By Richard Pelvin This paper by former RAN historian Richard Pelvin was first published in ‘Australia’s Navy 1990-91’. It is republished with the kind permission of the Director, Sea Power ...
Naval history
Occcasional Paper 211: The Culture of the Royal Australian Navy ‘then and now’
The following is an address to the Victorian Chapter of the Naval Historical Society of Australia delivered 24 November 2025. By Lieutenant Commander Desmond Woods OAM RAN (RETD) Mr President, ...
Occasional Paper 210: Kunghah Maris – loss of a much loved local lady
By Commander David Jordan CSC RAN (Retd) Background and need During the late 1950s and well into the 1960s, the Royal Air Force (RAF) still had flying boats in service. ...
Book Review Serving the Nation – Always underway 1948-1972 by Ross Gillett
This book was published by the Naval Historical Society Australia in 2026. Price $70 includes packing and postage within Australia. Available via the society website: www.navyhistory.au Review by John Mortimer ...
Occasional Paper 209: THE DARDANELLES – 1915 AND OPERATION EPIC FURY – 2026 (Why a Ship Is Still A Fool To Fight A Fort)
By Desmond Woods OAM During a period when a vital waterway is dominating the headlines, we may with profit recall that the entire amphibious campaign on the Gallipoli Peninsula was ...
Occasional Paper 208: Sailors in the Sinai – Multi-National Force & Observers’ The Royal Australian Navy in the Sinai 1982 – 1986
By Greg Swinden Following the ceasefire that ended hostilities in the 1973 Arab-Israeli War the United Nations (UN) established a peace keeping force in the Sinai; the United Nations Emergency ...
Occasional Paper 207: HMAS Torrens to the Rescue
A first-hand account provided to the Sydney Morning Herald and published 17 years after the event. ...
Occasional Paper 206: Images of a Naval Career, Commander Peter Lawrence Poland, OAM, RN
By David Michael The majority of young men and women who join the Navy serve with great pride for careers of varying lengths and in their later years look back ...
Occasional Paper 205: Rear Admiral Rothesay Cathcart Swan AO CBE RAN (Ret’d)
The following eulogy for Rear Admiral Swan was delivered by Commander Stephen Moss CSC RAN (Ret’d) during the funeral service at the Naval Chapel Garden Island, Sydney on 22 January ...
Occasional Paper 204: THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY IN CAMBODIA 1992 – 1997
The United Nations Transitional Authority Cambodia (UNTAC) was established in 1992 and given the mandate to enforce a cease fire in the war-torn nation and deal with refugees and the ...
Obituary: Rear Admiral Rothesay Swan
On 24th December 2025 99 year old Rear Admiral Rothesay Swan AO CBE RAN peacefully passed away in Sydney. His 43-year naval career was a notable one and included active ...
Book Review: Back from the Dead
Back from the Dead By: Piia Wirsu Published by: Harper Collins, 2025 This is a true story – so astonishing that it could not possibly be made up. It is ...
RUM ISSUES
Information on naval rum issues to the sailors of naval forces in Australia can be confusing due to historical changes in the naval forces responsible for the defence of Australia ...
Occasional Paper 200: Captain Ralph Frank Marston Lowe DSC, ADC, RAN (RTD)
By Dr John Carroll PhD This story by Dr Carroll was first published by the Naval Association of Australia in the White Ensign Magazine in the Red Watch Issue 25/1, ...
Occasional Paper 203: Battle of Bita Paka – the captured German flag
For many years the Heritage and Learning Centre at HMAS Cerberus has proudly displayed what was believed to be the original German Imperial Flag flying over the German Telegraph Station ...
Occasional Paper 202: Mardsen Hordern – last of the Fairmile Motor Launch Commanders
By Walter Burroughs Recently we were saddened to hear of the death of Lieutenant Commander Marsden Hordern, OAM, VRD, RANR, Rtd who passed away peacefully in his sleep at home ...
Occasional Paper 201: ‘Trouble in the Balkans’ The Royal Australian Navy in Yugoslavia
By Greg Swinden During the period 1992-2011 an estimated 150 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel served in one of the most bitter and brutal conflicts of the late 20th Century.[1] ...
Occasional Paper 199: BRACE YOURSELF!
By Lorraine and Robert Fildes Braces on square rigged sailing vessels were used to trim (adjust the angle) of a particular square sail. Hence you would have a port mainsail ...
REMEMBERING HMAS AUSTRALIA (I)
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RABAUL’s NAVAL RELICS
By Ross Gillett Papua New Guinea’s port city of Rabaul is full of naval artifacts from the two world wars. And at the nearby town of Bita Paka it was ...
Book Review: The Convoy by Angus Konstam
The Convoy by Angus Konstam Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing Reviewed by: Greg Swinden The British prime minister, Winston Churchill, said after the Second World War that there was only ...
GLADYS TAYLOR and the RAIDER SEEADLER
By Colin Randall When a young Gladys Taylor of Mossyrock in Washington State, USA, stowed away aboard the merchant schooner A.B. Johnson in Willapa Bay in 1917, bound for Australia, ...
CAPTAIN WALTON DRAKE, ROYAL NAVY – Queensland Colonial Naval Commandant
By Dr J.K. Haken Picture One Above: HMS Wolverene sailing from Port Jackson as Flagship of the Australia Station. John Bastock. A native of England, Walton Drake was born ...
Forty Years Ago – HMAS Stalwart’s mercy mission to Macquarie Island – December 1985
By late 1985 HMAS Stalwart had been serving as flagship of the RAN for almost four-and-a half-years. A versatile Australian-designed support vessel, originally described as an escort maintenance ship, Stalwart ...
KEEPING DARWIN STOCKED 1939 to 1945
Graeme Andrews describes the unknown fleet that performed the important supply route from Cairns to Darwin . At 1000 on 19 February 1942 the Northern Territory port town of Darwin ...