By Rex Williams, President Victorian Chapter of the NHSA As President since 2003 and active member during the period Mackenzie (Mac) Gregory was at the helm, Rex grew to love ...
Occasional papers
Occasional Paper 93: Boxing in the Navy
By John Smith John Smith, our senior researcher, joined the RAN College in 1946 and retired as a Commander having specialised in gunnery. He served in many RAN ships and ...
Occasional Paper 92: First Royal Australian Navy Victoria Cross: Ordinary Seaman Edward “Teddy” Sheean.
By Dr John K Haken The Victoria Cross for Australia continues the traditions of the Imperial Victoria Cross as our highest award for bravery. Like several other Commonwealth countries, Australia ...
Occasional Paper 91: Invidious Choices – The German East Asia Squadron and the RAN in the Pacific, August to December 1914
By Lieutenant Commander Desmond Woods RAN This paper was first published by the Australian Naval Institute online and in an abbreviated form the by the UK Naval Review and by ...
Occasional Paper 90: A fascinating piece of history
By Sheila Tolley This paper was published on a Blog entitled Tolley’s Topics 18 June 2019. Although Ms Tolley does not cite her sources, the psychology applied to setting the ...
Occasional Paper 89: Operation Bursa, Use of Naval Air Support in Protection of Australian Oil Rigs 1980-1989
The following is a summary of a paper by Captain Marcus Peake RAN Ret’d, Webmaster of the Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia (FAAAA). The full story, published in August ...
Occasional Paper 86: Royal Australian Navy in the Pacific War
By Richard H Pelvin and Jozef H Straczek This paper was provided courtesy of the Sea Power Centre – Australia. It was first published in 2003 and is available on ...
Occasional Paper 88: Gulf War: Logistics Support for RAN Ships Operation Damask: 1990-1991
By David Michael This paper addresses the key aspects of; preparation, deployment and support for RAN units deployed for Operation Damask between August 1990 and March 1991. During this period ...
Occasional Paper 87: Disposition and Employment of Royal Australian Navy Ships following Cessation of Hostilities 15 August 1945
By David Stratton, Hugh Farmer and Dennis Weatherall At the end of the War in the Pacific in August 1945 the strength of the Royal Australian Navy was 36,976 men ...
Occasional Paper 85: A Curious Spectacle
By Brooke Twyford This paper was provided courtesy of Australian National Maritime Museum volunteers. It was published in the June 2020 edition of ‘All Hands’, the Australian National Maritime Museum ...
Occasional Paper 84: Operation Musketeer – the 1956 Suez Crisis, RAN Members’ Involvement
This paper was written by Society volunteer, Commander Martin Linsley RAN Rtd. Its genesis was a list of the RAN participants in the Suez Crisis compiled by Mike Fogarty a ...
Occasional Paper 83: Current Australian Ship Naval Building Projects
This story, which was first published in the Australian Naval Architect, Volume 24 Number dated 2 May 2020 is reproduced with thanks to the Australian Division of the Royal Institution ...
Occasional Paper 82: The Kerr ‘Sydney-Emden’ Medal
This paper, was first published by the Naval Historical Society of Australia in the March 2013 edition of the Naval Historical Review. On 9 November 1914 the RAN cruiser HMAS ...
Occasional Paper 81: Recognition for Scrap Iron Flotilla
The Society was recently gifted a package of assorted papers and photographs collected by the late Petty officer Arthur James Collins. Collins was called up in January 1938 and served ...
Occasional Paper 80: The Early Years (1970-1971) of HMAS Brisbane (DDG-41)
The following paper was delivered by Captain Ralph T Derbidge MBE RAN (Retired) at a reunion (mostly of commissioning crew members and those who deployed to the Vietnam War in ...
Occasional Paper 79: The Loss of HMAT Ballarat
The following are personal accounts by soldiers embarked in the transport ship HMAT Ballarat on 25 April 1917. Both stories were published on Thursday 19 July 1917 in the Bendigonian ...
Occasional Paper 78: Two Proud Ships: HMAS Brisbane (I) and HMAS Brisbane (II)
The following is an address given by Captain Ralph T. Derbidge MBE RAN (Retired) on Monday 19 October 2015 at the Australian War Memorial. The occasion was the dedication of ...
Occasional Paper 77: HMAS Assault. WWII Combined Operations Directorate Establishment – Port Stephens NSW
By Dennis J Weatherall JP TM AFAITT(L) LSM – Volunteer Researcher HMAS Assault, also known as the Amphibious Training Centre to American personnel, was a combined operations establishment for training ...
Occasional Paper 76: The Navy and the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic
By Greg Swinden The world is currently combatting the Coronavirus 19 (COVID 19) which originated in China and has now spread throughout the globe. Australia has fortunately been spared, so ...
Occasional Paper 75: The Vietnam War and the Royal Australian Navy
The following address was delivered by Captain Ralph T. Derbidge MBE RAN (Retired) at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance to mark Vietnam Veterans Day on 18 August 2010. It describes ...
Occasional Paper 74: World War 2 Arrived on the Australian Mainland
March 2020 By Dennis J Weatherall JP TM AFAITT(L) LSM – Volunteer Researcher Dennis Weatherall attended the recent 78th Anniversary of the Bombing of Darwin, also known as the “Battle ...
Occasional Paper 73: Ballarat or Ballaarat? Badges and Flags: Divisive or Not?
March 2020 This paper is based on a 2017 Royal Australian Navy FaceBook post and correspondence with the well known Vexillographer and Society member, John Christian Vaughan. John has provided ...
Occasional Paper 72: Spitfires in the RAN
The Supermarine Spitfire was the most well-known of the World War II era fighter aircraft but by the late 1940’s was quickly becoming obsolete. In October 1948, 15 ex-RAAF Spitfires ...
Occasional Paper 71: Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) – Entering Troubled Waters
The following summarises a presentation given to the Sydney Branch of the Company of Master Mariners and Australian Institute of Navigation & The Nautical Institute South East Australia Branch first ...
Occasional Paper 70: The Ship’s Garden – GARDEN ISLAND
By Colin Randall Colin is a Committee member, volunteer researcher and tour guide of the Naval Historical Society of Australia with a particular interest in the history of Garden Island. ...