It is with some trepidation that I pick up my pen to try and describe some of my impressions during the time I ‘stood by’ the building of Quickmatch; but ...
Ship histories and stories
The Epic of HMS Calliope
Banjo Paterson, the Australian poet, once deserted his dusty sunlit plains to write a poem of the navy. The subject he chose was the saga of HMS Calliope at Apia ...
The 1929 Cruise of Albatross
With the Ns in Japanese Waters
HMAS Quickmatch Takes a Prize
This article, which was originally published in 1944 in the ship’s magazine, tells the story of the destroyer’s first operation in the Atlantic in late 1942. QUICKMATCH ENTERED THE WAR ...
HMAS Parramatta: First Born of The Commonwealth Navy
HMAS Encounter finds the Raider Seeadler
The story of the raider Seeadler has been told many times yet still thrills all who read of her audacity. In this article the disarming of the raider’s gutted hulk ...
The Loss of HMS Auckland
‘At 6.28 p.m. she rolled over and sank.’ L J. Brien was serving in HMAS Vendetta at the time of the loss of this fine ship. The Vs and Ws ...
AUSTRALIA Sinks the Elenore Woerman
WHEN THE NEW BRITAIN – NEW GUINEA CAMPAIGN drew to a close HMAS Australia was ordered to the Atlantic. The route selected was east across the Pacific, and so the ...
His Majesty’s Ship Papua
HMS Papua is one of the lesser known vessels of the Royal Navy. Her active life covered a period of less than one year and her greatest claim to fame ...
The Four Lives of HMS Wexford
MOST WARSHIPS have inbuilt lasting qualities. HMS Victory has weathered almost two centuries, and several United States ships of war are almost as venerable. HMS Wexford, a later Hunt class ...
Farewell to Old Sydney Forever
ALTHOUGH HER DAYS WERE NUMBERED, the shock announcement on July 20th ‘The transport HMAS Sydney is to be paid off. She will be withdrawn from the Australian Fleet and will ...
Millionaire’s Yacht’s Naval Service
WE ARE ONCE MORE INDEBTED to naval archivist, Mr. John Ware, for this history of HMAS Adele. [The beautiful steam yacht is here depicted in the early 1920s as HMAS ...
Nestor died slowly
HMAS Matafele: 1938 – 1944
A great deal has been recorded concerning the more famous ships of the Royal Australian Navy which served during the Second World War. Nobody would deny that these vessels and ...
Old Fighting Ships Began Navy Tradition
HMAS Parramatta – the RAN’s First Fighting Ship
HMAS PARRAMATTA, the first fighting ship of the Royal Australian Navy. PARRAMATTA now [Ed. August 1972] rusts on the mud flats above Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River but in the next ...