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You are here: Home / Archives for Article topics / Naval history / History - pre-Federation

History - pre-Federation

Captain Francis Hixson VD RN and the NSW Naval Forces

Haken, J.K., Dr · Sep 3, 2006 ·

Francis Hixson served for fifteen years in the Royal Navy, rising to ship’s Captain and taking part in many surveys in the Pacific. He resigned to become Superintendent of Pilots, ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Book Review: The Voyage of HMS Herald 1861

Book reviewer · Dec 3, 2005 ·

The Voyage of HMS Herald 1861. By LCDR Andrew David RN. Miegunyah Press, (The Miegunyah Press is an imprint of Melbourne University Press).  This is the authoritative account of one ...

Collingwood’s Despatches from Trafalgar

Hordern, Marsden · Dec 3, 2005 ·

Just over 50 years ago, on the even of the sesqui-century anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar, the London Times published an elegant four-page facsimile of its November 7, 1805 ...

Book Review: The Biography of Captain Sir Richard Spencer RN

Book reviewer · Sep 27, 2005 ·

Title: The Biography of Captain Sir Richard Spencer RN, Government Resident at Albany, Western Australia 1833 – 1839 (Napoleonic War naval hero and Australian pioneer) Author: Gwen Chessell, 2005, Publisher: ...

Rationale for the Battle of Trafalgar

Grose, Kelvin · Sep 1, 2005 ·

The French have been interested in Australia and the Pacific since the reign of Louis XIV. La Perouse’s Pacific exploration was almost completed when Louis XVI ordered him to Botany ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Book Review: The Global Reach of Empire

Book reviewer · Sep 18, 2004 ·

The Global Reach of Empire By Alan Frost The Miegunyah Press the University of Melbourne, 2003. ISBN 0 522 85050 2 rrp $59.95. Reviewed by Bob Nicholls This is a ...

The Senior Service – Why is the Navy so often called?

Lewis, Tom, AOM, Lieutenant RAN · Sep 8, 2003 ·

A SURE WAY OF ENSURING RAGE from Army colleagues is for a Navy member to start up a discussion as to the order of protocol for a march, or a ...

King of the Australian Coast

Hordern, Marsden · Jun 16, 2003 ·

Offshore yachtsmen might reflect on the perils of the Australian coast before the establishment of navigational marks and aids now taken for granted. Extract from King of the Australian Coast, ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Shadows of Death

Hordern, Marsden · Mar 16, 2003 ·

The early naval surveyors were pioneers of a special breed facing the hazards of an unexplored coastal wilderness. This extract details the lucky escapes of Leut J.L. Stokes RN of HMS ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Stamps Honour British and French Explorers of New Holland

Australia Post · Sep 10, 2002 ·

Amid the rivalry of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815), France and Britain sponsored voyages of discovery to complete the charting of the Australian coastline and further scientific knowledge ...

Book Review: Batavia’s Graveyard

Book reviewer · Mar 9, 2002 ·

Title: Batavia’s Graveyard Author: Mike Dash Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London The Dutch East India Company vessel Batavia ran aground upon Morning Reef in the early hours of the 4th ...

Raine Island Beacon

Letter Writer · Jun 20, 2000 ·

  Re THE BEAUFORT TOUCH (Marsden Hordern NHS 21/1) In response to his queries in that article I would recommend to Society members including Mr Hordern the reading of an ...

Raine Island Beacon

Letter Writer · Mar 19, 2000 ·

Drake and his game of bowls and Nelson recalling a boat for a sailor’s letter are loved legends from long past wars. But legends also flow from the Golden Age ...

The Nelson Toast

A.N. Other · Sep 5, 1999 ·

The association of the word ‘immortal’ with Nelson is enshrined in the famous toast which is still drunk, immediately after the Loyal Toast, at Trafalgar Night dinners the world over. ...

Letters: Kings Park Guns

Letter Writer · Jun 1, 1999 ·

I refer to the article “Coastal Defence and the Kings Park Naval Guns” contained in Volume 20, No. 1, 1999[March 1999]. At the last paragraph the author gives his views ...

An Atlantic Convoy 1798-1799

Nicholson, Ian · Jun 1, 1999 ·

AN ATLANTIC CONVOY IN 1798-1799 INCLUDING THE CONVICT TRANSPORT HILLSBOROUGH BOUND FOR BOTANY BAY (Log extracts, HMS Amphion, Captain R.H.A. Bennett – P.R.O. Adm. 51/1264 – entries noon to noon) ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Notes on the Kings Park Guns

Stevens, Errol · Mar 1, 1999 ·

The two Rifled Muzzle Loading 7 inch, 6.5 ton Mk1 naval guns serial No. 148 and 163 were made by the Royal Gun Factory, England in 1866. They were a ...

Coastal Defence And The Kings Park Naval Guns, Perth

Davies, Jim · Mar 1, 1999 ·

The old naval guns in Kings Park are of interest for a couple of reasons. They are early products of an arms race which lasted until 1942 and their arrival ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

The Marines of the First Fleet

Potter, John · Sep 18, 1998 ·

In the early morning of Saturday 12 May 1787, a small fleet of eleven ships prepared to leave Portsmouth’s Mother Bank in the UK to found a penal colony halfway ...

Torpedo Boat 191

Pennock, R.J.R. · Jun 27, 1998 ·

The 2nd Class torpedo boat (TB 1 or TB 191) inherited by the Navy in South Australia in 1905, was somewhat of an enigma. The Engineer Corps of the Tasmanian ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

ENTERPRIZE

Brock, David K., Lieut. (E), RAN (Rtd) · Jun 27, 1998 ·

On 30th August 1835, the original schooner Enterprize landed Melbourne’s first European settlers on the north bank of the Yarra River. If you went to school in Victoria, you would ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Book Review: H.M. Bark Endeavour: Her Place in Australian History

Book reviewer · Mar 24, 1998 ·

Title: H.M. Bark Endeavour: Her Place in Australian History Author: Ray Parkin, The Miegunyah Press, 467pp, $150 (2 vol. boxed set). For years I have had three heroes in the ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2

Book Review: King of the Australian Coast

Book reviewer · Mar 7, 1998 ·

Title: King of the Australian Coast. Author: Marsden Horden Publisher: Melbourne University Press at the Miegunyah Press In 1813 James Byrne crossed the Blue Mountains. James who? Byrne did, but we ...

The Remarkable Passage of the Wansfell through the Barrier Reef, 1863-1864

Nicholson, Ian · Sep 6, 1997 ·

For well over a century, until 1977, mariners were intrigued by a warning printed on Admiralty chart BA 2763, amid countless reefs of the outer Barrier Reef, reading: Reefs seen ...

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

CDRE J G Goodenough (1830-1875) – Restoration of Grave

A.N. Other · Sep 6, 1997 ·

It all began with the monograph of an occasional paper delivered to the Naval Historical Society of Australia, Western Australia Chapter, by Lieutenant Commander G. L. W. Vickridge RFD RANR ...

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