I read with interest the file correspondence on the naming of the USN Cruiser, the USS Canberra in the September 96 issue. In June 1994 while at US Naval Institute ...
History - WW2
Binoculars from the Past
One of Australia’s major naval tragedies of World War II has had its echo in Canberra more than 50 years later. Commodore (retired) M. Rayment of the Royal Australian Navy, ...
Book Review: Corvettes – Little Ships for Big Men
Title: “Corvettes – Little Ships for Big Men” Author: Frank B. Walker Published by: Kingfisher Press, 177 Sunrise Avenue, Budgewoi, NSW. 2262 The headlines on the fly sheet, “This story ...
Book Review: Commando! The M/Z Unit’s Secret War Against Japan
Title: Commando! The M/Z Unit’s Secret War Against Japan Author: A.B. Feuer This book describes the raising of Z Unit forces after Japan’s entry into World War II and contains first-hand ...
The Naming of USS “Canberra” – 1942
The following correspondence is self-evident and highlights the warm relationship between the USN and the RAN during WWII. Canberra Dated September 1, 1942 Recd 9:43 a.m., 2nd Secretary of State, ...
Book Review: Where the Hell is Africa?
Title: “Where the Hell is Africa?” Author: Philip Seymour Publisher: self-published “The Laws of the Navy”, a collection of verses reminiscent of Rudyard Kipling’s “Laws of the Jungle”, was written around ...
Book Review: Coast Watching in the Solomon Islands 1941-1943
Title: Coast Watching in the Solomon Islands The Bougainville Reports December 1941-July 1943 Edited by: A. B. Feuer* Publisher: Praeger Publishers, 1 Madison Avenue, New York USA 10010. The diaries ...
Letters: Women’s Volunteer Naval Reserve
[Ed: Dec 1995 edition from the Victorian Chapter: Osborne House and its maritime museum at Geelong was under threat to be sold by the local council. The site of the first Royal ...
Book Review: For Those in Peril
Title: For Those in Peril Author: Vic Cassells An evocative title. On the title page, the author says “A comprehensive listing of the ships and men of the Royal Australian ...
Book Review: Contact!
Title: “CONTACT! HMAS RUSHCUTTER and Australia’s Submarine Hunters 1939 -1946.” The disproportionate contribution of Australia to Allied victory in World War II, bearing in mind her limited resources, is common knowledge. ...
Letters: Tribal Elders Approve Retention of “Warramunga”
Obituary: Rear Admiral Bryn Mussared (1917-1995)
Rear Admiral Bryn Mussared was born in 1917 in Semaphore SA, and entered the Navy in 1932. On passing out from the Naval College, he was awarded ‘maximum time’ and the ...
Obituary: Commander Arthur Stanley Storey (1909 – 1995)
Report:HMAS Sydney II-Possible and probable causes of loss
The Department of Marine Archaeology, Western Australia has produced a Report No. 104, by W.J. Olsen, investigating the possible and probable causes of the loss of H.M.A.S. “SYDNEY”. It is ...
Commander Wojceich Franki – Polish Navy (Rtd)
Clandestine Radios – Burma Railway 1942-1945
Spectrum of Command -RANVR, RANR(S) and RAN
*The first became Australia’s Minister for Defence. * The second piloted 8463 ships of the world through our major ports to set a record that probably never will be eclipsed. ...
Australia Remembers 1945-1995
Who “Invented” Radar?
Trincamalee Harbour Incident – 1944
The British Fleet that lay at anchor in the harbour at Trincamalee consisted of five battleships, two squadrons of cruisers, four aircraft carriers and two flotillas of destroyers, all peacefully ...
HMAS Canberra – Solomon Islands Memorial
Prior to 1988, the HMAS Canberra – HMAS Shropshire Association had been occupied in establishing memorials to both their ships at Naval establishments in each State of Australia. In March ...
Book Review: Krait the little fishing boat that went to war and The Heroes of Rimau
Title: “Krait” – The Little Fishing Boat that Went to War” Title: “The Heroes of Rimau” Author: Lynette Ramsay with research from Major Tom Hall The histories of “KRAIT” and her Jaywick operation, ...
Letters: HMAS Canberra Memorial followup
As a survivor of HMAS Canberra in 1942 and as one who assisted in establishing a memorial to that ship. I feel it my duty to reply to Russ Prior’s ...
German Raiders in the Indian Ocean – 1941
FAIRMILES – Overview Of Vessels
The “B” Type Fairmile was a wooden hulled motor launch of approximately 90 tons displacement. It had a length of 112′, a beam of 17’10” and a draught of 3’8″ forward ...