Battles and operations

Gallipoli 1915

A.N. Other · Mar 10, 2011 ·

One of our long standing members, Norman Rivett, has recently unearthed a valuable original manuscript of a first hand account by a member of the Royal Naval Division which served ...

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The RAN Contribution to the ‘Spirit of Anzac’

Watters, Andrew, Chaplain, RANR · Mar 10, 2011 ·

Anzac Day was a solemn occasion – that is how I remember it from my childhood. As a child of the 1960s, this day was marked by the annual pilgrimage ...

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Letters: ONS 5 and the U-Boat Battle

Letter Writer · Dec 21, 2010 ·

Dear Sir, I was very pleased to read the article by Captain A.M. Downes entitled ONS 5 and the U-Boat Battle in the latest issue of the Naval Historical Review. ...

Battle Honour Board – HMAS Kanimbla

A.N. Other · Dec 10, 2010 ·

At a recent ceremony held onboard HMAS Kanimbla (CMDR Tim Byles, RAN) the ship’s recently refurbished Battle Honour Board was re-dedicated by Chaplain Col Acton, RAN. The Battle Honours Board ...

An Historic Letter

Walker, Jefferson H., MVO, Lieutenant Commander, RAN · Dec 10, 2010 ·

Editor’s Note: This is a copy of a letter from Lieutenant Commander Jefferson H. Walker, MVO, RAN, (then CO of HMAS Parramatta (II)) to his wife, describing a particularly nasty ...

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Recommended for a High Award

Wright, Ken · Dec 10, 2010 ·

The WW II battleships of Hitler’s Kriegsmarine prowled the convoy routes of the North Atlantic, pushed beyond the Equator, challenged the enemy in the arctic blizzards of the Barents Sea ...

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Kamikazes, Suicide Bombers and Us

Shinkfield, Des · Dec 10, 2010 ·

The following speech was delivered to the Australian Naval Historical Society on Monday, 26 June, 2006 Thank you for the opportunity to speak about kamikazes. But let me enlarge on ...

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Book Review: A Hard Fought Ship

Book reviewer · Sep 21, 2010 ·

A Hard Fought Ship, The Story of HMS Venomous. By Robert J Moore and John A Rodgaard. ISBN 978-0-9559382-0-7. Published by Holywell House Publishing, Portsmouth, UK. RRP is UK£18.99. It can ...

Schooner Gerard – WW2 Service in New Guinea

NHSA Webmaster · Sep 21, 2010 ·

It was only three years after the close of WW I that Gerard, as we knew her, was built by the famous Krupp Company in, of all places, Kiel in ...

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HMAS Maryborough – Indian Ocean May 1942

Ogle, Brian · Sep 10, 2010 ·

On 6th May 1942 the Captain of HMAS Maryborough, Commander Cant, sent the following signal by Aldis lamp: ‘Get all those bloody passengers into the stokehold.’ This is recorded in ...

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The ‘Highball’ bomb/mine

Nicholls, Bob · Sep 10, 2010 ·

Narellan, south west of Sydney, is the site, at the local airport, of the Camden Museum of Aviation, which houses a collection of some 22 vintage aircraft. One of these ...

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Australian Sailors at Zeebrugge, 1918

Periodical, Semaphore · Sep 10, 2010 ·

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the March, 2007 issue of Semaphore, the newsletter of the Sea Power Centre of Australia. We are grateful for their ongoing permission to ...

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U-Boat Battle – Convoy ONS5

Downes, A.M., Captain · Sep 10, 2010 ·

This article is an edited version of a talk given by Captain A.M. Downes to the Company of Master Mariners, Sydney Branch, on 24th November 1993. Tonight I want to ...

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The Story of the Willie D

Fazio, Lieut. V. RANEM · Jun 21, 2010 ·

Editor’s Note: This story was discovered and contributed by Vince Fazio. He wishes it to be known that he is no relation to the Torpedoman Fazio mentioned in the text. ...

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The Royal Australian Navy at War South-West Pacific Area

A.N. Other · Jun 21, 2010 ·

Editor’s Note: This article was first published in 1942 in a book called HMAS, the first of an annual collection of articles and pictures compiled and distributed throughout WW II ...

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Malta Revisited

Hill, Gordon · Jun 10, 2010 ·

Memories of HMAS Vendetta in Malta in World War ll The George Cross Island Association Reunion 2004 gave me the opportunity to revisit Malta. I knew that if I put ...

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RMS Operations by the RAN in the Pacific – World War II

Turner, Mike · Jun 10, 2010 ·

RMS officers in the RAN conducted numerous Rendering Mines Safe (RMS) operations along the Australian coast and at islands to the north of Australia. Most of the RMS operations were ...

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RMS Operations by the RAN in Europe – World War II

Turner, Mike · Jun 7, 2010 ·

Bombs and mines were rendered safe by the RAN in the United Kingdom, Europe and the Middle East during World War II. RAN personnel were highly decorated for their extraordinary ...

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Erle Alwin Greglach Boyd

Swinden, Greg · Mar 21, 2010 ·

Forgotten Hero of the RAN Amongst the thousands of men and women who have served in the RAN there have been heroes and rogues, scholars and scoundrels. In a career ...

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WW1 Losses || “Too Far Away Thy Grave to See…”

Wright, Ken · Dec 21, 2009 ·

From the beginning of recorded history until now, war has been the curse of mankind and by its very nature means the death of many of the combatants and the ...

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The Dubai Princess and the Pirates

Periodical, Semaphore · Dec 21, 2009 ·

This article originally appeared in the August, 2009 edition of SEMAPHORE, published by the Seapower Centre of Australia. On 29 May 2009 the Australian Government announced a decision to flexibly ...

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Battle of the Bismark Sea

Wright, Ken · Dec 21, 2009 ·

‘We Sent the Japs to Hell and There They Learnt to Swim’ In 1942, the involvement of the Royal Australian Navy in operations against the Japanese in Malaya, Java, Timor, ...

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Address to Trafalgar Night Dinner

Goldrick, James, Commodore, RAN · Dec 21, 2009 ·

At HMAS Penguin on Friday, 17 October 2008 I am not here to talk about a battle but to reflect on just what it is that makes Nelson the ‘immortal ...

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Book Review: Sydney – Cipher and Search

Book reviewer · Dec 1, 2009 ·

Sydney – Cipher and Search By Captain Peter Hore RN (formerly Head of Defence Studies for the Royal Navy and currently chairman of the research committee of the Society for ...

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The Australians at Jutland

Swinden, Greg · Sep 21, 2009 ·

The Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916 was the major naval battle of World War I. For a few short hours on that day the British Grand Fleet and ...

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Battles and operations

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