IN THE BEGINNING there was COAL!! Lots of it. Dirty, dusty, nostril filling and seemingly unlimited in supply. Coaling Ship was an evolution in which everybody was engaged in the ...
Australian Units
ML 817’s New Guinea Operations
New Meaning put into the word Camouflage WARSHIP CAMOUFLAGE came in some weird and wonderful forms during WW II. But for one of the smaller ships of the RAN it ...
Australian Naval History on 23 September 1985
HMAS Balikpapan was temporarily decommissioned and placed in a state of reserve at Cairns. She remained in reserve until mid-1989, when it was decided that she would be reactivated as ...
Australian Naval History on 19 September 1985
The strength of the RAN’s heavy landing ship squadron was cut by half when HMA Ships TARAKAN, WEWAK, and BALIKPAPAN, were decommissioned ...
Australian Naval History on 18 September 1985
A naval court martial convened at HMAS PENGUIN, Sydney, found the Commanding Officer of HMAS WOLLONGONG, (patrol boat), guilty of negligence in grounding his ship off Gabo Island on 31 ...
Australian Naval History on 6 September 1985
The first official rum issue made in a ship of the RAN in 30 years, was made to the crew of HMAS HOBART, (guided missile destroyer), at Victoria, British Columbia. ...
Australian Naval History on 16 August 1985
HMAS Wewak decommissioned at HMAS Moreton, and the following day departed for Cairns for refit and operational lay-up. ...
Australian Naval History on 16 July 1985
HMAS BENDIGO, became the first patrol boat to circumnavigate Australia. ...
Messages from the Clouds Highlighted a Night of High Drama
FOR COUNTLESS GENERATIONS seamen have navigated by the stars. But it was a ‘Message from the Clouds’ that held the key to the rescue of several hundred servicemen after a ...
Kimbla – Alias ‘The Snail’
HMAS KIMBLA was laid down in 1953 and was launched by Mrs. J.W.N. Bull, wife of Captain John Bull who, at the time, was General Overseer Eastern Area. Kimbla’s launch ...
The War Cruises of I27 – Part 2
Australian Naval History on 13 June 1985
HMAS MELBOURNE, (aircraft carrier), reached China under tow. The Chinese Navy telexed the following message: ‘Pls B advised that HMAS MELBOURNE arrived at Port Huangpu intact n safely afloat, proud ...
Australian Naval History on 31 May 1985
The Fremantle class patrol boat HMAS WOLLONGONG, (LCDR I. Gulliver, RAN), was extensively damaged when she ran aground at Gabo Island during a storm. LCDR Gulliver was court-martialled, and found ...
Australian Naval History on 30 April 1985
CDRE John Matthews, RAN, (Retired), was appointed as the Administrator for Norfolk Island. The ex aircraft carrier, HMAS MELBOURNE, was towed in to Moreton Bay, QLD, when heavy winds and ...
Australian Naval History on 27 April 1985
The former aircraft carrier HMAS MELBOURNE, departed Sydney under tow by the Chinese tug DE PING. She was bound for Canton, (Guangzhou), to be broken up. Despite inclement weather, hundreds ...
Australian Naval History on 24 April 1985
A civilian workman was killed onboard the ex-HMAS MELBOURNE, (aircraft carrier), berthed at Garden Island Dockyard, SYDNEY. He fell from the flight deck into the hangar when the aircraft hoist ...
Australian Naval History on 23 April 1985
The prestigious Royal Geographic Society of Australia’s J. P. Thompson Foundation Gold Medal, was awarded to the survey vessel, HMAS FLINDERS, (LCDR G. J. Bond, RAN), for the survey of, ...
Australian Naval History on 19 April 1985
HMAS BETANO was the first landing craft heavy, (LCH), in the RAN, to be assigned to survey duties. Over the next eight years other LCH’s were used as interim survey ...
The War Cruises of I27 – Part 1
HMAS Platypus in Darwin during blitz 19 February 1942
HMAS PLATYPUS was built in England during WWI as a Submarine Tender to the ’J’ class Submarines and as such she had workshops, oil stowage and storage for torpedoes. Platypus ...
Australian Naval History on 4 March 1985
The Indonesian Navy patrol boat KRI SIADA, ex HMAS BARBETTE, ran aground on North West Reef off Cape York, QLD. She was later re-floated and towed to Thursday Island for ...
Australian Naval History on 3 March 1985
HMA Ships CESSNOCK and IPSWICH, (patrol boats), each apprehended two Indonesian fishing boats poaching in Australian waters off Melville Island. ...
Australian Naval History on 22 February 1985
HMAS BARBETTE, (patrol boat), was transferred to the Indonesian Navy as a gift and renamed KRI SIADI. ...
Australian Naval History on 15 February 1985
HMAS Kimbla paid off. During her long career Kimbla steamed 363,038 nautical miles at an average speed of just seven knots. At the time of her decommissioning Kimbla held the ...
Australian Naval History on 11 February 1985
HMAS ATTACK, name-ship of the RAN’s Attack class patrol boats, sailed from Sydney streaming a 38.7 metre paying off pennant. The patrol boat was transferred to the Indonesian Navy as ...