the mighty Victorian Naval Force with dozens of ships, down to the tiny Tasmanian torpedo corps with just one small torpedo boat. In between these two extremes were the naval forces of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia.

Some of the warships were purpose-built, some modified after commercial duties, and others were transferred from the Royal Navy. Of these, 70 men-of-war and 22 purpose-built warships were designed and built in Australia or Great Britain, with the later ships having the dangerous task of sailing to Australia under their own power. A few were built by local shipwrights, including at Port Arthur in Tasmania and at Pyrmont in Sydney Harbour.

The crews who manned these colonial naval fleets were a mixture of locals recruited by the authorities or were former sailors and officers who joined after careers in Britain’s Royal Navy.

Australia’s colonial naval fleets were all designed to protect the colonies from the threat of foreign raiders, especially the perceived Russian threat of the 1870s-80s, a threat that failed to materialise. As well as their regular harbour, river and bay manoeuvres, some of the ships operated at extreme distances along their respective coasts; one sailed to New Zealand and another to China for the Boxer Rebellion.

The Naval Historical Society of Australia is proud to announce the publication of this much revised and expanded edition of the Australian Colonial Navies book originally released in 1982. Now in the form of an ebook and supported by many additional stories and colour images from the 19th and early 20th centuries, Australian Colonial Navies spans over 285 pages with hundreds of rare photographs, line drawings, sketches and colour images of a now long-forgotten era of Australian naval history.To secure your copy of Australian Colonial Navies visit the Society website shop: https://navyhistory.au/shop/australias-colonial-navies/
It is available in four different formats; PRINT, PDF, EPUB (eBook format), MOBI (Kindle format).

Naval Historical Review, Colonial navies, Early warships, Article topics, Book reviews, Royal Australian Navy Naval Historical Society

Primary Sidebar

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

Latest Podcasts

  • The Case of the Unknown Sailor
  • Night of the midget subs — Sydney under attack
  • D-Day commando on Sword Beach by Commander Jim Speed DSC, RAN – Part 1
  • D-Day commando on Sword Beach by Commander Jim Speed DSC, RAN – Part 2
  • D-Day commando on Sword Beach by Commander Jim Speed DSC, RAN – Part 3

Links to other podcasts

Australian Naval History Podcasts
This podcast series examines Australia’s Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere.
Produced by the Naval Studies Group in conjunction with the Submarine Institute of Australia, the Australian Naval Institute, Naval Historical Society and the RAN Seapower Centre

Life on the Line Podcasts
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories.
These recordings can be accessed through Apple iTunes or for Android users, Stitcher.

Video Links

  • Australian War Memorial YouTube channel
  • Royal Australian Navy YouTube Channel
  • Research – We can help!
  • Naval Heritage Sites
  • Garden Island Dockyard Heritage Tour
  • About us
  • Shop
  • Events
  • Members Area
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Contact us

Facebook

  • Facebook
  • Members Area
  • Privacy Policy
  • Log Out

Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. Copyright © 2023