On a steep, scrubby hillside at Flying Fish Cove, on Christmas Island, washed by the waves of the Indian Ocean, is the neglected grave of an unknown sailor who, some ...
Australian Units
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. ...
Australian Naval History on 30 November 1989
With the ending of the 3 month airline pilots strike, RAN HS 748 aircraft from HMAS ALBATROSS, (air base Nowra, NSW), and their pilots, were returned to normal duties. The ...
Australian Naval History on 30 October 1989
Westland Wessex Mk.31A N7-218, 828 ditched 180 Nautical miles NW of Surabaja from HMAS Stalwart in South China Sea. LEUT(P) Lister, RAN and crew recovered by HMAS Stalwart. The wreck ...
Australian Naval History on 9 October 1989
The auxiliary oiler replenishment HMAS WESTRALIA was commissioned. WESTRALIA was the former HMS APPLELEAF, (royal fleet auxiliary), which had been commissioned into the RN in 1979. ...
Australian Naval History on 23 September 1989
HMAS SUCCESS, (auxiliary oiler replenishment), and HMAS SYDNEY, (guided missile frigate), recovered 14 bodies from the sea, near the island of Palawan, while conducting a transit of the South China ...
History of Service – HMAS Shropshire
This was a pictorial article published in September 1983. The format of the original article doesn’t lend itself to the conventional format, so a PDF-format copy of the article is ...
History of Service – HMAS Canberra
This was a pictorial article published in September 1983. The format of the original article doesn’t lend itself to the conventional format, so a PDF-format copy of the article is ...
History of Service – HMAS Australia
This was a pictorial article published in September 1989. The format of the original article doesn’t lend itself to the conventional format, so a PDF-format copy of the article is ...
Letters – Great Sea Battles
The list of Great Sea Battles of History published in the December, 1988 issue of the “Review” has omitted what must surely figure as one of England’s most memorable naval engagements. ...
Tokyo Bay – 1945
With the surrender signed and whilst waiting for the first run ashore, a half dozen or so sailors from the Australian cruiser Shropshire (including myself) were granted permission to take out ...
Chivalry and Courtesy in war and when most unexpected!
In the sea action on 9 November, 1914 off Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean, between the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German cruiser SMS Emden, a kindly gesture ...
HMAS Sydney-SMS Emden Action at Cocos Islands 1914 – A German Survivor’s Account
The First Battle of Savo Island 8/9 August 1942 – A Correction to the History
Australian Naval History on 27 July 1989
A Wessex helicopter crashed on the flight deck of HMAS SUCCESS, (CAPT G. V. Sloper, RAN), while the tanker was on passage to Darwin. No personnel were injured, but the ...
The Battle of the Coral Sea Remembrance service – May 1989
The old “Aussie” hands gave three cheers to honour Mrs Francomb and her late husband Rear Admiral H.B. Farncomb, C.B., D.S.O., U.S. Navy Cross. ...
Australian Naval History on 23 June 1989
CDRE M. Taylor, RAN, Commanding Officer of Naval Air Station, HMAS ALBATROSS, Nowra, NSW, and LEUT K. Champion, flew the RAN’s last UH 1B Iroquois helicopter flight. ...
HMAS Canberra and HMAS Shropshire Honoured
On the 4th April, 1989,a delightful ceremony took place in the precincts of the Naval Museum on Garden Island, Sydney, in the presentation of much treasured naval memorabilia. Firstly, a beautiful coloured ...
Australian Naval History on 5 June 1989
The Prime Minister, Mr. R. G. Hawke, cancelled the goodwill visit of HMAS PARRAMATTA to Shanghai, as a protest against the Tiananmin Square massacre. ...