John was much the same age as me entering this world as a wartime babe in 1942. He was the last of three sons born to Richmond and Joan Jeremy. ...
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Book Review: The Secret Submarine
Book Review by ‘Subconscious’ The Secret Submarine by Tom Lewis is a paperback of 315-pages, published by Big Sky Publishing, of Sydney. It was released in early 2025. The book ...
PORT JACKSON AND MANUKAU and Some ‘Fencibles’
By Walter Burroughs This story is a tribute to Gerald Ellott our New Zealand correspondent whom we unfortunately, never met. At the age of 99 he passed away on 6 ...
THE PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL STEAMSHIP COMPANY
The final cruise – A report from ‘our cruiser‘ RMS STRATHAIRD For more than two centuries shipping interests that eventually became the iconic Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company built an ...
HMAS Encounter and the Raider Seeadler
Colin Randall discusses the loss of the German ship in 1917 The enemy raider Seeadler sailed from Germany in December 1916 and during an extended cruise in the Atlantic and ...
COLLECTORS – Captain James Cook’s Commemorative Plate
The commemorative plate (above) was produced as a souvenir that marked the bicentenary of the 1770 landing on Australian shores of Captain (Lieutenant) James Cook. The face of the plate ...
J CLASS SUBMARINES and their WONDERFUL MECHANISM
Intricate Machinery and its Use in War Talking to Ships at the Bottom of the Sea By A.C.C.S., ‘Sunday Times’ – 20 July 1919 “Just about the greasiest job I ...
SERVING ABOARD THE TOWN CLASS CRUISERS
A transcript of the 1972 presentation to the NHSA by naval historian and member John Bastock When the first Australian Fleet Unit arrived in Sydney on 4 October 1913, I ...
NEW ERA WARSHIPS – 1895
Coastal and Harbour defence by torpedo boats – a lecture by Commander Bosanquet, New South Wales Naval Forces. Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper of 1 October 1895 featured an informative article ...
FULL CIRCLE To hell, and then home by submarine
The story of Able Seaman Hilton (Harry) George Weigand, RAN by Tony Vine When Harry Weigand walked off the submarine HMAS Oxley in Malta in 1928 to return home to ...
Occasional Paper 43: The Press vs RAN Cricket Match 25 January 1933
Following the 1932-33 Ashes series held in Australia in which English captain Douglas Jardine employed ‘Bodyline’ tactics to combat the batting skills of Don Bradman a much lighter match was ...
Occasional Paper 42: The day the entire German fleet surrendered – 100 years ago
Armistice Day is remembered as the day World War One ended, but for naval historians Britain’s greatest victory came 10 days later. Operation ZZ was the code name for the ...
Occasional Paper 41: SS William Dawes – A Ship is Burning (1942)
This account records an incident in the Japanese submarine campaign off Australia and the efforts of the RAAF and VAOC to protect coastal shipping. As the attractive blonde 17 year ...
Occasional Paper 40: Secret History of the First Australian to be given Penicillin
On Thursday 9th August 2018 the ABC 7.30 Report broadcast a story by Tracy Bowden about the first use of penicillin in Australia. Tracy has given permission to the Naval ...
Occasional Paper 39: Compelled to Resign THE STORY OF COMMANDER PAUL HUGILL HIRST RAN 1899-1963
by Lieutenant Commander Terry Feltham RAN Ret’d “Just because something ends doesn’t mean it never should’ve been. Remember, you lived, you learned, you grew and you moved on”. Anon. Why ...
Occasional Paper 38: RAN Returns to the Unit System of Machinery Layout
Peter Calthorpe is a member of the Society, married to Liz Calthorpe, the NHSA Librarian and they have two adult daughters. Peter completed 27 years’ service in the Royal Australian ...
Occasional Paper 37: ALLAN CHARLES GREEN [1878-1954], the man behind the Photos
In the State Library of Victoria we have an amazing photographic collection of ship photo thanks to Allan Green. He was born in Daylesford, in the Central Victorian goldfields on ...
Occasional Paper 36: HMAS Sydney (3) Delivery to Australia: 1949
Our thanks go to Debbie Irwin for the letter by her uncle, Stoker Mechanician James (Jim) Ashwood of HMAS Sydney (3) to his sister Nancy dated 8 May 1949 about ...
Occasional Paper 35: Loss of HMAS Parramatta (II): First Hand Accounts
Recently the Naval Historical Society of Australia was favoured with two handwritten letters from survivors of the sinking of HMAS Parramatta (II) off Tobruk overnight 27 November 1941. The first ...
Occasional Paper 34: Paddle Steamer PS Weeroona
Recently the attention of the NHSA was drawn to the possibility of a paddle-steamer serving in the RAN. It appears that the closest was PS Weeroona built as a Port ...
Occasional Paper 33: HMAS Cerberus – Early History and Observations
This paper was developed after locating a 1970 HMAS Cerberus Wardroom mess dinner menu. The menu included observations by prominent citizens about HMAS Cerberus and its location at Westernport amongst ...
Occasional Paper 32: HMAS Voyager (I) or What’s in a Coat of Paint?
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
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 29: Captain Frederick Melbourne Piggott RD RNR
Captain Frederick Melbourne Piggott RD RNR was born in the UK in April 1915 and moved to Australia in 1943 where he trained young men to handle a Dutch submarine. ...
Occasional Paper 28: Cockatoo Island – An Historical Account
Cockatoo Island has a long association with the RAN. The Island has World HeritageListing and some additional information can be found on our website at https://www.navyhistory.org.au/naval-heritage-sites/cockatoo-island. This article has been ...