November 2016 The following story was contributed by Hugh Hyland. Hugh worked for the variously named Defence departments for over 50 years until retiring in December 2015. He held numerous ...
Australian Units
Australian Naval History on 7 October 2016
End of Operation Render Safe 2016 during which HMA Ships Diamantina and Huon spent two weeks finding and destroying unexploded WWII munitions in the waters around the Solomon Islands. The ...
Book Review: John Jess, Seeker of Justice
By Elizabeth McCarthy. Sid Harta Publishers, Melbourne, 2015. Paperback 320 pages. RRP $29.95 but discounts available. This book, published in August 2015, was written by a daughter of John Jess ...
The Battles for Leyte Gulf: where Australian ships fought in one of the greatest battles in naval history
By David Scott David Horace Ford Scott grew up on a soldier-settler block near Holbrook, NSW but his parents were forced to walk off the property during the Depression and ...
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 ...
Australian Naval History on 12 September 2016
The last of Navy’s 24 MH60 Romeos was accepted at Nowra’s Aviation Technology Park ...
Occasional Paper 1: Battle of Australia Day Commemoration
By Commander Rebecca Jeffcoat, RAN Sydney 07 Sep 16 Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, First I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people, the Traditional Custodians of this Land on ...
Letter: River Cruises and the Big River
Two letters have been received in response to Leyland Wilkinson’s article on ‘River Cruises and the Big River’. These important contributions are from officers with first-hand experience of navigating far ...
Operation DAMASK: RAN Operations Against Iraq During The Gulf War
By SBLT Nathan Willrow, RAN Following completion of secondary education at Melbourne High School Nathan gained entry to the University of Melbourne where he graduated as a Bachelor of Science ...
Simply a Question of Duty: A Coastwatcher in North Australia Part 2: Coastwatching on Groote Eylandt during WWII
By John Harris Japan’s sudden entry into WWII, threatening the whole Pacific region, galvanised Naval Intelligence into immediate action to formalise and expand the old pre-war Coastwatcher program in coastal ...
HMAS Melbourne in WWI – a Diarist’s Perspective
By Kingsley Perry George Henry Iles was born at Norwood, Surrey on 11 December 1883 and later joined the Royal Navy where he became a cook. On 14 October 1912 ...
Bill Boas and the Waree
Cyril Maurice (Bill) Boas was born on 10 December 1899 at Nilgiri Hills, Tamil Nadu, in southern India. He was the first of four children born to Captain John and ...
River Cruises and the Big River
By Leyland Wilkinson There are many rivers in the world with clear access from the open sea for ocean going vessels, and over the years units of the Royal Australian ...
HMAS Brisbane in the Far East 1925
By Greg Swinden The inter war period (1919-1939) is often considered a time of little activity for the RAN, but in reality the fleet was constantly active. One of the ...
The Missing DDG
By John Smith A question was recently posed why hull number 40 is not used by HMA Ships. The DDGs Perth 38, Hobart 39 and Brisbane 41 are to be followed by the ...
The New Guinea Diary of LCDR Clarence Hansby Read, RANR 1914-1915
The manuscript of Read’s diary was acquired by the Mitchell Library in 1919 for the sum of £30. It lay undisturbed for nearly a century until transcribed into digital format ...
‘Simply a Question of Duty’ A Coastwatcher in Northern Australia Part 1: Coastwatching Before World War II
By John Harris Around Australia’s northern coast and islands before and during World War II a small band of civilians in remote locations was asked to volunteer as official Coastwatchers. ...
Book Review: Not a Real War – A Sailor’s Experiences in a Soldier’s War
Not a Real War – A Sailor’s Experiences in a Soldier’s War by Paul Longley. Published by Book Pal, Brisbane, 2015. Paperback, 224 pages with b & w photos. Available ...
Commander J. M. Jackson, RN – Sixteen years on the Australia Station
By Leyland Wilkinson On 18 March 1918 the Sydney Morning Herald briefly reported the death in England on 7 March of Commander J .M. Jackson, RN. It stated: He had ...
Women in the Royal Australian Navy
By MIDN M. S. SCHIMMEL, RAN – WINNER OF THE NAVAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRIZE Midshipman Mariella Savanna van der Riet Schimmel hails from Perth where she commenced a science degree ...
Australian Naval History on 4 December 2015
HMAS Adelaide III commissioned ...
Australian Naval History on 7 November 2015
HMAS Sydney IV decommissioneon thisd. ...
Letter: Picket Boats
This letter was received from our ever helpful member Leyland Wilkinson who has recently moved from the Central Coast to Grafton. As always the recent issue (June 2015) of ...
HMAS SydneyII vs HSK Kormoran
By MIDN H. F. Roberts, RAN In joining the RAN MIDN Hannah Roberts follows her grandfather’s footsteps. She grew up on a eucalypt plantation in Maryborough, Queensland and received her education ...
The Role of the Admiralty in the Loss of HMAS Sydney
By Kim Kirsner Kim Kirsner is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame and from 1972-2006 was Professor at the School of Psychology, University of ...