Roger Buxton, an active member of the Society’s Victorian Chapter obtained the original, report of the 1945 recovery of a German Seehunde class midget submarine by Lieutenant V J Steele ...
Royal Navy
Occasional Paper 153: County Class ships of the Royal Navy: A photographic review
By Conrad Waters The following feature was first published in the Ships Monthly magazine and subsequently by the Heritage Machines website on 19th October 2022. The Royal Navy’s series of ...
Occasional Paper 133: Operation C – The Indian Ocean showdown between British and Japanese naval might, 4 – 9 April 1942.
By Angus Britts Wednesday 8 April 1942 was a day of ignominy for the greatest naval power the modern world had thus far known. Since 30 March the Royal Navy’s ...
HMS Victorious had a proud record of service in World War 2. John Williams served aboard her and this presentation gives his personal recollections of this carrier in action
HMS Victorious was the third Illustrious-class aircraft carrier after Illustrious and Formidable. Her commissioning was delayed until 1941 due to the greater need for escort vessels for service in the Battle of the Atlantic but she soon saw plenty ...
Pearls of Controversy: Broome’s British White Divers 1912-1913
By Kate Reid-Smith In February 1912, a group of ex-Royal Navy (RN) men arrived in the northern West Australian town of Broome. They had left Britain on 23 December 1911 ...
Occasional Paper 105: Naval History – Does it Matter?
What is the point of naval history? Is it to provide a rich framework through which contemporary Naval debates can be viewed or is there something more there? Must it always say something about the World we live in today while also addressing the one we hope to inhabit in the future? ...
Heart of Oak and Jolly Tars: a short reflection
By John McGrath The refrain of Heart of Oak (yes, it is Heart not Hearts) are our ships, begins: ‘Heart of oak are our ships, jolly tars are our men’. ...
The Dominion Yachtsmen Scheme: Australian Volunteers in the Royal Navy 1940-45 – Part 1
By Janet Roberts Billett Following the outbreak of war with Germany on 9 September 1939, the losses for the Royal Navy in ships and men through repeated U-boat and air ...
The Special Service Squadron – An episode in the peacetime history of theRoyal Navy 1923-1924
Rohan Goyne The ‘World Cruise’ of a special service squadron of the Royal Navy was an inter-war episode of flag waving across the world’s oceans from arguably a declining world ...
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 ...
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 ...
Petty Officer Fredrick Harold Harvey and Colombian Naval Service
As told by his son CMDR Vic Harvey, RAN, Rtd Fredrick Harold Harvey was a proud Geordie lad, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s suburb of Benwell, on 13 August 1899. Benwell in ...
Petty Officer Fredrick Harold Harvey and Colombian Naval Service
As told by his son CMDR Vic Harvey, RAN, Rtd Fredrick Harold Harvey was a proud Geordie lad, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s suburb of Benwell, on 13 August 1899. Benwell in ...
Shades of Grey
As Father Time catches up with us all strands of hair turn to lighter shades, perhaps not unlike warship livery which is again changing to a different shade of grey. ...
Admiral Sir Percy Scott – Naval Prophet
By Walter Burroughs A recent edition of the Naval Historical Review (Vol 36 No 2 June 2015) contained an article, Winston Churchill and the Navy, addressing Churchill’s relationship with the navy generally ...
The Role of the Admiralty in the Loss of HMAS Sydney
By Kim Kirsner Kim Kirsner is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame and from 1972-2006 was Professor at the School of Psychology, University of ...
Winston Churchill and the Navy
As fifty years have now elapsed since his passing this article may serve as a small tribute to the memory of this great wartime leader. A meteoritic rise upon the ...
Some Mishaps to the Grand Fleet
By John Smith Midnight on the night of 4/5 August 1914 was a momentous event in world history for, at that moment, Great Britain declared war on Germany and thus ...
Submarine Duty 1918
The British Navy Between the Wars
(A lecture delivered to the naval history course of the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy) FAILURE The popular picture of British strategy and the ...
Book Review: A Hard Fought Ship
A Hard Fought Ship, The Story of HMS Venomous. By Robert J Moore and John A Rodgaard. ISBN 978-0-9559382-0-7. Published by Holywell House Publishing, Portsmouth, UK. RRP is UK£18.99. It can ...
Admirable Ancestors
Book Review: The Voyage of HMS Herald 1861
The Voyage of HMS Herald 1861. By LCDR Andrew David RN. Miegunyah Press, (The Miegunyah Press is an imprint of Melbourne University Press). This is the authoritative account of one ...
Book Review: The Biography of Captain Sir Richard Spencer RN
Title: The Biography of Captain Sir Richard Spencer RN, Government Resident at Albany, Western Australia 1833 – 1839 (Napoleonic War naval hero and Australian pioneer) Author: Gwen Chessell, 2005, Publisher: ...
Book Review: The Royal Navy in Australia 1900-2000
Title: The Royal Navy in Australia 1900-2000 Author: Ross Gillett and Vic Geoffrey Publisher: Maritime Books, Lodge Hill, Liskeard in Cornwall PL 14 4EL, United Kingdom. This is a remarkable pictorial history ...