Naval Historical Society of Australia
Preserving Australia's Naval History
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Victorian Chapter – Monthly Meeting with Guest Speaker Captain Andrew Mackinnon CSC RAN (Rtd) on “J-Class Submarines in the RAN”
Mon 27 Jun, 2022, 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Glen Waverley, VIC Australia + Google Map
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Naval Historical Society of Australia – Victoria Chapter
Cordially invites you to
Our Monthly Meeting at 1900 on Monday 27 June 2022
At Waverley RSL – Sunset Room
161 Coleman Parade, Glen Waverley
Guest Speaker Captain Andrew Mackinnon CSC RAN (Rtd)
on “J-Class Submarines in the RAN”
Andrew Mackinnon is a former Anti-Submarine Warfare specialist officer. He joined the RAN College in 1963 and spent 38 varied and rewarding years in uniform at sea and later ashore, including command of the patrol boat HMAS Wollongong and Navy’s shore establishments at HMAS Cairns and HMAS Coonawarra. In 2001 he joined the Australian Public Service and served a further 17 years in Navy Headquarters, as the Director Navy Infrastructure Plans.
Andrew has an abiding interest in the history of the Royal Australian Navy and is currently the President of the Victoria Chapter of the Naval Historical Society of Australia.
His presentation will describe the life story of the fast J-Class Submarines, which were built in the UK during World War I. He will briefly mention their service in the Royal Navy, before all six were gifted to Australia in 1919 and made their way with a new depot ship to Australia, under the watchful eye of a wartime submarine Victoria Cross winner.
He will cover the maintenance challenges they faced on arrival in Sydney, and their subsequent transfer to a new flotilla headquarters at Corio Bay in Geelong, Victoria. The account will outline their brief seagoing training activities on the Australian coast before they fell victim to heavy Defence budgetary cuts in the post-war period, which ultimately led to their scrapping and scuttling at various sites in the Port Phillip area.
They are arguably now Victoria’s submarines!
Members and Guests are most welcome
A relaxing meal and drink beforehand in the RSL’s delightful Warramunga Room is always a pleasant prelude to the 1900 meeting