By Walter Burroughs In recent times Australia could be considered a mecca for the patrol boat industry: from a slow post war start with the Attack class, they were replaced ...
Our First Patrol Boats
The River Clyde: The cradle of British shipbuilding and the birthplace of the Royal Australian Navy
By CMDR Tony Vine RAN Rtd The River Clyde in Scotland has long been described as the cradle of the British shipbuilding industry and in 1909 it became the foundation ...
The Greatest Event in our Time – Moon landing
By Doris Shearman ‘I Think It’s Gonna Be a Long Long Time’ – from Elton John’s 1972 iconic song ‘Rocket Man’ about an astronaut preparing for a space mission. Introduction ...
Occasional Paper 151: The Christmas Books
By Geoff Barnes This story first appeared in ‘All Hands’, the quarterly volunteers’ journal at the Australian National Maritime Museum. Our thanks to the ANMM Volunteers for allowing us to ...
Occasional Paper 152: HMAS Rushcutter
On 1 August 1940, the Naval Depot (sited in Rushcutters Bay Park, Sydney) was commissioned as HMAS Rushcutter. This former Royal Australian Navy (RAN) base has an illustrious past. It ...
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 ...
Australian Naval History on 4 November 2022
The Evolved Cape class patrol boat ADV Cape Naturaliste was officially accepted ...
Occasional Paper 150: Palm Island – World War Connections
By David Michael As experience continues to demonstrate, major conflict and wars not only affect those living in the immediate area of operations but regionally and often globally. These conflicts ...
Occasional Paper 149: Nor West Capture
By Steve Chaplin, former RAN Leading Seaman Weapons Mechanic (LSWM) What could be more calming and restful, other than relaxing and taking in the serene ice blue, flat calm waters ...
Australian Naval History on 6 October 2022
HMAS Glenelg II decommissioned in Darwin after 14 years of service ...
Occasional Paper 148: Nautical School Ship Sobraon and Bernard Kieran – one of the great early Australian swimmers
By Lorraine Fildes HMAS Tingira was commissioned on 25 April 1912 to provide early naval training for young recruits to the Navy. The Tingira was originally called the Sobraon and ...
Occasional Paper 146: Early Naval Training
On Wednesday, 1 October 1913 the Sydney Mail newspaper featured the following detailed report on early naval recruiting and training. Just three days later, on 4 October, Sydney Harbour would ...
FLYING STATIONS II, The Royal Australian Navy’s Fleet Air Arm 1998-2022: Book Review
Edited by Lieutenant Commander Desmond Woods OAM RAN Published by the RAN Fleet Air Arm in conjunction with Avonmore Books, Kent Town, South Australia 5071 ISBN 978-0-6452469-5-7 Reviewed by David ...
Letter: Carry on Cruising
Dear Editor In my welcome and informative June edition of the Review your article on the cruise ship industry was of special interest to me, as along with others I ...
Book Review: The Scrap Iron Flotilla – Five valiant destroyers and the Australian war in the Mediterranean.
By Mike Carlton, published by Random House Australia. A 448-page illustrated paperback with photographs. Available at all good booksellers from about $30.00. Some chroniclers are ideal authors for their subject ...
What’s in a Name: The Ben Boyd National Park
By Walter Burroughs The French Revolution of 1789 declared ‘All men are born and remain free and equal in rights’. This virtually brought about the end of slavery but it ...
Emperor to General: the last days of Napoléon Bonaparte
By Fairlie Clifton In 2021 at the time of the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon, the author of this article was reminded that Napoleon’s surrender to England had ...
The British Centre: from Hyde Park to Hornsby Hospital
With thanks to Councillor Nathan Tilbury of the Hornsby Council, the Vice President of the Hornsby Historical Society, and a local paper The Bush Telegraph (February 2022) we are pleased ...
Third Officer Ruby Boye BEM WRANS
The remarkable story of Mrs. Ruby Boye has recently received considerable media attention. This version, dictated later in her life by Mrs. Boye to her friend and neighbour Mrs. Joy ...
Presentation and Dedication of an Australian White Ensign at St Johns Church Birchgrove on Sunday 19 June 2022
With kind permission of the Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral M.J. Noonan AO RAN, the Naval Historical Society of Australia presented an Australian White Ensign to St John’s Church Birchgrove, ...
HMAS Bombo and Able Seaman Robert Klippel RANR
By Colin Randall Less than two hours south from Sydney lies the picturesque coastal town of Kiama. On the outskirts sits Bombo Heads with a huge bite taken out of ...
An Essay on Lessons to be Learnt from the Korean War
By MIDN Li-Chun Chen RAN Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Chen grew up in Melbourne where they developed a love of learning with particular interests in science and philosophy. The younger ...
The Royal Charter Tragedy
A shipping venture to service the Australian colonies had unforeseen consequences for gold miners who had struck it rich and were returning to their homelands with wealth. After nearly two ...
My Father’s Service in the RNZAF during WWII: Airman Pilot Ian Speedy RNZAF
By Max Speedy This article first appeared in the June 2022 edition of the RAN Fleet Air Arm magazine Slipstream Vol 33 No 2 and is reproduced by kind permission ...
MV Fairsea and Fire at Sea
A recently joined member of our Society, Kristiane Molloy, has provided an interesting story of her first voyage as a twenty-one-year-old nurse in 1969. She was a passenger aboard the ...