By Jo Morrice Commander A.I. Chapman RAN (Rtd) died recently at the age of 96. This is the story of a remarkable and redoubtable man who was affectionately known to ...
Naval history
Royal Naval Engineering College Manadon’s Centenary
By Ron Robb Most engineering officers serving in the RAN have at some time or other studied in HMS Thunderer, the Royal Naval Engineering College at Plymouth in England. Ex-students ...
Azimuth Thruster Propulsion Systems
By Warrant Officer Hugh Johnson One of the enduring features of naval engineering is a desire for reliability, which may lead to conservatism. In some respects warship design has changed ...
Cocos and Christmas Islands
These small isles to our north represent a microcosm of historical events taking place on a larger world stage. They encompass early exploration, colonial rule, resource booms, communications technology, and ...
District Officers Boats
By Leyland Wilkinson Leyland Wilkinson is a member of the NHS and was the former head of the trade school for apprentice training at the Garden Island Dockyard Training School, ...
General Managers of Garden Island Dockyard
Foreword In the century past (plus two more years, until 10 May 1989) Garden Island was a Naval Dockyard managed by a succession of twenty six Naval Engineering Officers of ...
Was Parramatta a Defender and Yarra a Druid, and would Warrego have been at home in Rio?
By Driftwood The massive shipbuilding programs leading up to WWI were dominated by the construction of capital ships. These unsustainable programs involved increases in the national debt of Britain and ...
Our First Engineer Admiral Vice Admiral Sir William Clarkson, KBE, CMG, RAN.
By Chris Clark When Engineer Rear-Admiral Sir William Clarkson retired from the Royal Australian Navy on 1 November 1922 with the honorary rank of Vice-Admiral, it brought to a close ...
Letter: Piper Report and Dangers to Navigation
Dear Sir, Well done for the September issue of the Naval Historical Review. Another good read. May I say that as far as my service with the Royal Australian Navy ...
Translators in the RAN – Theodore Eric Nave
By Sub-Lieutenant Y.L. Zhang This essay came a close second in the Naval History Prize of the New Entry Officer Course intake No. 46. Sub- Lieutenant Yanyi Zhang is a ...
Wallaroo’s Submarine Attack
On 14 JULY 2012 a short letter was received from Mr Les Heap of Lane Cove providing brief information, which may be historically significant, on the Bathurst Class minesweeper HMAS ...
HMAS Australia Night Order Book Raises Kamikaze Queries
Dangers to Navigation
By Lieutenant Commander Tony Maskell, RAN (Rtd) OVER THE YEARS since the arrival of the First Fleet there have been a number of notable shipwrecks. Examples can be found from ...
The White Ensign in the Middle East
By Greg Swinden Having recently returned from a second deployment to the Middle East a colleague suggested that I put down in writing some of my thoughts and recollections of ...
Australian Hospital Ships
By Graeme Andrews Hospital Ships of World War One The provision of dedicated hospital ships to support soldiers injured in combat seems to have evolved at about the time the ...
The Early Surgeons of the RAN
By Richard Gardner Richard Gardner’s father was a well-known surgeon and a close friend of Surgeon Rear Admiral W. (Billie) Carr. Richard joined the RAN on his 18th birthday in ...
Book Review: In Good Hands – The Life of Dr Sam Stening, POW
By Ian Pfennigwerth. Published by Bellona, Sydney, 2012. Paperback, 334 pages with b&w photographs and illustrations. rrp $29.95. Also available for purchase from the author at: www.nautilushistory.com.au. In providing this biography ...
Nursing Memories of HMAS Penguin
By Christina Heath Christina Heath (nee King) served in the RAN Nursing Service first in a permanent role and later on a part-time basis in a reserve capacity for over ...
A Brief History of the Royal Australian Navy Health Service
By Commander Neil Westphalen, RAN Health care for Australian sailors began in medieval England and the Crusades. In May 1153, a fleet of 36 ships owned by Eleanor of Aquitaine left ...
Royal Naval Hospital Haslar 1753 – 2007
By Malcolm Stening Malcolm Stening was one of four brothers, two of whom served as medical officers in the RAN during WWII. His elder brother Samuel (Sam) served in HMAS ...
Rear-Admiral Lionel Lockwood CBE MVO DSC MD (Melb) BSc.FRACP FACMA RAN (1902 – 1987)
By Commander Neil Westphalen, RAN LIONEL LOCKWOOD was born in Natimuk, Victoria on 13 January 1902, the eldest of four children to Alfred Wright Lockwood, a journalist and owner ...
Wardmaster Lieutenant Commander E. Mullins, DSM, RAN (1882-1960)
THOMAS EDWARD MULLINS was born in Leicester, England on 15 May 1882 and joined the RAN as a Sick Berth Steward 1st Class on 7 May 1912. He had six ...
History of the Dental Branch
By Commodore Mike Dowsett, RAN (Rtd) The Fledgling Royal Australian Navy obviously and sensibly inherited its traditions and organisation from the Royal Navy. However, some aspects were distinctly Australian and ...
