This story may serve as a small tribute to Robin Stone who for many years was an invaluable volunteer at the Boatshed. In fact, she ran the place, being responsible ...
Article topics
Letter: Enderby Island
Having read about the Enderby family in the Journal (NHR March 2023) I feel I must let you know that I have visited Enderby Island. In 2005 I joined a ...
Ultra and the Battle of the Atlantic – The True Story
Ultra and the Battle of the Atlantic – The True Story By Tim D. Lyon “The Battle of the Atlantic was the dominating factor all throughout the war. Battles might ...
Occasional Paper 139 : Robert John Dowey
This short account of the May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea focuses on the strategically significant outcomes of the battle and how they related to the future of World War 2 and Australians in particular. ...
Occasional Paper 138 : The mystery sword of the Japanese midget submarines
This short account of the May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea focuses on the strategically significant outcomes of the battle and how they related to the future of World War 2 and Australians in particular. ...
Occasional Paper 137: Battle of the Coral Sea (4–8 May 1942)
This short account of the May 1942 Battle of the Coral Sea focuses on the strategically significant outcomes of the battle and how they related to the future of World War 2 and Australians in particular. ...
Occasional Paper 136: Gun Battle on the Han
In this personal account by Lieutenant Commander Roberts RAN who was Executive Officer of HMAS Murchison during the Korean War, he describes gun battles fought against North Korean ground forces during Murchison’s patrols of the Han River between July 1951 and January 1952. ...
Occasional Paper 135: Was Heihachiro Tōgō Japan’s Horatio Nelson?
In this paper Richard Broinowski makes an interesting comparison between Admiral Lord Nelson and Japan’s Heihachiro Tōgō born in 1847 to a samurai family and hero of the battle of Tsushima Strait during which the fledgling Japanese Navy achieved a Trafalgar like victory over the Russian Fleet. ...
Occasional Paper 133: Operation C – The Indian Ocean showdown between British and Japanese naval might, 4 – 9 April 1942.
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 ...
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 ...