June 2019 The following story is of an Australian Able Seaman whom some military historians believe should have been awarded the Victoria Cross for his courage and compassion while under ...
Occasional papers
Occasional Paper 54: The Church Pennant
May 2019 The Church Pennant: A Naval Furphy While researching naval history Society’s Senior Researcher, John Smith regularly encounters mythology which is perpetuated over time unless cation is taken to ...
Occasional Paper 53: Petty Officer Fredrick Harold Harvey and Colombian Naval Service
May 2019 As told by his son CMDR Vic Harvey, RAN, Rtd Fredrick Harold Harvey was a proud Geordie lad, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s suburb of Benwell, on 13 August 1899. ...
Occasional Paper 52: The RAN and the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic
May 2019 Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in Issue 6 of Semaphore, the publication produced by The Sea Power Centre Australia in March 2006. We are indebted to them ...
Occasional Paper 51: The Attack Class Patrol Boat
April 2019 By Dennis J Weatherall JP TM AFAITT(L) LSM Volunteer Researcher, Naval Historical Society of Australia Patrol boats have proven to be the most flexible and versatile elements of ...
Occasional Paper 50: Royal Australian Navy’s 118th Birthday
April 2019 On 1 March 2019 a ceremony was conducted at the Royal Australian Navy Memorial, ANZAC Parade, Canberra to mark the Australian Navy’s 118th Birthday. The program of events ...
Occasional Paper 49: The Good Times and The Bad Times
April 2019 The following paper describes the experiences of a young Royal Navy conscript, Gordon Cansdale who served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1945 to 1947. Gordon describes the ...
Occasional Paper 48: HMAS Anzac (II) – the last ‘Battle’
March 2019 The following paper on the distinguished service of HMAS Anzac (II) was first published in the March 2011 edition of the Naval Historical Review available on the Society ...
Occasional Paper 47: HMAS ANZAC III
March 2019 HMAS ANZAC (FFH150) III Al Faw Peninsula Iraq – NGS MISSION By Dennis J Weatherall JP TM AFAITT(L) LSM Volunteer Researcher, Naval Historical Society of Australia It took ...
Occasional Paper 45: HMAS Adelaide – Boarding Party, Persian Gulf 2004
The following story was first published in the June 2007 edition of the Naval Historical Review. At the time, very little news about the RANs day to day activities was ...
Occasional Paper 46: Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Hudspeth DSC, RANVR
Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Hudspeth, Distinguished Service Cross and 2 Bars, RANVR, WWII Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Hudspeth, RANVR was one of many Royal Australian Naval personnel whose service in Royal Navy ...
Occasional Paper 44: The Fairey Gannet A/S1
By CMDR (P) R. V. Morritt, RAN Rtd The Fairey Gannet A/S 1 aircraft was introduced into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in 1955. When embarked ...
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: The Story Of Commander Paul Hugill Hirst RAN 1899-1963
November 2018 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 ...
Occasional Paper 35: Loss of HMAS Parramatta (II): First Hand Accounts
September 2018 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. ...
Occasional Paper 34: Paddle Steamer Weeroona
September 2018 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 ...
Occasional Paper 33: HMAS Cerberus – Early History and Observations
August 2018 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 ...
Occasional Paper 32: HMAS Voyager (I) or What’s in a Coat of Paint?
August 2018 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 ...
Occasional Paper 31: Captain Edmund Anstice, RN
July 2018 The following is a brief passage from the memoirs of Geoffrey Dobbin who was both a Merchant Navy and Royal Naval Reserve Officer. Geoffrey Dobbin was related through ...
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 starting at 10.00am. HMAS Hobart ...
Occasional Paper 29: Captain Frederick Melbourne Piggott’s Submarine Service
June 2018 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 ...
Occasional Paper 28: Cockatoo Island – An Historical Account
June 2018 Cockatoo Island has a long association with the RAN. The Island has World Heritage Listing and some additional information can be found on our website at https://navyhistory.au/naval-heritage-sites/cockatoo-island. This ...