You could say it all began when I pounded on the desk of the elderly Commander at the Admiralty. I was a young officer with a great grievance. Looking back, ...
Battles and operations
HMAS Australia – Kamikaze Attack 1944
This year (2004) marks the 60th anniversary of the first kamikaze attack on HMAS Australia. As Roger de Lisle reports, Japanese suicide pilots hurled their aircraft onto Allied ships with ...
The Gift Minesweepers
The first dedicated minesweeping vessels in the RAN made their appearance in Australian waters at the end of WW1 to sweep minefields sown by a German raider during the war, ...
Sydney Memorial to HM Submarine K13
Alongside Pennant Hills Road in Carlingford, a Sydney suburb, is a memorial comprising a pond, rocks, the lettering K13 and brass plates. Of those who have seen it, how many ...
HMAS Vendetta WW2
This is part 3 of an hitherto unpublished personal account was given to the Editor shortly before the death of the author, together with several other brief accounts of his ...
The Great Amphibious Invasion: D-Day, 6 June 1944
One of the clearest demonstrations of sea power occurred on 6 June 1944, when the Allies landed in German-occupied Normandy in the greatest sea-borne invasion in history. Operation OVERLORD was ...
Action off Endau
After the tragic loss of Force Z (HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse) the previous month, HMAS Vampire experienced a short, defiant action against the invading Japanese off the Malayan ...
Australians in Midget Submarines
A short account of British midget submarine operations during WW2 in which Australians participated with considerable success. Previously published in ANWM Wartime Issue 19 and the Naval Officers’ Club Newsletter ...
The Amethyst Incident Recalled
Visit To HMAS Sheean – Garden Island 2003
The Editor managed to score an unexpected conducted tour of one of the RAN’s latest Collins Class submarines, HMAS Sheean, alongside the dedicated submarine berth in Fleet Base East. ON ...