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 ...
Ship histories and stories
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 ...
Preserved Naval Relics
SS Pruth – The Moresby Wreck
NZS Amokura – New Zealand’s First Training Ship
HMAS Shropshire
THIS IS THE STORY of a well known ship, seen through the eyes of a retired captain who commissioned the ship as a cadet in 1929. In 1927 the Admiralty ...
HMAS Parramatta Memorial
The memorial to the three ships bearing the proud title of HMAS Parramatta will be unveiled at 11.00 a.m. on Saturday, 13th June, 1981 at Queens Wharf Steps in the City ...
The Australian as seen by an Englishman
Burra Bra — Ferry and Warship
A SLEEK PASSENGER FERRY for the Sydney to Manly service was launched at the shipyards of Morts Dock & Engineering Co. Ltd., Woolwich, New South Wales, on 17th June 1908. ...
The Cruise Of HMAS Australia -1934-36
Extracts from the Diary of Leading Signalman G.A. Wakely – HMS Swiftsure
17th April 1908: Ship ordered to sea daybreak 18th. 18th April 1908: Sailed from Malta at 0400 and made speed of 12 knots but were soon ordered to increase to ...
HMAS Bataan
The Last of the Australian Built Tribal Class THE LAST OF THE THREE Tribal class destroyers built at Cockatoo Island was to have been named Kurnai after an Aboriginal Tribe ...
Warramunga’s Badge
WHEN HMAS WARRAMUNGA commissioned for service in November 1942 no official badge had been authorised for the ship, and being wartime this was of no great consequence. Early in 1943 ...
Bomb Alley, 1942
IN 1942 THE BOMB ALLEY of this story extended 400 miles along the central Mediterranean with every mile within 30 minutes of enemy airfields. At the eastern end the strategically ...
Corvette Maryborough 1941-1946
HMAS MARYBOROUGH was built by Walker’s Ltd at Maryborough, Queensland and commissioned by Lieutenant Commander G. L. Cant, RAN on 15th June, 1941. Known as the Bathurst class of mine-sweepers, ...
Coastal Motor Boats – 1916
In the early summer of 1915 three young Naval Officers from the Harwich Destroyer Force (Lieutenants Hampden, Bremner and Anson) conceived the idea of a small fast motor boat, capable ...
On the Gunline – HMAS Perth’s 3rd deployment in Vietnam
Slow Boat to China – USS Wachusett, 1865
HMS Nelson, Armour Belted Cruiser 1882
IF A SINGULAR BRITISH WARSHIP could be called the harbinger of the formation of the Royal Australian Navy, that warship is HMS Nelson. The Colonial Defences Act of 1865 provided ...
HMS/HMVS Nelson – 120 gun Line-of-Battleship 1814
THIS THREE-DECKER BATTLESHIP was laid down in December 1809 and launched on 4th July 1814. Nelson was the first three-decker to be launched in England after the victory at Trafalgar ...