By Angus Britts Wednesday 8 April 1942 was a day of ignominy for the greatest naval power the modern world had thus far known. Since 30 March the Royal Navy’s ...
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Occasional Paper 134: A Long Salty Voyage Home – The Delivery of Victoria’s First Torpedo Boat H.M.V.S. Childers
By Ross Gillett When the Victorian Government’s first-class torpedo boat HMVS Childers had moved safely out of Portsmouth on 3 February 1884, the 26-year-old commander, Lieutenant Martyn Jerram, went down ...
Letter: British cutlasses – Heritage Arms Society SA
I write to draw your attention and that of your members to the imaginative and important project being coordinated by the Heritage Arms Society, South Australia. This aims to collect ...
Letter: Ikara
I recently received the excellent work Ikara by Angus Britts which rightly and effectively highlights the development of the Ikara weapons system. The book also highlights the forerunner of Ikara, ...
Letter: Roylen Cruises – Alfred ‘Happy’ Hawkins
I enjoyed the article in the recent Review regarding Roylen Cruises. It reminded me that one of the youngest RAN Prisoners of War later worked as a deckhand for Roylen ...
Book Review: The WRENS of World War II
THE WRENS OF WORLD WAR II. By Peter Hore, a paperback of 240 pages, published by Big Sky Publishing, Moss Vale, NSW, in 2021. Available at most booksellers from $24.75. ...
‘Fast and Furious’ – The Battle of Cape Spada: Part II
By Andreas Biermann Battles involving HMA Ships Sydney I and Sydney II illuminate the history of the RAN. Sydney I provided our first major victory of WWI in her epic engagement ...
HMS Diamond and Desertions on the Australia Station
By John Smith The Royal Navy’s Australia Station was in existence from 1859 until 1913 when the newly created Royal Australian Navy took over the naval defence of Australia. The ...
A Garden Island Apprenticeship
The December 2021 edition of this magazine contained an article How did we get 16-inch Gun Projectiles to Australia?This came from the memoirs of Geoff Davidson, and using the same ...
I Name this Ship….
By Mary White The following article is taken from the July 1948 edition of The Navy magazine and is reproduced by kind permission of the Editor. The parish of St. ...
The Arthur Lunan Story: Part II
The late Arthur Lunan maintained a diary of his service in the RAN from 1941 to 1946. His brother in law William Moody digitised this and added some family photographs. ...
Imperial Japan’s ‘Naval Invasion’ of Western Australia
By Kate Reid-Smith By the end of 1943, Japan’s archipelagic defensive perimeter across the Dutch East Indies was fracturing. Ongoing and successful Allied counteroffensives, on islands closest to the Australian ...
Jan Stockwin – Naval Shipwright and Author
By Greg Swinden Jan (Julian) Adrian Stockwin was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England on 15 January 1944. His initial education was at an English grammar school where he performed poorly: ...
End of an Era: Sail Training at Royal Australian Naval College
By LCDR David Jones RAN Changing Times From 2022, sailing has been removed from the initial training curriculum for new entry officers at RANC. Non-motorised small boat handling, sailing and ...
Farewell Sydney and Kenneth Butler
By Darrell White ASMA The original oil on canvas artwork Farewell Sydney was commissioned by the Western Australia Cricket Association (now WA Cricket) and made possible by a donation from ...
Occasional Paper 131: Destroyer doomed from the start – the rewritten story of USS Peary’s final combat action in Darwin 1942
Discovery of propellers from the ship explains why Peary was the only warship of several vessels to be sunk By Dr Tom Lewis[1] This paper was previously published in The ...
Occasional Paper 132: The First Admiral: Admiral Sir G. Francis Hyde, KCB, CVO, CBE
By Lieutenant Commander A.W. Grazebrook First published in the June 1974 edition of the Naval Historical Review. The majority of the more senior retired officers of the Royal Australian Navy ...
Letter: Exmouth Gulf – Submariners’ Haven – Onslow
Dear Editor, With reference to the Fuel Storage Tanks segment of the Exmouth Gulf – Submariners’ Haven article by Colin Randall published in the December edition of the Naval Historical ...
Book Review: Like a Wicked Noah’s Ark – The Nautical School Ships Vernon and Sobraon
Like a Wicked Noah’s Ark – The Nautical School Ships Vernon and Sobraon A paperback of 362 pages by Sarah Luke, published by Arcadia, 2020. RRP $44.00. As the old saying ...
Book Review: Dark Secrets – The True Story of Murder in HMAS Australia
Dark Secrets – The True Story of Murder in HMAS Australia. Paperback 320 pages by Robert Hadler, published by Wilkinson, Sydney, 2020. Discounted at about $23.00 Murder in the Royal ...
‘Bimbashi’ Mcpherson: A Life in Egypt
By Walter Burroughs A casual browse through the bookshelves of opportunity shops can produce some surprises. Disorganised, with no rhyme or reason to subject matter, it is as well to ...
A Context for the Fremantle Naval Volunteers
By John McGrath Introduction The fascinating article by Ron and Ian Forsyth about the Fremantle Naval Volunteers1 opens the way to consideration of the way in which this force fitted ...
Bougainville
This article forms the final part of a trilogy covering the history of the Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island. Part 1 discussing the Solomon Islands from European discovery to the ...
A Brief History of the Australian Hydrographic Service
By Kevin Slade, PSM & John Perryman, CSM This article first appeared in the 2020 edition of Navy Outlook and is reproduced by kind permission of the editor of that ...
Rommel’s Riposte
By Andreas Biermann1 We were recently contacted by the author regarding an article published in a previous edition of the Naval Historical Review in which we incorrectly attributed the date ...