The following address was delivered Commander Walter Burroughs RAN Rtd during the 75th anniversary ceremony conducted by the RAN on Garden Island, Sydney 16 June 2017. I am honoured ...
Occasional Paper 11: THE REMARKABLE SHORT LIFE OF HMAS NESTOR THE SHIP THAT NEVER CAME HOME
Occasional Paper 10: THE LOSS OF HMAS KUTTABUL
The following address was delivered Captain Christopher Skinner RAN Rtd during the 75th anniversary ceremony conducted by HMAS Kuttabul on Garden Island, Sydney 1 June 2017. Good morning to you ...
Occasional Paper 9: THE SINKING OF HMAS ARMIDALE ON 1st DECEMBER 1942
The following address was delivered by Dr Kevin Smith OAM to members of the Naval Historical Society of Australia in Sydney 18 April 2017. In 1798 at the Battle of ...
Occasional Paper 8: THE GUSTAVO STEFANINI STORY
The following story was provided by Commander Stephen Youll, OAM RAN Retd in relation to the matter of the first RAN ship to sink a submarine in World War 2. ...
Occasional Paper 7: HMAS VAMPIRE MEMORIAL ADDRESS 9 APRIL 2017
On 9 April 1942, HMAS VAMPIRE (I) was sunk by Japanese bombers in the vicinity of Batticaloa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) with the loss of eight lives. This action was commemorated ...
Occasional Paper 6: Royal Australian Navy Ships Honour Roll
Given the 75th anniversary commemoration events taking place around Australia and overseas in 2017 to honour ships lost in the RAN’s darkest year, 1942 it is timely to reproduce the ...
Occasional Paper 5: Ken Brown: Service in HMAS Nestor
By Warrant Officer Martin Grogan SBLT Ken Brown, RAN Mr Ken BROWN (aged 95) a retired RAN Lieutenant Commander and World War Two veteran was recently awarded the British ...
Occasional Paper 4: Naval Historical Society of Australia PRESENTATION– 26 SEPTEMBER 2016 HMAS MELBOURNE II
By Tom de Voil Introduction I recently had a brief article about HMAS MELBOURNE, the aircraft carrier, published and consequent on that I was asked to give this talk. It ...
Occasional Paper 3: TOBRUK – THE LIFTING OF THE SEIGE
December 9, 2016 is the 75th anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Tobruk, the port on the north coast of Libya, that proved such a thorn in Rommel’s ...
Occasional Paper 2: Operation DAMASK – HMA Ships BRISBANE and SYDNEY
The following story was contributed by Hugh Hyland. Hugh worked for the variously named Defence departments for over 50 years until retiring in December 2015. He held numerous positions in ...
Occasional Paper 1: Battle of Australia Day Commemoration – Sydney 7 Sep 16
By Commander Rebecca Jeffcoat RAN Distinguished Guests, Ladies andGentlemen First I would like to acknowledge the Gadigal people, the Traditional Custodians of this Land on which we are gathered, and ...
Occasional Paper 193: The First Naval Dockyard of the Royal Australian Navy Cockatoo Island, Shipbuilding, 1870 to 1986
Cockatoo Island is the largest Island in Sydney Harbour and is located at the junction of the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers, about 3.7 km west of the Sydney Harbour ...
Occasional Paper 192: Exploring a Diorama: The RAN Bridging Train at Suvla Bay during the Gallipoli Campaign
By Geoff Barnes The following story by Geoff Barnes who created a diorama of the RAN Bridging Team at Suvla Bay in 1915 was first published as a blog by ...
HMAS Brisbane and her ‘Baby’ – Embarking aircraft at sea
On 6 May 1917 the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) began its long association with naval aviation. In these early days, the seaplane was the aircraft of choice to be ...
RAN Officers and the Palestine Troubles 1936-1939
By Greg Swinden New status quo Following the end of the Great War, and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the area known as Palestine was allocated to Great Britain ...
HMAS SWAN to SHANGHAI
The 1981 trials of the ‘heavenly duck’ by Max Sulman During the 1970s there was a gradual easing of tension between China and the West. There were cautious overtures ...
Old timer HMAS Krait
Three views of the Second World War Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) vessel Krait. The following description is from the Australian War Memorial website: “Operation Jaywick was a raid on shipping ...
Names and Numbers
by Dr. Joe Straczek They’re called hull numbers, others call them pendant numbers, some refer to them as pennant numbers. During the first one hundred years of the Royal Australian ...
US Coast Guard ‘Polar Star’: Veteran sails on
The US Coast Guard icebreaker Polar Star (WAGB 10) has visited Sydney and many other Australian ports numerous times across her 49-year career. She was commissioned in 1976 as a ...
Lower Deck Memories – 1908 to 1911
By L.H. Blakeney Mr. Blakeney wrote these memoirs in 1973 at the age of 83. He had previously served in the Navy for 49 years, beginning as a cadet in ...
Book Review: HMAS Melbourne – 25 years and Beyond, 2nd edition
The first edition of HMAS Melbourne – 25 Years, by naval historian Ross Gillett, told the story of the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (II), from when she was commissioned in ...
LIMBO MYSTERY SOLVED
By Walter Burroughs In late 2020 the Naval Historical Society was approached by colleagues from across the Tasman for help in finding a Mortar Mark 10, required for their naval ...
Losing a funnel – HMAS Protector: From the Archives
In June 1919, the Royal Australian Navy gunboat HMAS Protector almost sank. The incident took place off Cape Everard, (known as Point Hicks since 1970), the small coastal headland in ...
Box-Brownies’ : HMAS Platypus 1940-44
Good clear images of the veteran depot ship HMAS Platypus (I)during the Second World War, are a rare commodity. A few years back the editor received a number of ...
HMS AMBUSCADE GOING HOME
Plans to repatriate the former Royal Navy Type 21 frigate HMS Ambuscade to the United Kingdom from Pakistan are continuing to move forward. The vessel, which was sold to Pakistan ...