Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Hudspeth, Distinguished Service Cross and 2 Bars, RANVR, WWII Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Hudspeth, RANVR was one of many Royal Australian Naval personnel whose service in Royal Navy ...
Occasional Paper 46: Lieutenant Kenneth Robert Hudspeth DSC, RANVR
Occasional Paper 44: The Fairey Gannet A/S1
By CMDR (P) R. V. Morritt, RAN Rtd The Fairey Gannet A/S 1 aircraft was introduced into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in 1955. When embarked ...
Australia Day 2019
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New Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) Replacement Vessels for the Royal Australian Navy: NUSHIP Supply
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Big wave of destruction
A voyage from Fremantle to Cocos Islands to farewell the Royal Yacht SS Gothic at the successful end of Queen Elizabeth II’s first visit to Australia ended badly when two ...
Australian Naval History on 22 December 2018
HMAS Gascoyne II returned to Australia after completing the longest voyage undertaken by a vessel of its class. Gascoyne, along with sister ship, HMAS Huon, had visited ports and exercised ...
Occasional Paper 43: The Press vs RAN Cricket Match 25 January 1933
Following the 1932-33 Ashes series held in Australia in which English captain Douglas Jardine employed ‘Bodyline’ tactics to combat the batting skills of Don Bradman a much lighter match was ...
Occasional Paper 42: The day the entire German fleet surrendered – 100 years ago
Armistice Day is remembered as the day World War One ended, but for naval historians Britain’s greatest victory came 10 days later. Operation ZZ was the code name for the ...
Occasional Paper 41: SS William Dawes – A Ship is Burning (1942)
This account records an incident in the Japanese submarine campaign off Australia and the efforts of the RAAF and VAOC to protect coastal shipping. As the attractive blonde 17 year ...
The Transition to War: HMAS Perth and the Canadian West Coast Destroyers
By Roger Buxton In the late northern summer and autumn of 1939 HMAS Perth and the Canadian West Coast destroyers HMC Ships Fraser, Ottawa, Restigouche and St Laurent were making the transition from ...
HMAS Albatross, HMS Albatross and SS Hellenic Prince
The first HMAS Albatross was a locally built seaplane tender which had a short RAN career, saw wartime service as HMS Albatross, first as a seaplane tender then as a ...
Scapa Flow Revisited
By Walter Burroughs The name Scapa Flow was synonymous with naval operations in both world wars as a safe anchorage for vast fleets seeking to control access to the seaborne ...
The First Direct Wireless Messages from the United Kingdom to Australia
On 22 September 2018, marking the centenary of the First Wireless Message from the United Kingdom to Australia, a ceremony was held at the Sydney suburb of Wahroonga, outside the ...
Recollection of an Admiral’s Barge
By William (Bill) Burrell On 18 October 2018 Mr Bill Burrell, aged 84, contacted the Sea Power Centre Australia (SPC-A) to confirm that the vessel he had recently seen on ...
Letter: Hospital ships
Dear Editor As always, lots of interest in the September edition but one item has caught my attention. In the article about the hospital ships, on page 43 you show ...
Book Review: THE LAST CRUISE OF A GERMAN RAIDER – THE DESTRUCTION OF SMS EMDEN
THE LAST CRUISE OF A GERMAN RAIDER – THE DESTRUCTION OF SMS EMDEN by Wes Olson. Seaforth Publishing, Pen and Sword Books, Barnsley, United Kingdom, 2018. Hard Cover, 274 Pages, ...
Book Review: Cold War and Decolonisation: Australia’s policy towards Britain’s end of empire in Southeast Asia
Cold War and Decolonisation: Australia’s policy towards Britain’s end of empire in Southeast Asia, by Andrea Benvenuti, National University of Singapore Press, Singapore, 2017, paperback, 279 pp., available Asia Book Room, ...
HMAS Canberra (1) and her White Ensign
Some months ago the Naval Historical Society (NHS) was approached by Mrs Kylie Lee from Toowoomba, who from her mother’s estate came into possession of a white ensign from HMAS ...
The Emden Guns
By Wes Olson When the small German cruiser SMS Emden was destroyed by HMAS Sydney at the Cocos-Keeling Islands on 9 November 1914 the British Admiralty was presented with a unique opportunity ...
HMAS Sydney sailor Crosses the Bar – John Ravenscroft (1921 – 2018)
By Greg Swinden On 19 July 1940 one of the RAN’s more famous actions was fought in the Mediterranean. HMAS Sydney’s destruction of the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni, and putting ...
One hundred Australians awarded the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award under the Imperial honours system, is awarded to members of the armed forces for gallantry in the presence of the enemy. While it ...
RAN controlled minefields in World War 2
By Mike Turner and Hector Donohue Very little has ever been reported about the controlled minefields laid at ports along Australia’s east coast in 1942 as part of Australia’s defence ...
A Hundred-Year-Old Mystery Solved: What Really Happened to AE1
This important commentary by Rear Admiral Peter Briggs AO CSC RAN (Rtd) provides a summary of research that led to the successful discovery of the remains of AE1by MV Fugro ...
The Military Technology College, Muscat: Department of Marine Engineering
By Captain John McGrath RN, Rtd The Sultanate of Oman occupies the strategically important south-eastern coast of the Arabian Sea at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. While it has ...
Australian Naval History on 23 November 2018
The future HMAS Supply II, was launched by Spanish shipbuilder Navantia at its Ferrol shipyard. ...