Glenn Jones, the Executive Officer of the Seaworks Maritime Precinct, has kindly put together this invitation to our members who may care to visit or revisit Williamstown with its many ...
Exploring the Charms of the Historic Seaport of Williamstown, Victoria
Getting in and out of the Naval College
The June 2023 edition of this magazine contained an article Tristan da Cunha and a Tribute to John Smith, providing a shortened version of the remarkable life story of Commander ...
A War Artist’s Nude Painting
By Beryllouise Mitchell In 1999, after the 30 August ballot in East Timor (later Timor-Leste) that was to determine the territory’s future went drastically wrong, the United Nations sanctioned an ...
Historic Cannons Guarding Hamilton; Rare Finds at Gregson Park
Those with $2.50 concession cards may recall making the most of their travel limits by having a comfortable day’s train outing from Sydney to Newcastle. Alas, Newcastle’s Central Railway Station ...
Australian Fleet Reviews 1788 to 1914
By Ross Gillett As an island nation, fleet arrivals and naval reviews have formed a major part of Australia’s naval history and tradition. Sydney Harbour and Port Phillip have provided ...
Queensland Mining meets First Sea Lord and Strikes Oil
Prepared from inspiration provided by our Queensland member and mining engineer Colin Randall. William Knox D’Arcy and John Arbuthnot Fisher both came from families with prominent distant relatives but they ...
The Last National Servicemen – Part I
By Robert Graham Stephenson – Official No 7662 (NS) This article has been taken from an original paper written by Robert Stephenson and published by the National Servicemen’s Association of ...
Former HMNZS Rotoiti and Pukaki off to Ireland by Heavy Lift Ship
The following article has been sourced from various local and overseas news outlets. The post-war Royal New Zealand Navy was based around two Dido-class light cruisers, HMNZ Ships Black Prince ...
A Bar of Soap
By Walter Burroughs That fine old Aussie expression ‘I don’t know you from a bar of soap’ has now fallen out of favour as we move from the utilitarian bar ...
Inside ‘Nuke School’, the elite US Training Ground preparing Australian Submariners for an AUKUS Future
The following article has been taken from an ABC News summary of 8 July 2023. In America’s deep south, a group of students has just completed one of the most ...
USS Canberra commissions in Sydney
An historically significant ceremony occurred at Sydney’s Fleet Base East on Saturday 22 July 2023 when the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Canberra commissioned into the United States Navy. This ...
Occasional Paper 169: HMAS Vendetta and Commander Eric Eugene Johnston RAN; Vietnam Deployment 1969 – 1970
By Bjarne (Barney) Kristensen The 18 August 2023 marked fifty years since the cessation of hostilities in Vietnam (The Vietnam War) with commemorations conducted throughout Australia. In this paper I ...
Occasional Paper 168: The Royal Australian Navy in the Pacific War: 1943
Eighty years ago, in 1943 the tide of the war in the Pacific was at last turning for the better. After four long years of war and significant RAN ship ...
Occasional Paper 167: Littoral Combat Ship Program Overview
The recent visit by USS Canberra to Australia for commissioning was an historic event which captured the attention of Australians, Americans and many others worldwide. However, many people are impressed ...
Occasional Paper 165: A short history of Building 10
by John Jeremy The designation ‘Building 10’ will be meaningless to most people, yet thousands will have seen this Building 10. It stands on the upper level of Cockatoo Island ...
Occasional Paper 166: A history of HMAS Waterhen
by CMDR Rick Westoby, OAM, RAN Past History of the Site The site of HMAS Waterhen, on the shoreline of Balls Head Bay, sits within the traditional land of ...
Letter: The Big Guns of Tarawa
I’m reading the latest NHR after having read the latest CTH and Buzz, and the Occasional Papers/articles, and they’re all excellent – of a high standard and an enjoyable read, ...
The Rapid Wartime Growth in Royal Australian Navy Shore Establishments
On Monday, 17 September 1945, the Cairns Post newspaper featured a lengthy coverage of the RAN’s shore establishments. This illuminating summary is reproduced below. How many of us can now ...
New Entry Officers’ Course Essays
In 1985 the Naval Historical Society (NHS) first donated an essay prize to the college. The prize consisted of a one-year subscription to the Society and a six-volume bound collection ...
Irregular Warfare in the Royal Australian Navy
By MIDN C.A.F. Cumberlidge RAN MIDN Christopher Cumberlidge hails from the Sunshine Coast and already has a nursing degree. However, he is changing stream as he has a keen interest ...
Education News
The following article is taken from The Australian Naval Architect Vol 27 No 1, February 2023 and is reproduced by kind permission of that organisation. The first student in naval ...
Our First Patrol Boats – Part 2
By Walter Burroughs The December 2022 edition of this magazine contained an article Our First Patrol Boats concerning a class of five topsail schooners built in Sydney in the 1870s, ...
Women Leaders in the Royal New Zealand Navy
The following article stems from a press release issued by the New Zealand Department of Defence on 8 March 2023. The attached photo and explanation have been kindly supplied by ...
Tristan da Cunha and a Tribute to John Smith
The Naval Historical Society is an association of individuals bound together by a love of the navy. Occasionally a member of this band of brothers and sisters stands out from ...
Australia’s Nuclear Submarines – Costs and Timelines
By Jack Dillich* The recent government announcement on the acquisition of nuclear submarines is one of the most significant events in the history of the Royal Australian Navy. This article, ...