Plan for operations against enemy submarines and shipping in the Aegean. On 18 July 1940, four destroyers departed Alexandria for an anti-submarine hunt towards the Kaso Strait and then along ...
Action of Cape Spada – 19 July 1940
Bombardment of Bardia, 21 June 1940.
Operation MD 3 Bombardment of Bardia, 21 June 1940. An Allied force sailed on 20 June 1940 to carry out operation MD 3, the object was to destroy military objectives ...
Rear Admiral Herbert James Buchanan
Herbert James Buchanan was born in North Fitzroy in Melbourne on 10 March 1902 and briefly attended Scotch College before joining the Royal Australian Naval College as a thirteen year old ...
News reel of the surrender ceremony on board the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.
Produced by United News, it features the speech made by General Douglas McArthur. The background music is “With Honour Crowned”. ...
Occasional Paper 117: A History of Australian Navy Health Sailor Uniforms and Ranks (Part 2)
By Commander Neil Westphalen, Royal Australian Navy This paper was first published in the Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health, Volume 26 Number 3 in July 2018. Commander Westphalen is ...
Occasional Paper 118: In his own words: AE2’s skipper, H.G. Stoker
By Bob Hetherington Originally Published in the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) Volunteers’ Quarterly newsletter ‘All Hands’, Issue 114 in March 2021. Many readers will know something of the AE2 ...
Reunion for Rescue of Vietnamese Refugees (MG99) by HMAS Melbourne, 21 June 1981
On Sunday 21 June 1981 HMA Ships Melbourne and Torrens were participating in Exercise Starfish 81 in the South China Sea when they rescued 99 Vietnamese refugees, now known as ...
The HMAS Australia II Story by Kez Hasanic
Online presentation about HMAS Australia II by Kez Hasanic. The HMAS Australia II Story ...
Occasional Paper 115: A History of Australian Navy Health Sailor Uniforms and Ranks (Part 1)
By Commander Neil Westphalen, Royal Australian Navy This paper was first published in the Journal of Military and Veterans’ Health, Volume 27 Number 2 in April 2019. Commander Westphalen is ...
Occasional Paper 114: Rescue of Vietnamese Refugees (MG99) by HMAS Melbourne, 21 June 1981
On Sunday 21 June 1981 HMA Ships Melbourne and Torrens were participating in Exercise Starfish 81 in the South China Sea when they rescued 99 Vietnamese refugees, now known as ...
Occasional Paper 116: Navy Veterans Salute the ‘Forgotten War’
On Thursday 24th June 2021 the N.A.A. (Naval Association of Australia Queensland) highlighted the service of members of the Royal Australia Navy in the Korean War. At 4am on June ...
Book Review: Right Man, Right Place, Worst Time
Right Man, Right Place, Worst Time. By Betty Lee, Boolarong Press, Tingalpa, Queensland, 2019. Paperback, 318 pages, with sketch maps and photographs. Available from booksellers and publisher rrp $32.00. Along ...
A Warship named Bradman
By John Smith One would have thought that the Australian Fleet would have been proud to have a warship named BRADMAN to honour our most famous cricketer, Sir Donald Bradman. ...
HMAS Quickmatch to the Rescue
Also published as Occasional Paper 156, March 2023 By Max Hayles and R.C.H. Mason The first part of this story by Max Hayles appeared in the June 2007 edition of ...
Leonard Roy McLeod – Soldier and Sailor
A recent photograph of some veterans at the 75th anniversary celebrations of the great Battles of Leyte Gulf showed Rear Admiral Guy Griffiths and ex-Able Seaman David Mattiske who both ...
The Grounding of HMAS Adelaide (II) FFG01
By Phillip Hart with contribution from Greg Mapson This article is a personal recollection of the grounding of HMAS Adelaide that occurred nearly forty years ago. SBLT Phillip Hart was ...
Quarantine and the Coronavirus Pandemic of 2020
The spread of Coronavirus and its worldwide impacts have brought home the need for quarantine as a means of segregating those with suspected infection from the general population. This paper ...
Derek Holyoake and the torpedoing of HMAS Hobart in 1943
Derek Holyoake enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy on July 8, 1940 at the age of 16 and was serving onboard HMAS Hobart when she was torpedoed on July 20, ...
Letter: The World’s Deepest Shipwreck
One of our most senior members, David Mattiske, who served in HMAS Shropshire in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and who maintains a keen interest in news from this famous ...
Letter: Commander Frederick Campbell Darley RN: More News
An article by Greg Swinden appeared in the June 2017 edition of this magazine outlining the story of Commander Frederick Darley RN who played a significant part in the establishment ...
Book Review: Aus-Ships 2021: Fifth Edition
Aus-Ships 2021: Fifth Edition by Robert Fildes and Rex Cox. The previous edition was offered as a CD and now this revised and improved edition comes as a USB. This ...
Book Review: Mutineers – A True Story of Heroes and Villains
Mutineers – A True Story of Heroes and Villains. Paperback of 320 pages by Robert Hadler, published by Wilkinson Publishing Pty Limited, Victoria 3000. Available from booksellers, rrp $28.75. The ...
Book Review: Teddy Sheean VC – A Selfless Act of Valour
Teddy Sheean VC – A Selfless Act of Valour. Paperback of 379 pages by Tom Lewis. Big Sky Publishing, Newport NSW, 2021. Also available as an eBook. The author played ...
The Remarkable Cavaye family
A colleague from the United Kingdom conducting research into wartime submarine losses recently contacted the Society seeking information on the Australia- born captain of HMS Tempest which was lost in ...
Port Clearance Parties – the Australian Connection
By Hector Donohue Port Clearance Parties, or P Parties, were established in the Royal Navy (RN) in late 1943 and were trained to clear the ports and harbours of Northern ...