When war looked imminent after the Munich crisis in 1938, the Royal Australian Navy realised it needed a fleet of escort ships to guard convoys and keep the sea lanes ...
WWII operations
Occasional Paper 176: A Ship is Burning
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Occasional Paper 174: The Queensland Fraser Coast and Royal Australian Navy Historical Ties
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Occasional Paper 173: HMAS Magnetic
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Occasional Paper 168: The Royal Australian Navy in the Pacific War: 1943
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Letter: The Big Guns of Tarawa
I’m reading the latest NHR after having read the latest CTH and Buzz, and the Occasional Papers/articles, and they’re all excellent – of a high standard and an enjoyable read, ...
Book Review: The Scrap Iron Flotilla
The Scrap Iron Flotilla by Mike Carlton. William Heinemann Australia. Paperback of 448 pages. rrp $34.99 On Sunday September 3rd 1939, history was tumbling over itself. In the mess decks ...
Battle of the River Forth: Britain pays full Military Honours to German Aircrew
By Carole Welch One of our United Kingdom readers was recently going through some family mementoes and asked if we would be interested in this story emanating from the early ...
The Big Guns of Tarawa
By Walter Burroughs The December 2022 edition of this magazine contained an article A Lonely and Dangerous Vigil regarding New Zealand Coastwatching operations in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. Comments ...
Book Review: The Scrap Iron Flotilla – Five valiant destroyers and the Australian war in the Mediterranean.
By Mike Carlton, published by Random House Australia. A 448-page illustrated paperback with photographs. Available at all good booksellers from about $30.00. Some chroniclers are ideal authors for their subject ...
My Father’s Service in the RNZAF during WWII: Airman Pilot Ian Speedy RNZAF
By Max Speedy This article first appeared in the June 2022 edition of the RAN Fleet Air Arm magazine Slipstream Vol 33 No 2 and is reproduced by kind permission ...
Occasional Paper 143: HMAS Adelaide: The Final Years in Neutral Bay
By John C. Jeremy, AM Vice President NHSA The archives of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron are extensive and contain a priceless collection of material relating to sailing and the ...
Occasional Paper 145: The Royal Australian Navy’s Involvement in the Burma Campaign and the part played by HMAS Norman
By Lorraine Fildes The Burma Campaign was a series of battles fought in the British colony of Burma. The campaign was waged against the Japanese in Burma, eastern India and ...
Book Review: Sea Monsters – Savage Submarine Commanders of WWII
Sea Monsters – Savage Submarine Commanders of WWII, by Tony Matthews. Soft cover of 348 pages with b&w photographs. Published by Big Sky Publishing, Sydney, 2021. This book discusses the ...
The Arthur Lunan Story: Part III
The late Arthur Lunan maintained a diary of his service in the RAN from 1941 to 1946. His brother-in-law William Moody digitised this and added some family photographs. William and ...
The Tobruk Run – The Loss of HMS Auckland
By Andreas Biermann A 1200-ton general purpose sloop about to enter the building program was assigned the name HMS Heron, but was renamed and commissioned as HMS Auckland on 16 ...
Ultra and the Battle of the Atlantic – The True Story
Ultra and the Battle of the Atlantic – The True Story By Tim D. Lyon “The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all throughout the war. Battles might ...
Occasional Paper 139 : Robert John Dowey
This short account of the May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea focuses on the strategically significant outcomes of the battle and how they related to the future of World War 2 and Australians in particular. ...
Occasional Paper 138 : The mystery sword of the Japanese midget submarines
This short account of the May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea focuses on the strategically significant outcomes of the battle and how they related to the future of World War 2 and Australians in particular. ...
Occasional Paper 137: Battle of the Coral Sea (4–8 May 1942)
This short account of the May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea focuses on the strategically significant outcomes of the battle and how they related to the future of World War 2 and Australians in particular. ...
Occasional Paper 133: Operation C – The Indian Ocean showdown between British and Japanese naval might, 4 – 9 April 1942.
By Angus Britts Wednesday 8 April 1942 was a day of ignominy for the greatest naval power the modern world had thus far known. Since 30 March the Royal Navy’s ...
‘Fast and Furious’ – The Battle of Cape Spada: Part II
By Andreas Biermann Battles involving HMA Ships Sydney I and Sydney II illuminate the history of the RAN. Sydney I provided our first major victory of WWI in her epic engagement ...
The Arthur Lunan Story: Part II
The late Arthur Lunan maintained a diary of his service in the RAN from 1941 to 1946. His brother in law William Moody digitised this and added some family photographs. ...
Bougainville
This article forms the final part of a trilogy covering the history of the Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island. Part 1 discussing the Solomon Islands from European discovery to the ...
Rommel’s Riposte
By Andreas Biermann1 We were recently contacted by the author regarding an article published in a previous edition of the Naval Historical Review in which we incorrectly attributed the date ...