HMS BRAMBLE was loaned to the NSW Government as a diving bell tender at Cockatoo Island. In 1873 the vessel was reported as a light ship. It was finally sold ...
Australian Naval History on 31 May 1853
Australian Naval History on 9 October 1852
A special Admiralty committee examined the problems of manning the RN. Recommendations made by the committee led to wide-sweeping changes in 1853, which included the abolition of the press gang, ...
Australian Naval History on 20 July 1852
VADM Sir W. R. Creswell, KCMG, KBE, ‘Father of the RAN’, was born at Gibraltar where his father was the postmaster. ...
Australian Naval History on 22 August 1848
An historic tug-of-war between HMS BASILISK, (paddlewheel sloop), and HMS NIGER, (screw sloop), was conducted to prove the relevant efficiency of the two systems of propulsion. NIGER won the contest. ...
Australian Naval History on 17 May 1843
The first war vessel built in Australia, the schooner ELIZA, (119 tons schooner), patrolled the estuary of the Derwent River, TAS, to put down smuggling, and prevent the escape of ...
Australian Naval History on 11 January 1843
LEUT Charles B. Yule, RN, of HMS BRAMBLE, discovered and named Heron Island. ...
Australian Naval History on 12 October 1836
The schooner HMCS ISABELLA, (LEUT Charles Morgan Lewis, RN), arrived in Port Jackson, NSW, with one survivor and 45 skulls from the barque SIR CHARLES EATON, wrecked on Aureed Island, ...
Australian Naval History on 11 September 1836
CAPT Thomas Lipson, RN, was appointed Naval Officer, Port Adelaide, SA. ...
Australian Naval History on 1 August 1831
The NSW Government Gazette announced that officers of the Royal Navy and Marines, retiring from the service or going on half-pay, (in Australia), would be entitled to the following remissions ...
Australian Naval History on 30 June 1831
HMS COMET, (sloop, 18 guns), was stationed at Port Jackson, Sydney. The vessel was used for punitive expeditions in the Pacific Islands. ...
Australian Naval History on 6 March 1827
CAPT James Stirling, RN, in HMS SUCCESS, named Garden Island, at the mouth of the Swan River, WA, where Fremantle now stands. Garden Island became HMAS STIRLING, (Fleet Base West), ...
Australian Naval History on 4 December 1824
HMC Ship AMITY, (brig), returned to Sydney after conveying the Governor of NSW, Sir Thomas Brisbane and his staff, to the Brisbane River, for the founding of the settlement which ...
Australian Naval History on 11 January 1824
The following monthly rates of pay for naval officers were fixed by the Admiralty:- £61 7s 4d (1st rate ship); £23 0s 4d (sloop); First Lieutenant £11 10s 0d (1st ...
Australian Naval History on 23 October 1823
HMC cutter MERMAID sailed with explorer John Oxley to survey the coast between Fingal Head and Gladstone. ...
Australian Naval History on 9 September 1820
HMCS SPITFIRE, transported the expedition of LEUT J. W. Smith, RN, and G. E. Dalrymple, to explore northern Queensland. Spitfire Rock was named to honour the schooner ...
Australian Naval History on 16 October 1818
HMC brig LADY NELSON returned to Port Jackson, Sydney, after an unsuccessful search for survivors from the schooner WILLIAM COSSAR, in the Port Stephens, NSW area. A wreck, identified as ...
Australian Naval History on 23 October 1817
The monthly rate of pay for an able seaman in HMC vessels was £11 3s 6d. Soap and slops were charged against them. ...
Australian Naval History on 19 October 1817
The RN adopted the 9,000 item flag signalling system compiled by CAPT Frederick Marryat, RN. The system was adapted from the French Navy manual. It was first demonstrated in Australia ...
Australian Naval History on 12 January 1817
HMCS LADY NELSON, (brig), sailed from Sydney to search for survivors from the brig TRIAL in the Port Stephens area. Natives interrogated by the ship’s crew said the convicts who ...
Australian Naval History on 20 June 1814
HMS NELSON, later HMVS NELSON, was launched on the River Thames, London. ...
Australian Naval History on 10 February 1814
Captain John Piper resigned his army commission to assume the duties of Naval Officer, Port Jackson. ...
Australian Naval History on 25 December 1811
Governor Lachlan Macquarie and Mrs. Macquarie celebrated Christmas in on passage from Hobart to Newcastle. ‘My poor Elizabeth has suffered a great deal from the seasickness’, recorded the Governor. ...
Australian Naval History on 7 September 1811
The Sydney Gazette published a proclamation by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, declaring Garden Island, Sydney, a public domain. ...
Australian Naval History on 8 March 1808
The 5th-rate, HMS SAN FIORENZO, (CAPT G. N. Hardinge, RN), captured the French ship PIETMONTAISE, (40 guns), in a battle which lasted three days. CAPT Hardinge was killed in the ...
Australian Naval History on 15 December 1803
HMC Schooner CUMBERLAND, (CMDR Matthew Flinders, RN), was seized by the Captain General of Mauritius, Charles Mathieu Decaen. Flinders was held prisoner for five and a half years. He was ...