The world is currently combatting the Coronavirus 19 (COVID 19) which originated in China and has now spread throughout the globe. So far, Australia has fortunately been spared the worst ...
The Navy and the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic
Finding of Akagi and Kaga focuses attention on Japan’s formidable aircraft carriers and the Darwin raid
By Tom Lewis Dr. Tom Lewis OAM is a retired naval officer, and the author of 14 books. Some of this text was drawn from Carrier Attack, published in 2013 ...
Australian Naval History on 26 May 2020
The Almirante Lattore FFG14 (ex HMAS Melbourne) and the Capitan Prat FFG11 (ex HMAS Newcastle) depart from Sydney for Chile escorted out of the heads by HMAS Sydney ...
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 ...
Australian Naval History on 19 May 2020
HMAS Sydney V was commissioned off the coast of NSW, in the first commissioning of an Australian warship at sea since the Second World War. ...
Australian Naval History on 14 May 2020
The Royal Australian Naval College at HMAS Creswell graduated the largest officer cohort in its 107-year history, with 168 members of New Entry Officers’ Course (NEOC) 62 completing their initial ...
The Royal Australian Navy in World War One
The following note was provided by Captain Sean Andrews, RAN Director of the Sea Power Centre -Australia. Thanks also for the link to a short film made by the Sea ...
Australian Naval History on 15 April 2020
Australia officially transferred ex HMA ships Melbourne and Newcastle to the Chilean Navy during a commissioning ceremony at HMAS Watson Naval Base in Sydney. The two frigates were retired from service ...
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 ...
Australian Naval History on 30 March 2020
WO Agnes ‘Lennie’ Maiden, the first woman to be promoted to the highest rank as a senior sailor passed away aged 82. WO Maiden served in the Women’s Royal Australian ...
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 ...
Book review: Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Royal Australian Navy in Vietnam 1965-72
Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Royal Australian Navy in Vietnam 1965-1972. Second Edition. By John R. Carroll. First published in 2013, this second edition has been revised with ...
Book Review: A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Games Helped Win World War Two
A Game of Birds and Wolves: The Ingenious Young Women Whose Secret Board Games Helped Win World War Two. By Simon Parkin. Hardback and paperback, 329 pages, Hachette, 2019. From ...
The Solomon Islands and Bougainville Island
By Walter Burroughs Political upheaval After thirty five years of a political alignment between the Solomon Islands and the Republic of China (Taiwan), on 22 September 2019 it was announced ...
Training Ship Nepean and Australian Navy Cadets
Your Editor and Mrs. Burroughs were pleased to accept an invitation to attend the End of Year Parade held by TS Nepean on 30 November 2019. This is an unusual ...
Israeli Naval Submarine Dakar
Earlier this year (2019) while filling in time during heavy morning traffic in Haifa and passing the Naval Museum a tour guide related a story about the conning tower from ...
Luzon: A 75th Anniversary Australian Battlefield Tour of the Philippines – Part 2
By Paul Baker On the morning of 15 December 2019, a small ceremony was held at the Australian War Memorial in the forecourt of the Maritime Academy of Asia and ...
Border and Resource Protection: Past Challenges and Future Opportunities for the Royal Australian Navy
This essay won the New Entry Officers Course 61 Naval Historical Society History Prize, awarded in December 2019. By Lieutenant Melissa Chen RAN1 Australia has unique problems and may thus ...
Appear where you are not expected
By Lieutenant Commander Chris Watson RAN1 This essay won the Smith Prize, which is open to all members of the Department of Defence in the Chief of Navy’s 2019 Essay ...
Last Voyage of the Ayesha
By A. C. B. Mercer Stranded on Direction Island, in the Cocos Keeling Group, 50 German sailors and their commander from the cruiser Emden, which had been engaged by HMAS ...
Warrant Officer of the Navy
Handover Ceremony On 22 November 2019 a ceremony was conducted in the courtyard outside Russell Offices in Canberra to mark the handover of the important position of Warrant Officer of ...
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 ...