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 ...
History - general
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 ...
Book Review: Endurance
Endurance by Tim Griffiths. Published by Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2015. Softback, 354 pages, rrp $29.99. The cover picture of an ice-bound Endurance is published one hundred years after the loss ...
The Development of Catering in the RAN and the Role of Victualling Allowance
By CMDR Robert McNeill, RAN, Rtd. The role of an effective food service system in navies has been prominent for centuries. That is, a viable fighting force needs to be ...
Women in the Royal Australian Navy
By MIDN M. S. SCHIMMEL, RAN – WINNER OF THE NAVAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRIZE Midshipman Mariella Savanna van der Riet Schimmel hails from Perth where she commenced a science degree ...
Shades of Grey
As Father Time catches up with us all strands of hair turn to lighter shades, perhaps not unlike warship livery which is again changing to a different shade of grey. ...
Thirteen Year Old Entries as Potential Admirals
By John Smith When naval training establishments were first introduced on home soil the system of entry into the Royal Australian Navy closely followed Royal Naval traditions. From the first ...
Admiral Sir Percy Scott – Naval Prophet
By Walter Burroughs A recent edition of the Naval Historical Review (Vol 36 No 2 June 2015) contained an article, Winston Churchill and the Navy, addressing Churchill’s relationship with the navy generally ...
John Gore of Lake Bathurst, New South Wales The first Admiral buried beneath the Southern Cross
This fortuitous story arises from the alignment of three generations each of clergy and of naval men. It is doubtful if the earlier generations knew one another but from ...
Raising the Flag in New Guinea
By Mary Mennis For thee we fight, dear Britain, risk our all, That Freedom’s flag may wave upon the breeze; Count losses gain if by them we but keep Our ...
Winston Churchill and the Navy
As fifty years have now elapsed since his passing this article may serve as a small tribute to the memory of this great wartime leader. A meteoritic rise upon the ...
The lagatoi of the Motu people and the lalong of the Bel people of Papua New Guinea
By Mary Mennis This interesting article is by an author who lived many years in New Guinea studying anthropology and almost by accident became expert in an older style of ...
Mary Bryant’s Open Boat Voyage from Sydney to Timor in 1791 – Opportunist convict or our most magnificent heroine?
By Marsden Hordern Mary Bryant nee Broad This is the story of Mary Bryant, the convict woman with two babies who in 1791 helped steal a naval cutter in Sydney ...
Book Review: Rescue Pilot
Rescue Pilot by Jerry Grayson, AFC. Published by Bloomsbury, London, 2015. Softback, 230 pages with photographs. rrp $29.99. Most boys who want to fly dream of screaming supersonic jet fighters and ...
The Naval Ode and Laurence Binyon
By Driftwood There are moments when we first gaze upon a work of art, whether in the pictorial or written form, and are drawn to its beauty and are inspired. ...
The Steam Yacht Ena and HMAS Sleuth
This article first appeared in the World Wide Ship Society Victoria Branch July 2014 newsletter and is reproduced with their kind permission and that of the author who is also ...
The Australian Maritime College charts course as a centre for excellence
Within these pages we hear great deal of the Royal Australian Naval College but this is the first occasion we have been privileged to receive information on the rival but ...
Letter: Cry Havoc
Dear Editor, Having been a keen follower of your excellent magazine for many years I was disappointed to find that the myth surrounding ‘The Genoa Incident’ involving HMAS Kanimbla has once ...
The Early Years of the Electrical Branch in the Royal Australian Navy
By Des Miller Most generations can look back upon significant changes but in our modern naval history there have only been two revolutionary changes, from wood to iron and then ...
Letter: Montagu Whalers
Dear Editor In the latest issue of the Review (June 2014) is a very interesting article by Kingsley Perry about the 1963 Whitsunday Whaler Incident. In both the article and ...
Rabaul the Garden City Revisited
This continues our voyage to Papua New Guinea in MV Pacific Dawn, with the March 2014 edition of the NHR, detailing experiences encountered at Milne Bay. Further information on Rabaul ...
Obituary: LCDR Eric Charles Talbot-Booth, RNR
The March 2013 edition of the NHR contained an article A Paymaster and a Master of Ship Recognition on LCDR Talbot-Booth who gained world fame for his books on ship ...