Fleet Review held In Sydney during visit of King Charles II. Ships involved included HMAS Hobart III (guided missile destroyer), HMAS Warramunga II (helicopter frigate), HMAS Arunta II (helicopter frigate), ...
Australian Units
Book Review: Admiral VAT Smith: The extraordinary life of the father of Australia’s Fleet Air Arm
Hardback by Graeme Lunn, fully illustrated with colour plates, published by Avonmore Books, 2024. RRP $49.95. While few of Australia’s naval leaders have attracted full biographies, Admiral Sir Victor Alfred ...
On the Australia Station
A tribute to the memories of Signalman Frederick Randall RN and Able Seaman John Reardon RN and RAN, who as young men contributed to the establishment of the Australia Station. ...
Two Naval Dogs of the 1930s
By Robert Curran Everyone loves a dog, particularly sailors. In the Australian War Memorial’s collection there are many photos of ships’ mascots of the canine variety to testify to this. ...
Australian Naval History on 29 August 2024
HMAS Broome II was decommissioned at Darwin ...
Australian Naval History on 8 August 2024
HMAS Melville decommissioned at Cairns ...
Australian Naval History on 1 August 2024
The Evolved Cape class patrol boat ADV Cape Solander was officially accepted by the RAN ...
Book Review: Salt Horse
Salt Horse – Memoir of a Maverick Admiral, Claude Lionel Cumberlege. Published by Whittles Publishing Ltd, Dunbeath, Caithness KW6 6EG, Scotland. Admiral Claude Cumberlege RN wrote his memoirs in 1936-38, ...
The Naval Graves Project
By Kingsley Perry In the December 2023 edition of this journal there was an article titled Rookwood. It described the location and extent of this large cemetery in Sydney and ...
100 Years ago: HMAS Australia and Gerald Muddyman
Observing that 15 April marks the centenary of the intentional sinking of the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, the following article taken from the Newington Magazine website, carefully curated by Robert Curran, ...
First NAAFI Store on board RFA Ship opens
This small article from the UK Forces Network is of some interest to us as there were originally four Bay-class RFA landing ship docks. One of these was RFA Largs ...
HMAS Maryborough escapes from Java
An email was received recently from Ian Gotts of St Albans in England about the wartime exploits of his cousin Able Seaman James Gotts who was rescued from HMS Electra, ...
The Blackwoods of Huon Park
By Walter Burroughs In the northern Sydney suburb of Turramurra lies St James’ Church and adjacent is a War Memorial Hall with its honour board containing the names of those ...
Patrol Boat Autonomy Trial
Many stories are received of autonomous craft but these are mostly small prototypes, possibly of limited capability in an offshore environment. The trials now being conducted by Austal Australia using ...
Australian Naval History on 30 May 2024
HMAS Huon II decommissioned at HMAS Waterhen ...
Australian Naval History on 18 May 2024
HMAS Anzac III decommissioned at Fleet Base West ...
Occasional Paper 183: The RAN Bridging Train – Dry Land Sailors
The Bridging Train which existed as a small but highly effective unit of the RAN operated essentially on dry land as field engineers between 1915 and 1917. They served with ...
Book Review: Abide With Me – The HMAS Voyager Tragedy
Abide With Me – The HMAS Voyager Tragedy by Elizabeth McCarthy This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of the collision between HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager off the New South ...
The Last National Serviceman – Part 3
Part II of this series appeared in the December 2023 edition of this magazine. By Robert Stephenson In 1952, after the acquisition of HMAS Sydney III, the Royal Navy lent ...
Occasional Paper 180: HMAS Yarra (III): IKARA related Configuration Changes Through Life
Commissioned on 27 July 1961 HMAS Yarra underwent significant configuration enhancements during its 24 years of distinguished service in the Royal Australian Navy. Its major refits involved the installation of ...
Occasional Paper 179: A Boiler Without a Ship
By John Jeremy Warship design in the first two decades of the 20th Century advanced rapidly, with the early introduction of new technology (e.g. the steam turbine for propulsion) and ...
Kingfishers over the Shoalhaven
There is a fascinating small book by Barry Pattison titled Kingfishers in the Antipodes which was published in 1998 and later serialised in News & Views, the magazine of the ...
The Last Naval National Serviceman – Part II
By Robert Stephenson Part I of this series appeared in the September 2023 edition of this magazine. Since that issue the following information has come to light. With the outbreak ...
HMAS Forceful
The coal burning steam tug Forceful was built by Alexander Stephen & Sons of Govan in Scotland in 1925 for the Australian based shipping company MacDonald, Hamilton & Company (later ...
Occasional Paper 174: The Queensland Fraser Coast and Royal Australian Navy Historical Ties
The Queensland Fraser Coast and Royal Australian Navy Historical Ties The Queensland Fraser Coast has a rich maritime history and a long and entwined history, first with the Queensland Maritime ...