By CDRE Richard T. Menhinick, AM, CSC, RAN (Retd) The Naval Historical Society is grateful to Commodore Menhinick for allowing publication of this, his 2025 Anzac Day address to the ...
History - post WWII
Occasional Paper 39: Compelled to Resign THE STORY OF COMMANDER PAUL HUGILL HIRST RAN 1899-1963
by Lieutenant Commander Terry Feltham RAN Ret’d “Just because something ends doesn’t mean it never should’ve been. Remember, you lived, you learned, you grew and you moved on”. Anon. Why ...
The RAN and Cyclone Tracy 1974
During the early hours of Christmas Day 1974, devastated the city of Darwin with winds in excess of 160 knots, killing 49 people ashore and a further 16 at sea. ...
History of Australian Defence Landing Craft and the Balikpapan Class Landing Craft Heavy (LCH) 1971 – 2014
This Historical Booklet (Monograph 200) by Bjarne Kristensen was published by the Naval Historical Society of Australia in December 2024. This paper discusses the history of Australian Defence Amphibious vessels ...
Occasional Paper 188: Highlights of RAN History: Two Busy Decades 1950 to 1970
The following is adapted from the Royal Australian Navy News, 17 April 1970 edition, page 4. 1950 to 1960 From1950 onwards the post-war tempo Naval growth quickened. The outbreak of ...
Occasional Paper 185: Fiji Coup 1987 – RAN on the ground
By Commander David Jordan CSC RANR On 14 May 1987 the Military of Fiji took control of the country in a bloodless coup d’état. In response to the coup, the ...
Book Review: The Yachties. Australian Volunteers in The Royal Navy 1940-45
The Yachties. Australian Volunteers in The Royal Navy 1940-45. By Janet Roberts Billett. Australian Scholarly Publishing Pty Ltd., North Melbourne Vic. 3051 In 1940 the Royal Navy anticipated a shortage ...
Littoral Combat Ships
The June edition of this magazine announced the commissioning of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Canberra in Sydney on 22 July 2023. Less than a month later it came ...
Young Endeavour Replacement
A new sail training ship will be built in Australia over the next three years, to replace STS Young Endeavour. The original brigantine is now 35 years old, and has ...
Book Review: Lost Women of Rabaul
Lost Women of Rabaul by Rod Miller, 2022, Big Sky Publishing, Newport, NSW, PB 350pp, RRP $32.99 This review first appeared in Reconnaissance, the magazine of the Military History Society ...
A War Artist’s Nude Painting
By Beryllouise Mitchell In 1999, after the 30 August ballot in East Timor (later Timor-Leste) that was to determine the territory’s future went drastically wrong, the United Nations sanctioned an ...
The Last National Servicemen – Part I
By Robert Graham Stephenson – Official No 7662 (NS) This article has been taken from an original paper written by Robert Stephenson and published by the National Servicemen’s Association of ...
Occasional Paper 169: HMAS Vendetta and Commander Eric Eugene Johnston RAN; Vietnam Deployment 1969 – 1970
By Bjarne (Barney) Kristensen The 18 August 2023 marked fifty years since the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam (The Vietnam War) with commemorations conducted throughout Australia. In this paper I ...
The Frigates that ‘did nothing in particular, and did it very well’ – with apologies to W.S. Gilbert.
By John Ingram Fifty years ago, the Whitlam Labor government cancelled the troubled Light Destroyer (DDL) project and set in place the acquisition of six patrol frigates of the Oliver ...
Occasional Paper 160: Shipwright First Class Patrick Daniel Murphy BEM
The following biography is based on that prepared by the Museum of Perth for the Soldiers of Barrack Street exhibition. Included in the second part of this paper is a ...
Book Review: The Hunt for the Storozhevoy; the 1975 Soviet Navy Mutiny in the Baltic
The Hunt for the Storozhevoy; the 1975 Soviet Navy Mutiny in the Baltic. By Michael Fredholm von Essen. From Helion Books, Europe At War Series No 19. Published 2022. This ...
An Australian minesweeper goes to Cyprus
The following arises from the article A Magnificent Greek Warship published in the December 2022 edition of the Naval Historical Review which explored the history of the Greek museum ship ...
Remembering Platypus and the Mothballed Fleet
By Vince Fazio We recently became aware of a proposal to upgrade the Watsons Bay Wharf and have written of our concerns (see Letters) to the Manager of the Project ...
FLYING STATIONS II, The Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Air Arm 1998-2022: Book Review
Edited by Lieutenant Commander Desmond Woods OAM RAN Published by the RAN Fleet Air Arm in conjunction with Avonmore Books, Kent Town, South Australia 5071 ISBN 978-0-6452469-5-7 Reviewed by David ...
An Essay on Lessons to be Learnt from the Korean War
By MIDN Li-Chun Chen RAN Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen grew up in Melbourne where they developed a love of learning with particular interests in science and philosophy. The younger ...
Farewell Sydney and Kenneth Butler
By Darrell White ASMA The original oil on canvas artwork Farewell Sydney was commissioned by the Western Australia Cricket Association (now WA Cricket) and made possible by a donation from ...
Occasional Paper 129: Service on the Fleet Commander’s Staff, 1964: A Personal Reflection
By John Ingram The following personal reflection by Commander John Ingram OAM RAN RTD describes his experience and observations of the fateful collision between HMA Ships Melbourne and Voyager on ...
Navy Birds Return to their Nest – Navy News Paper article August 1958.
After a glamorous six months’ cruise in H.M A.S. Melbourne, the Air Group returned to its nest at Albatross on July 20. At 7.30 in perfect weather, 11 Sea Venoms, ...
Navy Chopper Rescues RAAF Sabre Jet Pilot
Navy Chopper Rescues RAAF Sabre Jet Pilot Navy News March 1963 Another Royal Australian Navy “first” was recorded last week when one of the Navy’s new Westland Wessex helicopters went ...
Occasional Paper 122: Royal Australia Navy 75th Anniversary Celebrations, 1986: Planning
By CMDR Ken Swain AM RAN Retd – Staff Officer RAN 75th Celebrations 1985/86 I was sitting in my real estate agency in Seaforth on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in July ...