Dear Editor Regarding the article on Lieutenant Commander Ernest Thomas Lees DSO RANR in the September 2021 NHR (‘Naval Sub Lieutenant awarded the Distinguished Service Order’), I have unearthed some ...
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Letter: Lew Lind
Dear Walter, Re LEW LIND Thank you for your reply, 15 September 2021, I would be honoured if you used my letter as a Letter to the Editor in your ...
Letter: A Mortar Mystery:
Hi Walter, Some time ago I photographed both the Cowra Limbo mounting and a twin 4.7in. mounting. This latter had no splinter shield but was surely a Tribal. Both items ...
Letter: Rethymnon – More on Lew Lind
Dear Walter I just wanted to thank you sincerely for your help. I seem to have involved you and members of your family considerably in the search. Perhaps you would ...
Roylen Cruises and their fleet of Fairmiles
By Walter Burroughs A visit to an Opportunity Shop browsing through other people’s junk is often time wasting. And so it was while wasting time that an unwanted, ubiquitous, one-dollar ...
How did we get USN 16-inch gun projectiles to Australia?
By Geoff Davidson In 1994 I was posted for three years to Washington DC as the RAN representative to provide weapon and ship follow-on support for the FFG ships HMA ...
Throwing a Party: The Naval Ball of 1899
Colin Randall, one of our venerable archivists, discovered some newspaper cuttings from well over a century past which perhaps reminds us of how things were done when a celebration was ...
HMAS Sydney 80th Anniversary Commemorative Speech
By Commodore Ivan Ingham AM RAN The following commemorative speech was delivered by Commodore Ingham at the HMAS Sydney (II) memorial in Geraldton, Western Australia on Friday 19 November 2021. ...
Occasional Paper 127: Commitment, Persistence and Science; Behind the Search for HMAS Sydney II
By Commodore Bob Trotter OAM RAN & FIEAust (Retd)© Bob Trotter is an engineer and submarine specialist. He retired from the RAN in 1998 and after a period with ...
Occasional Paper 128: HMAS Nepal
By Commander Greg Swinden RAN HMAS Nepal was one of eight N Class destroyers laid down in British shipyards during 1939 for service in the Royal Navy. Five of these ...
Occasional Paper 126: A New Crane for Sydney’s Skyline
By John Jeremy Cranes are a regular feature of Sydney’s skyline, particularly the many construction cranes which, at a glance, reveal the state of the construction industry in Australia’s largest ...
Occasional Paper 125: Captain Edward Fegen and the Loss of HMS Jervis Bay
By Lloyd Skinner During the Second World War, just 23 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the servicemen of the Royal Navy. One of the courageous few awarded the honour ‘For ...
Occasional Paper 124: Arctic Sea Routes: From Dream to Reality
By Bob Hetherington The following story was first published in the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) Volunteers’ Quarterly newsletter ‘All Hands’, Issue 112 in September 2020. Some dreamers always maintained ...
Lieutenant Commander Michael T Hickie R.N, R.A.N, Ret’d. D.S.C, Arctic Star, Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy
Michael Timothy Hickie was born on 17th October 1922, in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, North West India. His parents were both from distinguished British Raj families. Mike was then educated in UK, ...
Navy Birds Return to their Nest – Navy News Paper article August 1958.
After a glamorous six months’ cruise in H.M A.S. Melbourne, the Air Group returned to its nest at Albatross on July 20. At 7.30 in perfect weather, 11 Sea Venoms, ...
Navy Chopper Rescues RAAF Sabre Jet Pilot
Navy Chopper Rescues RAAF Sabre Jet Pilot Navy News March 1963 Another Royal Australian Navy “first” was recorded last week when one of the Navy’s new Westland Wessex helicopters went ...
Occasional Paper 121: Captain Morton Henry Moyes, OBE, RAN 1896-1981
By Martin Linsley Morton Moyes was a man to admire. ‘He was a true leader – a simple man – a modest man – in very truth a gentle man.’ ...
Book Review: Prince Philip Revealed
Prince Philip Revealed by Ingrid Seward. Published in 2020 by Simon & Schuster, available in hard cover, paperback and e-book. Her Majesty the Queen, whilst speaking at the Banqueting House ...
Letter: HMVS Cerberus and her Flag
The following email was received from Jim Lorrimar of Perth, Western Australia. With regard to the June edition of the NHR which I recently received, I was admiring the Australia ...
Book Review: Guy Griffiths: The Life and Times of an Australian Admiral
Guy Griffiths: The Life and Times of an Australian Admiral. Paperback by Peter Jones, Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne, 2021. After the highly effective Vietnam deployment of HMAS Hobart in 1967 ...
Book Review: Australia’s Colonial Navies
Australia’s Colonial Navies by Ross Gillett is a revised and expanded edition published by the Naval Historical Society of Australia and released in 2021. In the 21st century most Australians ...
The Koolama Incident
One of the most intriguing wartime dramas occurred off the Western Australian coast in February 1942 concerning attacks made by Japanese aircraft on the motor vessel Koolama. The story of ...
Mission Creep in the Dardanelles
By CMDR Max Speedy DSC RAN Rtd Captain Arthur Edward Dunn CBE RD ADC RNR was married to my great-aunt and as a result I have his voluminous papers and ...
Melville Neilson Cumming: An Albany hero known by many names
By David Theodore, Curator, Princess Royal Fortress Military Museum Melville, Skinny or Bob? Over a lifetime a person can be identified by a number of names. From all official documents ...
A/Captain Ross V. Wheatley OBE, RAN: A distinguished officer wrongly criticised
By Hector Donohue and Mike Turner Ross Wheatley was born in Adelaide on 19 December 1900, joined the Naval College in 1914 and subsequently specialised as a hydrographer, qualifying as ...