Our thanks go to Debbie Irwin for the letter by her uncle, Stoker Mechanician James (Jim) Ashwood of HMAS Sydney (3) to his sister Nancy dated 8 May 1949 about ...
Royal Australian Navy
Book Review: Australian Minesweepers at War by Mike Turner & Hector Donohue
Published by the Sea Power Centre, Canberra, 2018. Paperback of 328 pages with numerous black & white illustrations, portraits, tables and maps. The first edition of this publication was sold ...
HDML 1321 and what she represents
Java is heaven, Burma is hell but you never come back alive from New Guinea – Japanese wartime saying An eagle-eyed member of our Society drew attention to this short ...
Royal Navy Colours of World War Two – Standard Camouflage Colours
Author James Duff Introduction In the final months of and in the years after World War Two, many resources, documents and records relating to Royal Navy camouflage were purposely destroyed. ...
Royal Navy Colours of World War Two – The Patterns 507, G10 and G45
Collaborative works by: Michael Brown, Sean Carroll, James Duff, Lindsay Johnson Introduction In the final months of and in the years after World War Two, many resources, ...
Naval Health Services – an Introduction
By CDRE Liz Rushbrook, Director General, Naval Health Service I am pleased to participate in this retrospective glimpse of our Naval Health Service. The Service, like the RAN, came into ...
Occasional Paper 18: Ensigns Associated With Ships Based at Garden Island
November 2017 Flags have a long been a fascination of founding Society member Mr Norman Rivett as well as Garden Island in Sydney where he has worked and volunteered for ...
Occasional Paper 17: Fleet arrival in Sydney – 4 October 1913
October 2017 At an Imperial Conference held in 1909, it was decided to deploy to Australian waters a naval unit consisting of at least a battle cruiser, three second class ...
Book review: Flagship: The Cruiser HMAS Australia II and the Pacific War on Japan
By Mike Carlton. Penguin Random House, Sydney, August 2016. Hardcover 642 pages with illustrations and many b&w photographs. RRP $50 – discounts available. Some naval history books traverse well-worn tracks ...
Occasional Paper 6: Royal Australian Navy Ships Honour Roll
March 2017 Given the 75th anniversary commemoration events taking place around Australia and overseas in 2017 to honour ships lost in the RAN’s darkest year, 1942 it is timely to ...
Book Review: Bravo Zulu: Honours and Awards to Australian Naval People Volume 1: 1900-1974
By Ian Pfennigwerth. Echo Books, Geelong, 2016. Hardcover & Paperback with illustrations, maps and index, 775 pages. RRP from $65. Available through Echo Books at www.echobooks.com.auor from Ian Pfennigwerth at ...
HMAS Moreton and Brisbane Naval Depots
By George Franki The name Moreton is synonymous with naval history in southeast Queensland but to date little mention of it appears in our historical records. We trust this small ...
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”. ...
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 ...
Book Review: They Sang Like Kangaroos: Australia’s Tinpot Navy in the Great War
They Sang Like Kangaroos: Australia’s Tinpot Navy in the Great War. By Anthony Delano: Australian Scholarly Press, Melbourne, Dec 2012. rrp $34.95 As his title may suggest, Doctor Delano has ...
Book Review: Lost – The stories of all ships lost by the Royal Australian Navy.
Lost: The stories of all ships lost by the Royal Australian Navy. Written and published by Allen Lyne in Adelaide, 2013. ISBN 980-0-646-90375-0 in soft cover, 305 pages with plentiful ...
Book Review: The Forgotten Cruiser HMAS Melbourne 1913-1928
The Forgotten Cruiser HMAS Melbourne 1913-1928 By Andrew Kilsby and Greg Swinden, Longueville Media, Woollahra, NSW, 2013. Available from cooeehistory.com RRP $49.95. On 26 March 1913, HMAS Melbourne, Australia’s first ...
Book Review: War to War: Australia’s Navy 1919-1939
War to War: Australia’s Navy 1919-1939 by Bob Nicholls. Australian Military History Publications, Sydney, 2012. ISBN 9780 98077451. rrp $35. (02) 9542 6771 Bob Nicholls died in 2010. After serving ...
Wallaroo’s Submarine Attack
On 14 JULY 2012 a short letter was received from Mr Les Heap of Lane Cove providing brief information, which may be historically significant, on the Bathurst Class minesweeper HMAS ...
The White Ensign in the Middle East
By Greg Swinden Having recently returned from a second deployment to the Middle East a colleague suggested that I put down in writing some of my thoughts and recollections of ...
A Brief History of the Royal Australian Navy Health Service
By Commander Neil Westphalen, RAN Health care for Australian sailors began in medieval England and the Crusades. In May 1153, a fleet of 36 ships owned by Eleanor of Aquitaine left ...
Book Review: Australia’s Fighting Ships
Australia’s Fighting Ships – A Century of War & Peace by Ross Gillett. Published by Topmill Pty Ltd, Sydney, 2011. Available in both a limited edition hard cover at $49.95 ...
Developing Australian Naval Forces
In celebrating the centenary of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) we should recognise the RAN was born at a most turbulent time in our recent history. The turn of ...
Book Review: A History of the Naval Chapel, Garden Island
A History of the Naval Chapel, Garden Island Author – Norman C Rivett Reviewed by LCDR Ron Robb, RAN, Rtd. A detailed history of the Naval Chapel on Garden Island ...