As Buglers the branch is comparatively new, (circa 1850) but as Drummers it goes back to the birth of the Corps. The drum as a martial instrument dates back to ...
History - general
Captain Harvey Newcomb RN – Newcomb Building, HMAS Watson
On October 28, 1997 the Royal Australian Navy’s Surface Warfare School Building was formally renamed the “Newcomb Building”, commemorating the service of Captain Harvey Mansfield Newcomb. At the end of ...
Nelson’s coffin – Yet another version
Here is another version of the story of Nelson’s Coffin: Captain Hallowell sent a party to salvage wood from L’Orient. Months later, when he was afraid that the adulation being ...
The Nelson Touch – a Trafalgar Day address
[Trafalgar Day Address 1997 to the Naval Officers’ Association, Western Australia, by Captain John Lancaster AM RAN (Ret’d)] Trafalgar Day provides the embodiment of what in our waning years, we may ...
Book Review: Shipmates
Many of our readers will be familiar with Vic Cassells as the author of “For Those in Peril“, which chronicled the loss of RAN ships and men in past conflicts. ...
Letters – The Senior Service
Which Service Came First? “Snow” Mackrell, a member, has forwarded some correspondence concerning his contention that the Navy is the “Senior Service” as, “after Federation, it was the Navy which ...
Navy Square – Port Melbourne
The concept of a naval memorial in Port Melbourne arose in May 1997 when it was observed that following the 1994 decommissioning of HMAS Lonsdale, there was no feature in ...
HMAS Canberra’s Crest – Return from P&O Liner Canberra
On the 24th April, 1964 a small group of survivors from HMAS Canberra met on board the P&O Liner Canberra to present to the captain a replica of HMAS Canberra’s crest, i.e., the ...
The Hammock
The issue hammock, the beloved pusser sack – one of man’s most endearing inventions – has vanished, alas, from Navy messdecks and establishments. It has been replaced by the impersonal ...
In Remorse Mode about the Morse Code!
Extracts from The Sydney Morning Herald (Kendall Hill) and The Sun-Herald (Peter Robinson) It revolutionised the way humans communicated long before the likes of the telephone, the radio and e-mail. ...
Letters: Astern Refuelling: HMAS Brisbane (1)
Re Naval Historical Review December 1997: HMAS BRISBANE The photograph of HMAS BRISBANE shows the ship under way and fuelling by the astern method. The tanker in this case is almost certainly ...
The Epaulettes of the Father of the RAN – Vice Admiral Sir William Creswell KCMG KBE
Sir William was born at Gibraltar in 1852. At age 13, he entered the Royal Navy, joining the “Britannia” as a Cadet. As a Midshipman in H.M.S. “Phoebe” he enjoyed ...
HMS Calliope in the Great Hurricane at Samoa – 1889
The Origins of the General Service Medal
The Battle of Trafalgar – A Midshipman’s Memoirs, 1805
Tresco – History of the First Sydney Naval Residence of the RAN
Letters: Harmony at sea
The article in the last issue of N.H.R. Vol. 17, No. 4, (Harmony at Sea) (December 1996) about the employment of women sailors at sea (R.A.N.) was not only revealing ...
Battle of Cape St Vincent bicentenary – an Australian perspective
“Nobly, Nobly, Cape St. Vincent to the North West died away” The Canberra Times I note did not let the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Cape St Vincent on ...
1901-1910 Parliament Debates on Financing Australia’s Navy
Letters: our First Rear Admiral – Dumaresq or King?
The September 1996 issue carries an interesting story about Rear Admiral J. S. Dumaresq, CB, CVO on page 17. The article says “He was promoted to Rear Admiral in 1921, ...
The Legend of Arnold Green RAN – Follow-Up Stories
Further to the article on Arnold Green in the December 1996 edition, more Arnold Green stories: 1. On assumption of his duties as Resident Naval Officer, Hobart, Arnold Green ...
Female Submariners
Harmony at Sea
A copy of an unidentified magazine article came to our notice some weeks ago. It was headed “The Royal Navy”, and dealt with many facets of that Service in a ...
Dumaresq awards and decorations donated to RAN
The awards and decorations of an Australian Rear Admiral who became one of the most innovative naval officers of his time have been donated to the Royal Australian Navy by ...
Prize Money Explained
Recently, in discussing Patrick O’Brian’s books, some of the younger members of the group were intrigued – if not incredulous – when I mentioned that I had received Prize Money ...
