This is a talk given at The Society for Military History 2004 Conference Banquet At the time of writing, the author was Commandant, Australian Defence Force Academy This will be ...
History - general
Garden Island Naval Chapel & Chapel of Remembrance
Australian Navy and the 1909 Imperial Conference on Defence
The Health of the Navy
Tales from the Dockyard: The Silver Docket
Tales from the Dockyard: ‘Ingenuity Rules’
Lest it be thought that there was no humour in HM Naval Yard, Garden Island, during G.H. Bromwich’s long term in office, the following account by an apprentice boilermaker of ...
Book Review: Treachery
Treachery by Julian Stockwin. Published by Hodder and Stoughton, 2008. rrp $32.99 Reviewed by Barry Nobes Treachery is ninth in a series of Napoleonic War naval stories by Julian Stockwin, ...
General Knowledge Question
Which ship of the RAN wore the flag of an Admiral of the Fleet longer than any other? Answer Though her commission in the RAN was very brief, HMAS Suva ...
Green and Gold Malaria
The day would soon arrive when I could not ignore the rash. I was obviously ill and so I called on Doctor Nash. This standard consultation would adjudicate my fate. ...
Letters – Cannon Balls and Brass Monkeys
Oh, dear. Not that old saw again! (Cannon Balls – Dispelling a Myth, The Review, December, 2008.) It’s an amusing yarn but there’s not a word of truth in it. The ...
UK Defence Bullying Report – RAF Worst of the Three Services
A recent report by the Equal Opportunities Audit Team has found that allegations of ‘a culture of widespread bullying and brutality’ within the British Forces are, in the most part, ...
The Angels Came in Ships
The Quetta Story
Taken from ‘The Quetta. – Queensland’s Worst Disaster’ At 6am on 18 February 1890 RMS Quetta left Parbury Wharf, Brisbane for what should have been just another voyage back to ...
What Ship Was That?
At the time of writing, John Smith was Vice President of the Naval Historical Society of Australia. Most of the members of the Naval Historical Society of Australia would presume ...
Cannon Balls – Dispelling a Myth
In days of old, when muzzle-loading cannons constituted the main armament in ships of war, it was necessary to keep a good supply of cannon balls near the cannons. The ...
Book Review: Mururoa Protest
Mururoa Protest The story of the voyages by HMNZ Ships Otago and Canterbury to protest against the French atmospheric nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll in 1973. By Gerry Wright. ISBN ...
The RAN Band Ashore And Afloat
A summary of Australian naval involvement in world conflicts
Book Review: The Battle for the Indian Ocean, 1805-1810
Storm and Conquest. The Battle for the Indian Ocean, 1805-1810. By Stephen Taylor. Published by Faber and Faber Review by John Smith The Battle of Trafalgar was not the finale ...
Book Review: Across the Sea to War
Across the Sea to War. By Peter Plowman. Rosenberg Publishing Pty Ltd (2003). ISBN 1877058 06 8 Reviewed by Sandy Saunders An interesting publication which describes in great detail the ...
RAN Heritage Management: The Long Memory
Book Review: The Royal Australian Navy – a History
The Royal Australian Navy – a History Edited by David Stevens, published by Oxford University Press. First published in 2001 as a hardback version, reprinted several times and so well ...
Women in the RAN – a Personal Perspective
Where does the word “news” come from?
Al. During the days of explorers like Marco Polo and Ferdinand Magellan, trade merchants arriving at a foreign port would have the courtesy to inform departing vessels what the ocean’s ...
Bust of Lord Nelson at MHQ garden Island
The inscription reads: This bust of Lord Nelson Presented to the Royal Australian Navy by the Naval Auxiliary Patrol Association NSW Was erected in its present (sic) position On the ...