SBA Noble joined HMAS Perth three months before she sunk. His story is simple and frank but reflects the hardships suffered by her survivors. For his work in attending the ...
Naval history
Night of Shipboard Terror – HMAS Nizam
The Day the Emden Came A-Calling
(Reprinted by permission of Penang New Sunday Times, October 28, 1984) On October 28, 1914 – exactly 70 years ago today – most of the people of Penang were still ...
The Acceptance of the Second HMAS Voyager into Her Majesty’s Service
Sailing Ship Apprentice to Captain of the ‘Queens’
HMAS Melbourne – As it Was, a Bird’s Eye View
BOARDING THE CARRIER MELBOURNE for the first time it was all so baffling. The ship is so huge and her geography so complex I was continually lost as I wandered ...
Sirius, HMS – Wreckage Recovered from First Fleet Flagship
Oilers in the Royal Australian Navy
IN THE BEGINNING there was COAL!! Lots of it. Dirty, dusty, nostril filling and seemingly unlimited in supply. Coaling Ship was an evolution in which everybody was engaged in the ...
ML 817’s New Guinea Operations
New Meaning put into the word Camouflage WARSHIP CAMOUFLAGE came in some weird and wonderful forms during WW II. But for one of the smaller ships of the RAN it ...
Messages from the Clouds Highlighted a Night of High Drama
FOR COUNTLESS GENERATIONS seamen have navigated by the stars. But it was a ‘Message from the Clouds’ that held the key to the rescue of several hundred servicemen after a ...
Kimbla – Alias ‘The Snail’
HMAS KIMBLA was laid down in 1953 and was launched by Mrs. J.W.N. Bull, wife of Captain John Bull who, at the time, was General Overseer Eastern Area. Kimbla’s launch ...
The War Cruises of I27 – Part 2
The War Cruises of I27 – Part 1
HMAS Platypus in Darwin during blitz 19 February 1942
HMAS PLATYPUS was built in England during WWI as a Submarine Tender to the ’J’ class Submarines and as such she had workshops, oil stowage and storage for torpedoes. Platypus ...
British Gunboats on the Yangtze
The following article is taken from the June and March issues of Yangtze and Sikiang Patroller, journal of the United States Yangtze River Patrol Association. A number of RAN officers ...
Naval Chapel Windows for Cruisers Unveiled
Turkish Treatment of British Naval Prisoners
The Silent Service of HMAS Bingera
IT IS A PLEASURE to present a pictorial profile of a ship that served the Royal Australian Navy in comparative obscurity. HMAS Bingera, according to the official histories, never fired ...
Richelieu – The Ship That Never Fought
Prisoner of War Rescues
Ruby Boye – Coastwatcher Heroine
The RAN in the Black Sea
IN 1918 the Allies had cast their lot with the White Russians in the savage civil war which was raging in Russia. They offered to give support to any state ...
HMAS Manoora Enters the Pacific War
Extracts from the War Diary of former member, the late A.K. Chatto HMAS MANOORA sailed from Sydney at 1800 Saturday, November 22 1941. After clearing the swept channel we took ...
Book Review: Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945
Title: Australian and New Zealand Warships 1914-1945 Author: Ross Gillett This book is published by Doubleday Australia with a suggested retail price of $35.00. It is the latest published book ...
Memories of HMS Renown
I actually joined the ship at the age of 16 years, as a boy rating. My early experience with the RENOWN was during the 1914-18 war. Much of our time ...