On 6 May 1917 the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) began its long association with naval aviation. In these early days, the seaplane was the aircraft of choice to be ...
Naval Historical Review
RAN Officers and the Palestine Troubles 1936-1939
By Greg Swinden New status quo Following the end of the Great War, and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the area known as Palestine was allocated to Great Britain ...
HMAS SWAN to SHANGHAI
The 1981 trials of the ‘heavenly duck’ by Max Sulman During the 1970s there was a gradual easing of tension between China and the West. There were cautious overtures ...
Old timer HMAS Krait
Three views of the Second World War Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) vessel Krait. The following description is from the Australian War Memorial website: “Operation Jaywick was a raid on shipping ...
Names and Numbers
by Dr. Joe Straczek They’re called hull numbers, others call them pendant numbers, some refer to them as pennant numbers. During the first one hundred years of the Royal Australian ...
US Coast Guard ‘Polar Star’: Veteran sails on
The US Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star (WAGB 10) has visited Sydney and many other Australian ports numerous times across her 49-year career. She was commissioned in 1976 as a ...
Lower Deck Memories – 1908 to 1911
By L.H. Blakeney Mr. Blakeney wrote these memoirs in 1973 at the age of 83. He had previously served in the Navy for 49 years, beginning as a cadet in ...
Book Review: HMAS Melbourne – 25 years and Beyond, 2nd edition
The first edition of HMAS Melbourne – 25 Years, by naval historian Ross Gillett, told the story of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (II), from when she was commissioned in ...
LIMBO MYSTERY SOLVED
By Walter Burroughs In late 2020 the Naval Historical Society was approached by colleagues from across the Tasman for help in finding a Mortar Mark 10, required for their naval ...
Losing a funnel – HMAS Protector: From the Archives
In June 1919, the Royal Australian Navy gunboat HMAS Protector almost sank. The incident took place off Cape Everard, (known as Point Hicks since 1970), the small coastal headland in ...
Box-Brownies’ : HMAS Platypus 1940-44
Good clear images of the veteran depot ship HMAS Platypus (I)during the Second World War, are a rare commodity. A few years back the editor received a number of ...
HMS AMBUSCADE GOING HOME
Plans to repatriate the former Royal Navy Type 21 frigate HMS Ambuscade to the United Kingdom from Pakistan are continuing to move forward. The vessel, which was sold to Pakistan ...
70 YEARS AGO HMAS QUEENBOROUGH’s 1955 TRAINING CRUISE
HMAS Queenborough sailed from Sydney for the United Kingdom on 24 February 1955. Her task, to gain experience in the latest methods of anti-submarine warfare and to evaluate the capabilities ...
ADV Stoker – bow to stern
Fremantle Port has now be staging an annual Maritime Day for many years. Last November the major on-water attraction was the Royal Australian Navy’s submarine rescue gear ship, ADV Stoker. ...
Celebrating 80-years of service; The Captain Cook Graving Dock Sydney
In March 2025 the RAN and Garden Island celebrate the 80th anniversary of the famous Captain Cook Graving Dock. This immense piece of ‘naval hardware’ has always been the most ...
QUITE a SIGHT – 101 years later : Melburnians come out in force
The city of Melbourne, then the nation’s capital, hosted the fleet, the Special Service Squadron, from 17 – 25 March 1924. The world’s largest and fastest capital ship, the one-of-a-kind ...
Book Review : Cyclone Warriors – the Armed Forces and Cyclone Tracy December 1974-June 1975
Cyclone Warriors – the Armed Forces and Cyclone Tracy December 1974-June 1975. This paperback edition of 128 pages by Dr Tom Lewis is fully illustrated in colour. Published by Avonmore ...
The Sydney International Exhibition and a French Guest
By Walter Burroughs After the gold rushes of the 1850s the Australian colonies had prospered and the population had dramatically increased, with a corresponding building boom. New streetscapes appeared in ...
The Thames Nautical Training College HMS Worcester (1862-1968)
By Ray Atkinson In the latter part of those long-gone times when Britain and its colonies ruled the waves, prospective ships’ officers were trained at a number of pre-sea training ...
Kongsberg Missile Systems
The following has been largely compiled from available media sources. Norway is a mountainous country in distant northern Europe, dominated by picturesque fjords with ready access to the sea. For ...
Coast Watchers Light
A beacon to mariner and pilot alike, the lighthouse at Madang Harbour is a unique memorial to 36 gallant men. By Walter Brooksbank We have previously met LCDR Walter Hugh ...
City of Adelaide – HMS Carrick The World’s oldest Clipper Ship
By Peter Christopher Fast clipper ships with fine lines and handsome appearance, such as the Cutty Sark, have pride of place in famous museums. Well on her way to restoration, ...
Golden Lace and Silken Ribbons
A recent article found on the UK Forces Net asks the question: Is the braid used on Royal Navy officers’ uniforms really made of precious metal? This article tells us ...
The World’s First Autonomous Vessel
In terms of Autonomous Vehicles, thoughts turn to new initiatives stemming from recent technology which significantly reduces manpower requirements and in the case of the armed forces also reduces potential ...
The Fastnet 1979 Yacht Race Disaster: Would It Have Occurred Today?
Cdr Mike Channon RN This article first appeared in the Royal Navy Instructor Officers’ Association magazine RNIOA No 24 dated 22 November 2023 and is reproduced by kind permission of ...