After lying dormant for many years a 73 year old letter written by a survivor from HMAS Yarra II has recently surfaced.The original recipient of the letter, George Vooles died in ...
Publications
The Battle of the Coral Sea
MIDN Lachlan Montgomery joined the RAN in February 2014 coming from a family of five in Ringwood Victoria. His father is a serving member of the Victorian Police Force and ...
Book Review: Under New Management – The Royal Australian Navy and the Removal of Germany from the Pacific, 1914-15
Under New Management – The Royal Australian Navy and the Removal of Germany from the Pacific, 1914-15. By Ian Pfennigwerth. Echo Books, West Geelong, Victoria, 2014. Soft cover of 182 pages ...
SMS Emden – Painting by Numbers
By Walter Burroughs The final voyage of SMS Emden and her eventual demise when cornered by HMAS Sydney is an action-packed drama which grips the imagination. Emden was a magnificent ship with a ...
The Naval Ode and Laurence Binyon
By Driftwood There are moments when we first gaze upon a work of art, whether in the pictorial or written form, and are drawn to its beauty and are inspired. ...
The Steam Yacht Ena and HMAS Sleuth
This article first appeared in the World Wide Ship Society Victoria Branch July 2014 newsletter and is reproduced with their kind permission and that of the author who is also ...
Able Seaman Frank Boston: Covering the Gallipoli Landings
This story first appeared in the April 2014 edition of Chatterbox, a magazine published by the Brisbane Water (NSW) Branch of Legacy and is reproduced with their kind permission. Frank ...
An Isolated War Grave: Warrant Officer John Henry Davies
This article was first published by the Military History & Heritage Society of Victoria and is reproduced with their kind permission and that of the author. In the far north ...
Sweeping the Dardanelles – Naval actions prior to the Anzac landing at Gallipoli
By Mike Turner On 18 March 1915 three Allied battleships were sunk by a line of 20 Turkish mines laid by the small Turkish minelayer Nusret in the Dardanelle Straits. ...
The Sydney Cenotaph and its Guardians
By an unknown serviceman The majority of our members will have paid their respects at the Cenotaph in Martin Place and gazed at its two imposing cast bronze sentinels. These ...
The Australian Maritime College charts course as a centre for excellence
Within these pages we hear great deal of the Royal Australian Naval College but this is the first occasion we have been privileged to receive information on the rival but ...
Occasional Paper 130: Our First Fleet Commander – Admiral Sir George Patey
By Walter Burroughs A summary of this paper was presented at a conference held from 30 September to 01 October 2014 at the Universidad Andres Bello, Chile on the maritime ...
HMAS Encounter (1905 – 1932)
HMS Encounter served on the Australia Station and was later commissioned into the RAN. She played a vital role in defence of the eastern coast of Australia, and the anti raider patrols in the South West Pacific. She was regarded as “more beloved than any other unit of our fleet”. ...
Letter: RANHS Grantala
The following email was received from Mike Dowsett, regrettably not in time for our September edition. A hundred years ago today, 30th August 1914 the Royal Australian Navy Hospital Ship ...
Book Review: Crime, Punishment and Redemption – A Convict’s Story
Crime, Punishment and Redemption – A Convict’s Story. By June Slee. National Library of Australia Publishing, Canberra, 2014. Landscape sized softcover of 207 pages, liberally illustrated with coloured prints, ...
Some Mishaps to the Grand Fleet
By John Smith Midnight on the night of 4/5 August 1914 was a momentous event in world history for, at that moment, Great Britain declared war on Germany and thus ...
The Cross of Lorraine in the South Pacific
By Jim Craigie Following great reversals of fortune early in WW II the French nation was bitterly divided between those who wished to appease the Axis powers and those who desired ...
Cry Havoc
Brian Luttrell entered the RANVR in September 1939; a short while later he was off to war as an Ordinary Signalman in HMS Kanimbla. More than two years elapsed before ...
The Early Years of the Electrical Branch in the Royal Australian Navy
By Des Miller Most generations can look back upon significant changes but in our modern naval history there have only been two revolutionary changes, from wood to iron and then ...
Postcards Home
By Peter Brigden An interest in philately has led to a collection of post cards from a century past showing the Pacific colonies of the German Empire. These help bring ...
Invidious Choices – The German East Asia Squadron and the RAN in the Pacific, August to December 1914
By Lieutenant Commander Desmond Woods, RAN This article was presented by the author at the Anglo-German Naval Race and WWI at Sea Conference held at Portsmouth, England in July 2014. ...
They Also Served: Able Seaman Herbert Charles Willans RANR (1888 – 1914)
By Leyland Wilkinson On a recent visit to the Bita Paka War Cemetery near Rabaul I came across a single headstone to the memory of Able Seaman Herbert Charles Willans, ...
Letter: Montagu Whalers
Dear Editor In the latest issue of the Review (June 2014) is a very interesting article by Kingsley Perry about the 1963 Whitsunday Whaler Incident. In both the article and ...
Letter: A Postcard from Afghanistan
Most postcards gratefully received at the Boatshed are of the colourful glossy variety of well known landmarks sent to us from globetrotting members. Recently your Editor received one of a ...
Book Review: Albany’s ANZAC Convoys
Albany’s ANZAC Convoys by Roger Cunnington. Published by Digger Press, Albany, WA, 2014. Paperback of 176 pages with b&w illustrations, maps and diagrams. $46.95, from sales@diggerpress.com or albanyconvoys@westnet.com.au. The release ...