Dear Editor, Further to Hugh Farmer’s article Antarctica –the forgotten Continent in the Naval Historical Review Vol. 38 No. 2 (June 2017), there are two aspects of RAN participation in ...
History - general
Book review: The Flag’s Up
By Peter Poland. Published by Halstead Press, Sydney in 2017. Soft cover of 176 pages with plentiful supply of black & white and colour photographs. Available from booksellers and online ...
Outsourcing in the Australian Defence Forces
Sooner or later, everything old is new again From The Colorado Kid by Stephen King Outsourcing Outsourcing is a practice used to reduce costs by transferring portions of work to ...
The Spectacle Island Railway
By Fred Haynes Spectacle Island is located near the suburb of Drummoyne at the confluence of Iron Cove and Parramatta rivers. It was originally named Dawes Island when surveyed in ...
Australian – Indian Relationship: Part 1
This is the first of a three part series covering the Australian-Indian relationship. Australians fought alongside Indian troops in two world wars, but what do we know about them? Both ...
Letter: Who Took the Flag – QC Owns Up
I read with interest Fifty Years under the Australian White Ensign by Norman Rivett (Naval Historical Review Vol 38 No 1 March 2017). I have a story of my own to ...
Antarctica – the forgotten continent
This article has been compiled from research conducted by Hugh Farmer, one of our new members providing invaluable volunteer assistance at the Boathouse. Antarctica occupies about 14,000,000 km2of mainly mysterious ...
Navy Training Today
By Captain Mal Ralston, RAN In 1903, the Commonwealth Naval Board was constituted under the Defence Act. One of its first responsibilities was to commence home-based naval training of young ...
The Albert Medal
By John Ellis Queen Victoria instituted the Albert Medal in 1866 to recognise those civilians who had attempted to prevent the loss of life at sea. A year later the ...
Fifty Years under the Australian White Ensign
With the Australian White Ensign approaching its fiftieth anniversary on 1 March 2017 it is appropriate to reflect on the history of the revered ensign in its various forms with ...
Occasional Paper 6: Royal Australian Navy Ships Honour Roll
March 2017 Given the 75th anniversary commemoration events taking place around Australia and overseas in 2017 to honour ships lost in the RAN’s darkest year, 1942 it is timely to ...
Centenary of Shackleton’s Antarctic Rescue by the Chilean Navy
By Dr. Carlos Tromben-Corbalán, Centre for Strategic Studies, Chilean Navy Tuesday 30 August 2016 was an auspicious day in the Chilean naval calendar marking the centennial of the rescue of ...
Women in the RAN: The Conflict of Equality
By MIDN Jaycob Humphreys, RAN We have had other essays on this topic by female officers, but this perceptive discussion from a recent New Entry Officer Course student, is by ...
Our First Gardeners
By Norman Rivett Who were they? The first garden from which Garden Island derives its name commenced here on Monday the 7th of February 1788 when a party from HMS ...
HMAS Moreton and Brisbane Naval Depots
By George Franki The name Moreton is synonymous with naval history in southeast Queensland but to date little mention of it appears in our historical records. We trust this small ...
Letter: River Cruises and the Big River
Two letters have been received in response to Leyland Wilkinson’s article on ‘River Cruises and the Big River’. These important contributions are from officers with first-hand experience of navigating far ...
The Whitsunday Tragedy
By Allan Miles Whenever a tragedy happens resulting in the lives of young Australians who have chosen a career in service of this country, it is a great loss. Such ...
HMS Vanguard– The Battleship That Never Arrived
By Alf Batchelder On 6 March 1948, the Melbourne Argus reported that ‘…never before in modern times has the sea-going strength of the Royal Navy been so low.’ After recent ...
Letter: The Australia Station
An email was received from John Redman. I read the current (December edition) Naval Historical Review with great interest, an excellent publication. Not wanting to be pedantic but I suppose ...
Letter: Admiral John Gore at Lake Bathurst and Goulburn
Dear Sir, Many thanks for your delightful article on ‘John Gore of Lake Bathurst’ – NHR September 2015. You mentioned James Hassall and the lineage of that pioneer Anglican family. ...
River Cruises and the Big River
By Leyland Wilkinson There are many rivers in the world with clear access from the open sea for ocean going vessels, and over the years units of the Royal Australian ...
HMAS Brisbane in the Far East 1925
By Greg Swinden The inter war period (1919-1939) is often considered a time of little activity for the RAN, but in reality the fleet was constantly active. One of the ...
Aurora: the Ship that Started a Revolution
By Walter Burroughs Many great maritime nations have been able to preserve fine examples of their prestigious naval vessels. Most of us have been brought up on tales of the ...
Australian War Brides at Sea
By Liz Colthorpe In the autumn of 1946 the British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious undertook possibly her most unusual task, in transporting approximately 700 Australian war brides to their new British ...
Letter: The Hammerhead Lives
The following interesting letter has been received from our member Roy Kingston of Castle Hill. On 10 September I had the privilege of attending the ‘launch’ of the public display ...