On October 21st, 1984, the 40th Anniversary of the Battle of Leyte, the Naval Dockyard Chapel at Garden Island had standing room only, as ex-Naval men and their families (some ...
Ship histories and stories
The Silent Service of HMAS Bingera
IT IS A PLEASURE to present a pictorial profile of a ship that served the Royal Australian Navy in comparative obscurity. HMAS Bingera, according to the official histories, never fired ...
Richelieu – The Ship That Never Fought
Prisoner of War Rescues
HMAS Manoora Enters the Pacific War
Extracts from the War Diary of former member, the late A.K. Chatto HMAS MANOORA sailed from Sydney at 1800 Saturday, November 22 1941. After clearing the swept channel we took ...
Book Review: Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945
Title: Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945 Author: Ross Gillett This book is published by Doubleday Australia with a suggested retail price of $35.00. It is the latest published book ...
Letters – Recollections of HMAS Adelaide
The current “Review” asks for any information relating to the original HMAS ADELAIDE which may be useful in compiling a book of facts to be presented to the present day ...
The Ketty Brovig and Coburg Sinking 1941
HMAS Moresby, Survey Ship
HMS SILVIO was one of four World War I Royal Navy Minesweepers converted to Survey Ships in 1922-25. Sister ships were Iroquois, Ormonde and Herald. In 1925 Silvio was lent ...
HMAS Barcoo
HMAS BARCOO was one of the eight Australian built River Class anti-submarine frigates laid down during the Second World War. All except Barwon and Macquarie saw active service in the ...
HMAS Manoora-Pushing towards the Philippines
The Invincible Invincible
THE SHIP THAT CHANGED NAVAL THINKING visited Sydney in December and despite a refusal on Government level to use the Captain Cook Graving Dock won vast public support. Here is ...
The Loss of HMAS Armidale
HMS Victorious 1785 – 1970
The Loss of HMS Dorsetshire
The Royal Yacht Britannia
HMAS Una – a Work Horse – 1914
ONE OF THE SPOILS from the capture of the German New Guinea colonies in 1914 was the steam yacht Komet. Built in 1911 as the Government yacht for the colonies, ...
Spakhia
ON A SMALL BAY on the south coast of Crete is a village or township called Spakhia. Landward approaches are steep-to and the harbour has – or had – no ...
Cradle of the RAN – Revisited
In our last Review we published a short history of HMAS Cerberus at Crib Point. The title, or rather sub-title, drew a sharp comment from Commander R.S. Veale, RANR Rtd. Commander Veale points out ...
HMS Puriri 1938, NZ Navy
BEFORE WORLD WAR II the Anchor Line twin-screw vessel Puriri, of 927 gross tons, built by Henry Robb Ltd. of Leith and launched on 25th October 1938, was considered as ...
HMNZS Philomel
The cradle of the Royal New Zealand Navy HMNZS PHILOMEL is the name of the naval establishment at Devonport, Auckland, in New Zealand. This story is not about the naval ...
HMAS Pioneer – The RAN’s First Cruiser
IN A PREVIOUS ISSUE of the Naval Historical Review we gave a short resume of the career of the 3rd class protected cruiser Pioneer in the Royal Navy. Let us ...
Sleuth – A Pretty Little Ship
THERE ARE VERY FEW SHIPS AFLOAT that served in the Great War of 1914-18, and in Australia possibly the only one is a small fishing boat now under repair in ...