By Peter R. Smith This paper was prepared by the Submarine Institute of Australia to help mark the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the formation of a submarine base ...
Australian Units
Occasional Paper 14: LCDR Mackenzie Jesse Gregory
September 2017 LCDR Mackenzie Jesse Gregory RAN Ret, (9/02/1922- 27/08/2014) was to my mind a fine example of the qualities a Naval Officer needed to have. He could communicate well, ...
Occasional Paper 12: Personal Experiences: Aftermath Of Japanese Submarine Attack: Sydney Harbour
August 2017 The following are accounts of individual contributions made by two remarkable people in the aftermath of the Japanese midget submarine attack in Sydney Harbour on 31 May 1942. ...
Occasional Paper 10: The Loss of HMAS Kuttabul
The following address was delivered Captain Christopher Skinner RAN Rtd during the 75th anniversary ceremony conducted by HMAS Kuttabul on Garden Island, Sydney 1 June 2017. Good morning to you ...
Occasional Paper 9: The Sinking of HMAS Armidale on 1 December 1942
July 2017 The following address was delivered by Dr Kevin Smith OAM to members of the Naval Historical Society of Australia in Sydney 18 April 2017. In 1798 at the ...
Occasional Paper 11: The Remarkable Short Life of HMAS Nestor, The Ship That Never Came Home
July 2017 The following address was delivered Commander Walter Burroughs RAN Rtd during the 75th anniversary ceremony conducted by the RAN on Garden Island, Sydney 16 June 2017. I am ...
Book Review: HMAS Sydney II in Peace and War
By Wes Olson, Privately Published at Hilton, WA in 2016, 610 Pages with maps and photographs. Available direct from the author at email: wes.dale@westnet.com.au. Price $60.00 plus postage. Aside from ...
Book Review: HMAS Canberra – Casualty of Circumstance
By Kathryn Spurling, Publishers New Holland, Sydney, 2016. Paperback, 255 pp with b & w illustrations, maps and portraits. Available most bookshops from $33.00 with discounts available. The author served ...
HMAS Leeuwin
Recent planning for the redevelopment of the ex HMAS Leeuwinsite has aroused considerable interest amongst the naval community and we are pleased to have some further thoughts from Roy Stall, ...
Antarctica – the forgotten continent
This article has been compiled from research conducted by Hugh Farmer, one of our new members providing invaluable volunteer assistance at the Boathouse. Antarctica occupies about 14,000,000 km2of mainly mysterious ...
The ‘Battle’ of May Island
By Laurie Watson In the many memorial services to commemorate the centenary of World War I events, that commemorating the Battle of May Island is very likely to pass under ...
The Gospel of St John and LCDR Donald Mckenzie RAN
Recently one of our members and cherished chaplains, the Reverend Dr Gareth Clayton, presented the Society with a copy of the Gospel of St John which had been given into ...
HMAS Patricia Cam
Graeme Andrews, one of our long serving members with a sharp wit and fine pen, wrote an excellent article Cam’s Trawlers first published in the May 2006 edition of Afloat magazine. After ...
Commander Frederick Campbell Darley 1886 – 1926
Frederick Campbell Darley was born at Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, NSW on 12 February 1886, the eldest child of Cecil West Darley (Public Works Engineer) and Constance Leila Annette Darley (nee ...
Australian Naval History on 6 June 2017
The ADV Cape Inscription was commissioned at Fleet Base West. The two Cape-class patrol boats for the navy were built by Austal under a AU$63 million project and leased for ...
Occasional Paper 8: The Gustavo Stefanini Story
June 2017 The following story was provided by Commander Stephen Youll, OAM RAN Retd in relation to the matter of the first RAN ship to sink a submarine in World ...
Australian Naval History on 29 May 2017
After almost two years of operations with the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Defence Vessel Cape Byron was returned to the original owner, Australian Border Force. Since July 2015, Cape Byron ...
Australian Naval History on 1 May 2017
The ADV Cape Fourcroy was commissioned at Fleet Base West. The two Cape-class patrol boats for the navy were built by Austal under a AU$63 million project and leased for ...
Occasional Paper 7: HMAS Vampire Memorial Address (9 April 2017)
May 2017 On 9 April 1942, HMAS Vampire (I) was sunk by Japanese bombers in the vicinity of Batticaloa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) with the loss of eight lives. This action was ...
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 ...
HMAS Nepal and Operation ES – June and July 1942
The Society received the following letter which explains this unusual circumstance. A recent application to the Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal has cast light on a hitherto unknown operation undertaken ...
HMAS Norman – far from Home
By Peter Nunan Background The N-class destroyers operated in many parts of the globe but HMAS Norman was the only one of her ilk to have made an operational voyage to ...
The Albert Medal
By John Ellis Queen Victoria instituted the Albert Medal in 1866 to recognise those civilians who had attempted to prevent the loss of life at sea. A year later the ...
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 ...
Fifty Years under the Australian White Ensign
With the Australian White Ensign approaching its fiftieth anniversary on 1 March 2017 it is appropriate to reflect on the history of the revered ensign in its various forms with ...