After World War 2 the Daring Class destroyer was designed taking into account the lessons learnt for the ships damaged during the war. Many destroyers had been rendered unpowered because ...
Naval history
Occasional Paper 40: Secret history of the first Australian to be given Penicillin
On Thursday 9th August 2018 the ABC 7.30 Report broadcast a story by Tracy Bowden about the first use of penicillin in Australia. Tracy has given permission to the Naval ...
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 ...
Occasional Paper 23: HMAS Darwin Decommissioning
On 8 December 2017 the guided missile frigate HMAS Darwin was decommissioned in a ceremony at Fleet Base East, Garden Island in the presence of former crew and hundreds of ...
Occasional Paper 22: HMAS Advance faces 50
An Article from ‘All Hands’ December 2017 edition The Australian National Maritime Museum Volunteers’ Quarterly Newsletter By Wal Robson The museum’s popular patrol boat has a significant birthday coming up ...
Occasional Paper 21: Battle of the Atlantic: Appeal for £2.5m memorial
Artists Impression of the monument The charity needs to raise £2.5m for the planned monument on the Pier Head A campaign to build a national memorial to the estimated ...
Occasional Paper 36: HMAS Sydney (III) Delivery to Australia 1949
Our thanks go to Debbie Irwin for the letter by her uncle, Stoker Mechanician James (Jim) Ashwood of HMAS Sydney (3) to his sister Nancy dated 8 May 1949 about ...
Book Review: Australian Minesweepers at War by Mike Turner & Hector Donohue
Published by the Sea Power Centre, Canberra, 2018. Paperback of 328 pages with numerous black & white illustrations, portraits, tables and maps. The first edition of this publication was sold ...
Letter: What’s in a Name – Cumberlege
A few emails have been received from learned members regarding the spelling of a family name used in the June 2018 edition of this magazine on Rear Admiral Claude Lionel ...
Book Review: Tobruk and Beyond: War Notes from the Mediterranean Station 1941–1943.
By Albert Lawrence Poland, Published by Halstead Press, Canberra, 2018. Hard cover, 176 pp with b&w illustrations, maps and portraits. Available from booksellers at about $33.00. Peter Poland, the editor ...
The Hospital Ships Buenos Aires Maruand Wah Sui
Was the sinking of hospital ships isolated incidents which could be put down to mistaken identity or were they deliberate acts of destruction by those who had thrown away the ...
Naval Cutlasses – an Overview
By John McGrath This article is a complement to that on officers’ swords which appeared in the March 2018 issue of the Naval Historical Review. Like that article, it does ...
The RAAF at Sea before World War II
The following article first appeared in the Air Power Development Centre Bulletin Pathfinder, Issue 175 dated April 2012 and is reproduced with their kind permission. The perspective of our sister ...
Garden Island Rangefinding
Before the days of radar an array of optical rangefinders was an important feature of nearly all warships. In Royal Naval vessels, including those of the Dominions, these were mostly ...
Admiral Sir George King-Hall – The last Royal Navy Commander-in-Chief of the Australia Station
Admiral Sir George King-Hall, the last Royal Navy Commander-in-Chief of the Australia Station, was a proponent of an Australian navy and friend to Rear Admiral William Creswell. Sir George came ...
The Unit Citation for Gallantry of the Royal Australian Navy Helicopter Flight Vietnam Extraordinary and Gallant
By CDR Ian (Max) Speedy, DSC, RANR With the passing of the years, we tend to forget just how defining the Vietnam War was in so many aspects. It was ...
Australian Merchant Navy Day – Remembrance Address
By LCDR Desmond Woods, RANR Membersof the Merchant Navy War Memorial Fund, Veterans, War Widows, Merchant Mariners, members of associated organisations, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. The maritime history of ...
They also Served: LCDR Mike Hickie DSC, RN & RAN, Rtd
Michael (Mike) Timothy Hickie had an extraordinary naval career in both the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy extending from 1936 to 1983; with a two year gap, this ...
David McFall and the Maritime Model Museum: Shutting up Shop
This article has been compiled with input from Angus McFall, Kevin Anstis and Richard Francis. David McFall, who was well known in maritime circles, passed over the bar on 4 ...
A Short History of STS Young Endeavour
By Isabelle Hazell Young Endeavour, the tall ship making waves in the lives of young people all over Australia, has a history as rich as the lives it has impacted during ...
Occasional Paper 14: Interview with Lieutenant Commander Mackenzie Gregory, R.A.N. Rtd
Amended interview with Australians at War Film Archive This original interview is from this page, the Australians at War Film Archive. There is also a copy of the uncorrected interview ...
HDML 1321 and what she represents
Java is heaven, Burma is hell but you never come back alive from New Guinea – Japanese wartime saying An eagle-eyed member of our Society drew attention to this short ...
Royal Navy Colours of World War Two – Standard Camouflage Colours
Author James Duff Introduction In the final months of and in the years after World War Two, many resources, documents and records relating to Royal Navy camouflage were purposely destroyed. ...
Royal Navy Colours of World War Two – The Patterns 507, G10 and G45
Collaborative works by: Michael Brown, Sean Carroll, James Duff, Lindsay Johnson Introduction In the final months of and in the years after World War Two, many resources, ...
Letter: HDML 1321 Update
Dear Walter I have been following your articles and updates on 1321 with interest, and think you may have a use for this informative paper cutting, recently uncovered in one of ...