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You are here: Home / Archives for Article topics / Naval history / Ship design and development

Ship design and development

Occasional Paper 32: HMAS Voyager (I) or What’s in a Coat of Paint?

Editorial Staff · May 20, 2025 ·

During WWII ships of the RAN were painted in a number of different colour schemes as these photos of Voyager illustrate and information on both peacetime and wartime camouflage paint ...

Occasional Paper 30: HMAS HOBART

Editorial Staff · May 20, 2025 ·

Several events concerning the three HMA Ships Hobart come together with a memorial and commemoration service at the Garden Island Chapel on Sunday 22nd July 2018 at 10.00am. HMAS Hobart ...

Occasional Paper 22: Attack Class Patrol Boats

A.N. Other · May 18, 2025 ·

 The following is an article from”All Hands” December 2017 edition of the Australian Maritime Museum Volunteers’  Quarterly Newsletter. By Wal Robson The museum’s popular patrol boat has a significant birthday ...

Occasional Paper 2: Operation DAMASK – HMA Ships BRISBANE and SYDNEY  

A.N. Other · May 15, 2025 ·

The following story was contributed by Hugh Hyland.  Hugh worked for the variously named Defence departments for over 50 years until retiring in December 2015.  He held numerous positions in ...

Occasional Paper 193: The First Naval Dockyard of the Royal Australian Navy Cockatoo Island, Shipbuilding, 1870 to 1986

David Michael · May 7, 2025 ·

Cockatoo Island is the largest Island in Sydney Harbour and is located at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers, about 3.7 km west of the Sydney Harbour ...

Bathurst Class Corvettes

David Stratton · Nov 10, 2024 ·

When war looked imminent after the Munich crisis in 1938, the Royal Australian Navy realised it needed a fleet of escort ships to guard convoys and keep the sea lanes ...

The Secret of the Battle of Sunda Strait: Secret Japanese Ship Sunk by Friendly Fire

A.N. Other · Mar 6, 2024 ·

By Rohan Goyne The Battle of Sunda Strait is remembered for the loss of the allied cruisers USS Houston and HMAS Perth in a confused night action in the Sunda ...

Occasional Paper 180: HMAS Yarra (III): IKARA related Configuration Changes Through Life

Editorial Staff · Mar 4, 2024 ·

Commissioned on 27 July 1961 HMAS Yarra underwent significant configuration enhancements during its 24 years of distinguished service in the Royal Australian Navy. Its major refits involved the installation of ...

Occasional Paper 179: A Boiler Without a Ship

John Jeremy, AM Vice President NHSA · Feb 1, 2024 ·

The S-class destroyer Yarrow boiler on Cockatoo Island today

By John Jeremy Warship design in the first two decades of the 20th Century advanced rapidly, with the early introduction of new technology (e.g. the steam turbine for propulsion) and ...

Occasional Paper 178: A Short History of Building 6

John Jeremy, AM Vice President NHSA · Feb 1, 2024 ·

John Jeremy Occasional Paper 165 told the story of the three-storey green building on the top of Cockatoo Island in Sydney, Building 10 — the Drawing Office building — and ...

Ghost Shark for Navy; The Extra-Large Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Editorial Staff · Dec 22, 2023 ·

This article first appeared in Australian Warship Issue No 117 published in March 2023 and is reproduced by kind permission of its editor. With so much attention being paid to ...

Littoral Combat Ships

Editorial Staff · Dec 22, 2023 ·

The June edition of this magazine announced the commissioning of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) USS Canberra in Sydney on 22 July 2023. Less than a month later it came ...

Young Endeavour Replacement

Editorial Staff · Dec 15, 2023 ·

A new sail training ship will be built in Australia over the next three years, to replace STS Young Endeavour. The original brigantine is now 35 years old, and has ...

Queensland Mining meets First Sea Lord and Strikes Oil

A.N. Other · Sep 5, 2023 ·

Prepared from inspiration provided by our Queensland member and mining engineer Colin Randall. William Knox D’Arcy and John Arbuthnot Fisher both came from families with prominent distant relatives but they ...

Former HMNZS Rotoiti and Pukaki off to Ireland by Heavy Lift Ship

Editorial Staff · Sep 5, 2023 ·

The following article has been sourced from various local and overseas news outlets. The post-war Royal New Zealand Navy was based around two Dido-class light cruisers, HMNZ Ships Black Prince ...

Inside ‘Nuke School’, the elite US Training Ground preparing Australian Submariners for an AUKUS Future

Editorial Staff · Sep 5, 2023 ·

The following article has been taken from an ABC News summary of 8 July 2023.  In America’s deep south, a group of students has just completed one of the most ...

Occasional Paper 167: Littoral Combat Ship Program Overview

Editorial Staff · Jul 31, 2023 ·

The recent visit by USS Canberra to Australia for commissioning was an historic event which captured the attention of Australians, Americans and many others worldwide. However, many people are impressed ...

Education News

Editorial Staff · Jun 30, 2023 ·

The following article is taken from The Australian Naval Architect Vol 27 No 1, February 2023 and is reproduced by kind permission of that organisation.  The first student in naval ...

Australia’s Nuclear Submarines – Costs and Timelines

A.N. Other · Jun 30, 2023 ·

By Jack Dillich* The recent government announcement on the acquisition of nuclear submarines is one of the most significant events in the history of the Royal Australian Navy. This article, ...

The Frigates that ‘did nothing in particular, and did it very well’ – with apologies to W.S. Gilbert.

A.N. Other · Jun 3, 2023 ·

By John Ingram Fifty years ago, the Whitlam Labor government cancelled the troubled Light Destroyer (DDL) project and set in place the acquisition of six patrol frigates of the Oliver ...

Occasional Paper 155: Patrolling Northern Australia

John Jeremy, AM Vice President NHSA · Feb 4, 2023 ·

By John Jeremy The work of patrolling the seas to the north of Australia has become a major task for the RAN and the Australian Border Force. It is easy ...

Our First Patrol Boats

A.N. Other · Dec 7, 2022 ·

By Walter Burroughs In recent times Australia could be considered a mecca for the patrol boat industry: from a slow post war start with the Attack class, they were replaced ...

The River Clyde: The cradle of British shipbuilding and the birthplace of the Royal Australian Navy

A.N. Other · Dec 7, 2022 ·

By CMDR Tony Vine RAN Rtd  The River Clyde in Scotland has long been described as the cradle of the British shipbuilding industry and in 1909 it became the foundation ...

Occasional Paper 153: County Class ships of the Royal Navy: A photographic review

A.N. Other · Dec 1, 2022 ·

By Conrad Waters The following feature was first published in the Ships Monthly magazine and subsequently by the Heritage Machines website on 19th October 2022. The Royal Navy’s series of ...

Pacific Support Vessel Reliant

Gillett, Ross · Sep 1, 2022 ·

By Ross Gillett Dodging showers, on Thursday, 21 July a baker’s dozen of Naval Historical Society members led by our president was invited to inspect the new Pacific Support Vessel ...

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