Peter Ashley (2005) perhaps encapsulates an apt description of Flinders as a person: Driven, ambitious, sometimes arrogant and occasionally reckless, few navigators had a greater share of misfortune than Captain ...
History - pre-Federation
Australia Day 2019
The following address was recently given at Russ Martin Park, Moruya, on the south coast of New South Wales, by Captain Ward Hack, AM, RAN, Rtd. While it was mainly ...
The Sydney Cove and her impact on early colonial exploration
In an article covering Part 1 of the Australian-Indian Relationship (NHR September 2017) mention is made of the ship Sydney Cove. While she was wrecked on her maiden voyage she ...
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 ...
Chief Petty Officer WILLIAM HENRY NYE
As related by his grandson William Douglas Nye We were recently contacted by William Douglas (Doug) Nye regarding some family papers which his grandmother had kept but were no longer ...
From Russia with Love – Baron Nickolai Miklouho-Maclay
The late 19th century rumblings of colonial expansion to the immediate north of the Australian mainland gave rise to unease in the Australian colonies.Russian naval expeditions to the South Pacific ...
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 ...
Peter Hibbs Remembered
By Norman Rivett Peter Hibbs has a unique association with Garden Island that is not generally known. He was born at Ramsgate in Kent in 1757 and is buried at ...
Book Review: Under New Management – The Royal Australian Navy and the Removal of Germany from the Pacific, 1914-15
Under New Management – The Royal Australian Navy and the Removal of Germany from the Pacific, 1914-15. By Ian Pfennigwerth. Echo Books, West Geelong, Victoria, 2014. Soft cover of 182 pages ...
HMAS Encounter (1905 – 1932)
HMS Encounter served on the Australia Station and was later commissioned into the RAN. She played a vital role in defence of the eastern coast of Australia, and the anti raider patrols in the South West Pacific. She was regarded as “more beloved than any other unit of our fleet”. ...
First Day Covers
An eagle eyed reader recently sent us a copy of a postal first day cover which appears quite remarkable for the number of errors it contains. The errors are numerous ...
Book Review: Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy
Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy. By Michael Pembroke, Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne, 2013. Hardback, 354 pages, rrp $34.40 To his biography of Arthur Phillip the author adds – sailor, ...
William Creswell – What Maketh the Man
Age of Change It was the age of change when centuries old maritime practice collided with the industrial revolution. Over two millennia past and more, man had conquered the great ...
A chip off the Old Rock
The Norfolk Island Museum and HMS Sirius
The great Queensland floods of 1893 and HMQ Ships Gayundah and Paluma
A previous edition of this magazine reported on the recent (2011) Queensland floods and the refloating in dry dock of the ex HMAS Diamantina. The great Queensland flood of 1893 ...
Australasian Naval Forces and Commonwealth Naval Forces
Developing Australian Naval Forces
Developing Australian Naval Forces
In celebrating the centenary of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) we should recognise the RAN was born at a most turbulent time in our recent history. The turn of ...
The Naval Officer Sydney
Observation or Espionage
The Naval Defence of the Australian Colonies to Federation
The question with regard to naval defence is ‘what were the differences with the Mother Country’ and, if there were any, what impact did they have on the federation of the six colonies? ...
The New South Wales Naval Forces 1863 – 1902
Book Review: The Indomitable Captain Matthew Flinders, RN
The Indomitable Captain Matthew Flinders, Royal Navy. By Peter Ashley. Published by Pierhead Press, England. rrp A$22.00. Reviewed by Dave Rickard The author, Peter Ashley, has spent nearly four decades ...
Book Review: The Rattlesnake
The Rattlesnake by Jordan Goodman. Published by Faber and Faber 358 pages, illustrated.ISBN 1 5712 1973 2 Reviewed by Graeme Andrews. Who was Owen Stanley that he could get a ...