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 ...
Ship histories and stories
Book Review: Abide With Me – The HMAS Voyager Tragedy
Abide With Me – The HMAS Voyager Tragedy by Elizabeth McCarthy This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the collision between HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager off the New South ...
Occasional Paper 181: HMS Challengers on the Australian Station
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HMAS Forceful
The coal burning steam tug Forceful was built by Alexander Stephen & Sons of Govan in Scotland in 1925 for the Australian based shipping company MacDonald, Hamilton & Company (later ...
Occasional Paper 175: Which Fairmile is that?
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Occasional Paper 172: Dennis Adams, War Artist (1914 – 2001)
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Former HMNZS Rotoiti and Pukaki off to Ireland by Heavy Lift Ship
The following article has been sourced from various local and overseas news outlets. The post-war Royal New Zealand Navy was based around two Dido-class light cruisers, HMNZ Ships Black Prince ...
USS Canberra commissions in Sydney
An historically significant ceremony occurred at Sydney’s Fleet Base East on Saturday 22 July 2023 when the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Canberra commissioned into the United States Navy. This ...
Occasional Paper 168: The Royal Australian Navy in the Pacific War: 1943
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Our First Patrol Boats – Part 2
By Walter Burroughs The December 2022 edition of this magazine contained an article Our First Patrol Boats concerning a class of five topsail schooners built in Sydney in the 1870s, ...
Letter: The Newport Ship
I was very interested to see the article on the Newport Ship in our recent journal. I saw the timbers in tubs in Newport in 2005 and had a good ...
Occasional Paper 164: Saving the old Parramatta
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Occasional Paper 161: HMAS Tobruk (II) Recognized for Operation SOLACE Service
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Occasional Paper 159: River Class Torpedo Boat Destroyers
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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 ...
Book Review: The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania and Mutiny in the South Pacific.
The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania and Mutiny in the South Pacific. This 327-page paperback edition written by Brandon Presser was published by Icon Books of London in ...
An Australian minesweeper goes to Cyprus
The following arises from the article A Magnificent Greek Warship published in the December 2022 edition of the Naval Historical Review which explored the history of the Greek museum ship ...
The Newport Medieval Ship Project
This article originally appeared in the Magazine of the Institute of Conservation (ICON News) Issue 101, August 2022 and is reproduced, with minor amendments, by kind permission of the author ...
Occasional Paper 155: Patrolling Northern Australia
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A Magnificent Greek Warship
Found in a Charity Shop Within the folds of gentle green hills and quiet countryside of mid-Wales, far removed from the sea, lies St David’s College Lampeter, part of Britain’s ...
Hulks and Honey
Introduction The name Hulk Bay does not conjure up romantic notions of a sparkling Sydney Harbour; perhaps this was why it was later renamed Lavender Bay, which remains to this ...
Occasional Paper 152: HMAS Rushcutter
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Letter: Carry on Cruising
Dear Editor In my welcome and informative June edition of the Review your article on the cruise ship industry was of special interest to me, as along with others I ...
HMAS Bombo and Able Seaman Robert Klippel RANR
By Colin Randall Less than two hours south from Sydney lies the picturesque coastal town of Kiama. On the outskirts sits Bombo Heads with a huge bite taken out of ...
The Royal Charter Tragedy
A shipping venture to service the Australian colonies had unforeseen consequences for gold miners who had struck it rich and were returning to their homelands with wealth. After nearly two ...