The opening engagement by the Royal Navy in the long drawnout Borneo campaign known as Confrontation 1962 – 66, which marked the attempt of Indonesia’s President Sukarno to smother the ...
History - general
The Lorcha from Macau
THIS TYPE OF VESSEL was once common in the South China Sea during the colonial period of the 19th century, particularly around Macau. The type meant a vessel of hybrid ...
American Plans for Invading New Zealand & Australia – Part2
Letters: Lloyds Patriotic Fund Sword
LLOYDS PATRIOTIC FUND SWORD AT LADY DENMAN MARITIME MUSEUM Dear Sir, Engraving on the sword reads: “From the Patriotic Fund at Lloyds to Mr Wm. Pitt Bowler, Midshipman of HM Sloop Swift ...
Lloyds Patriotic Fund Presentation Swords
American Plans for Invading New Zealand & Australia – Part1
Book Review: The Royal Navy in Australia 1900-2000
The Royal Navy in Australia 1900-2000 By Ross Gillett and Vic Jeffrey Published by Maritime Books, Lodge Hill, Liskeard in Cornwall, PL14 4EL, United Kingdom Recommended Retail Price is not ...
Figureheads – A Short History
A figurehead (or more correctly figure head was a carved figure, usually human but quite often animal, fixed to a ship’s stem high in the box, just beneath the bowsprit. ...
The Australian White Ensign
From its inception in 1911 the Royal Australian Navy flew as its distinguishing flag the White Ensign featuring the red cross of St. George handed down to it by the ...
Obituary: Captain Brian de Courcy-Ireland RN (1900-2001)
Joining the Royal Naval College at Osborne on the Isle of Wight in 1913 at the age of 13, Brian de Courcy-Ireland was subjected to the spartan naval discipline of ...
Former HMAS Nirimba Site – Memorial Garden
On Saturday 3rd of November 2001, in overcast conditions, the Memorial Garden at the former HMAS NIRIMBA site, was formally dedicated. The service was conducted in front of some 150 ...
HMS Cossack
The name COSSACK, to many people, means a fierce sabre-wielding horseman from southern Russia. To most World War II naval veterans it reminds them of the exploits of the Tribal ...
Letters: Navy forgotten in Centenary Stamps
It is with some concern that I read in the January-February 2001 Australian Stamp Bulletin that Australia Post is releasing a set of stamps commemorating 100 years of service by the ...
Portuguese Carronades – 16th Century Explorers to Australia?
1901-Australian Federation & the Royal Tour
Royal Australian Naval College
Salutes – Why 21 Guns for Royalty?
I was intrigued to see the great interest which was aroused in the Montreal press over the firing of the 21 gun salutes to welcome the Princess Royal on her ...
The 1956 Melbourne Olympics and the RAN Participation
Book Review: Australian Fighter Aces 1914-1953
AUSTRALIAN FIGHTER ACES 1914-1953, by A.D. Garrison (Published and distributed jointly by Air Power Studies Centre and Australian War Memorial 1999, 250x175mm, 117 b&w photos, 10 tables/lists, ix/188pp, card cover, ...
Heaven’s above – A yarn with Harv
The Gin Pennant – The signal for all celebrations
The origins of the Gin Pennant are uncertain, but it seems to have been used since the 1940s and probably earlier. The distillery manager of Plymouth Gin was quoted ...
The Countess of Hopetoun Incident, December 1915
Letters – Australians at War documentary
The 1999-2000 Federal Budget provided $5 million for the production of a TV documentary series, Australians at War, which will cover the major conflicts in which Australia has participated, and ...
The Grave of Annie Dorrington – Australian Flag Co-Designer
It doesn’t mean we owe allegiance To a forgotten Imperial dream: We’ve the stars to show where we’re going And the old flag to show where we’ve been. (from a ...
NZ Scow ECHO – role in World War II
The New Zealand scow was developed from the Canadian/US log barges that plied the Great Lakes during the 1800s. First built in New Zealand in 1873 for Septimus Meiklejohn of ...