HMAS WESTRALIA, (oil replenishment ship), conducted her first dual replenishment at sea, with HMA Ships TOBRUK, (landing ship heavy), and SYDNEY, (guided missile destroyer). ...
Australian Units
Book Review: Silencing debate on Shropshire
Mr Stan Nicholls wants to silence debate on what did and did not happen to HMAS Shropshire during World War II. So he has written a 330-page hard-cover book on ...
Letters – HMAS SYDNEY-KORMORAN
Bryan Clark’s article titled ‘Australia’s Forgotten Son’ (Naval Historical Review, December, 1989) was excellent reading. Brian and I have had a good number of dealings relating to the loss of ...
HMAS Mermaid commissioned 4 Dec 1989
MERMAID, commissioned on December 4 , 1989 – Lieut. Cdr. Spencer,R AN – is the second ship in Her Majesty’s Service to bear the name and to work in Australian waters. The first ...
Seal and Porpoise – Minesweepers sold at auction
Finding a new home for two Royal Australian Navy minesweepers caused a few waves at a Sydney auction recently. More than 320 tonnes of steel and maple went under the ...
Dry Land Sailors – The Navy at Gallipoli
Australian Naval History on 20 March 1990
The fourth and last survey motor launch built for the RAN, HMAS BENALLA, was commissioned at Adelaide. Her sister- ships are HMAS PALUMA, MERMAID, and SHEPPARTON. ...
I’ve Been To Bali Too
HMAS Australia – Battle of Leyte Gulf
Westralia – Appleleaf
Australian Naval History on 9 March 1990
The first RAN Seahawk helicopter landing on a guided missile frigate was made on HMAS ADELAIDE, in Sydney Harbour. HMAS STALWART, (destroyer tender), was decommissioned after 22 years service. She ...
Cedric Ashton
Australian Naval History on 14 February 1990
The Minister for Defence, Mr. Kim Beazley, announced at the keel laying ceremony for HMAS COLLINS that five more Type 471 submarines were to be built for the RAN. They ...
Australian Naval History on 9 February 1990
The Navy tug MOLLYMAWK capsized after colliding with HMAS TOBRUK in the Fleet Base at Sydney. ...
Australian Naval History on 24 January 1990
The survey motor launch, HMAS SHEPPARTON, was commissioned at Port Adelaide SA. The Commissioning Officer was LCDR Allan Dennison. ...
Australian Naval History on 15 January 1990
HMAS JERVIS BAY, (training ship), was placed on alert to evacuate Australian nationals from Bougainville in the wake of unrest between the local population and the PNG Government. ...
Australian Naval History on 31 December 1989
After 27 years of service the RAN’s Wessex were decommissioned ...
The Mystery of Australia’s Forgotten Son – Was He Lost from HMAS Sydney in 1941?
HMAS Perth – A Brief History 1936-1942
HMAS Amphion, a 6″ modified ‘Leander’ Class Cruiser, was commissioned into the Royal Navy in June 1936, under Captain R. L. Burnett, OBE, RN. Of 6,980 tons, 72,000 hp, giving ...
HMAS Diamantina During EXPO 88
Vice Admiral Sir John Collins, KBE, CB
Vice-Admiral Sir John Collins, who has died in Sydney aged 90, was Australia’s most celebrated sailor of the 1939-45 War. His destruction of the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni at the ...
Book Review: Seagulls, Cruisers, and Catapults
By Ray Jones, 134 pages, Illustrated, Pelorus Publications, Tasmania – 1989 This fascinating book is not only a history of the amphibian aircraft used by the Royal Australian Navy but a ...
Letters – HMAS Swan
The September 1987 issue of the Review contains an article by the late Rear-Admiral J.S. Mesley giving a run-down on the activities of the sloop HMAS Swan during the period following ...
Letters – Operational Snakecraft
On reading the recent publication “Fair Winds to Australia”, author Mr Lew Lind, and subsequent article regarding Services Reconnaissance Department in Naval Historical Review (December 1988), I feel obliged to inform Mr ...
Australian Naval History on 4 December 1989
The survey motor launch HMAS MERMAID, was commissioned. ...