Frederick Campbell Darley was born at Elizabeth Bay, Sydney, NSW on 12 February 1886, the eldest child of Cecil West Darley (Public Works Engineer) and Constance Leila Annette Darley (nee ...
Commander Frederick Campbell Darley 1886 – 1926
Australian Naval History on 6 June 2017
The ADV Cape Inscription was commissioned at Fleet Base West. The two Cape-class patrol boats for the navy were built by Austal under a AU$63 million project and leased for ...
Occasional Paper 8: The Gustavo Stefanini Story
June 2017 The following story was provided by Commander Stephen Youll, OAM RAN Retd in relation to the matter of the first RAN ship to sink a submarine in World ...
Australian Naval History on 29 May 2017
After almost two years of operations with the Royal Australian Navy, Australian Defence Vessel Cape Byron was returned to the original owner, Australian Border Force. Since July 2015, Cape Byron ...
Australian Naval History on 1 May 2017
The ADV Cape Fourcroy was commissioned at Fleet Base West. The two Cape-class patrol boats for the navy were built by Austal under a AU$63 million project and leased for ...
Occasional Paper 7: HMAS Vampire Memorial Address (9 April 2017)
May 2017 On 9 April 1942, HMAS Vampire (I) was sunk by Japanese bombers in the vicinity of Batticaloa, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) with the loss of eight lives. This action was ...
Book review: Flagship: The Cruiser HMAS Australia II and the Pacific War on Japan
By Mike Carlton. Penguin Random House, Sydney, August 2016. Hardcover 642 pages with illustrations and many b&w photographs. RRP $50 – discounts available. Some naval history books traverse well-worn tracks ...
Unpicking the Goldsworthy Myths
By Hector Donohue When Lieutenant Commander Leon Goldsworthy GC, DSC, GM, MID died in 1994, the New York Times published an obituary which included the following: Lieut. Comdr. Leon Goldsworthy, a ...
HMAS Nepal and Operation ES – June and July 1942
The Society received the following letter which explains this unusual circumstance. A recent application to the Defence Honours and Awards Tribunal has cast light on a hitherto unknown operation undertaken ...
Navy Training Today
By Captain Mal Ralston, RAN In 1903, the Commonwealth Naval Board was constituted under the Defence Act. One of its first responsibilities was to commence home-based naval training of young ...
HMAS Norman – far from Home
By Peter Nunan Background The N-class destroyers operated in many parts of the globe but HMAS Norman was the only one of her ilk to have made an operational voyage to ...
Climate Change and ‘future wars between nation states’ A Rebuttal
By David F. Flakelar David Flakelar is a retired naval reservist who served as a Weapons Electrical Officer and later in naval intelligence. In industry he worked an electrical engineer, ...
The Albert Medal
By John Ellis Queen Victoria instituted the Albert Medal in 1866 to recognise those civilians who had attempted to prevent the loss of life at sea. A year later the ...
HDML 1321 and what she represents
Java is heaven, Burma is hell but you never come back alive from New Guinea – Japanese wartime saying An eagle-eyed member of our Society drew attention to this short ...
Fifty Years under the Australian White Ensign
With the Australian White Ensign approaching its fiftieth anniversary on 1 March 2017 it is appropriate to reflect on the history of the revered ensign in its various forms with ...
Book review: False Flags – Disguised German Raiders of World War II
By Stephen Robinson. Publishers Exisle, Wollombi, NSW, August 2016. Hardcover, 359 pages with many b&w photographs and good quality maps. RRP $28.00. There is a plentiful supply of publications on ...
Weather Signals
By Leyland Wilkinson I recently came across a guide to ‘Weather Signals at Sydney’ which was produced by the NSW Section of the Ex-Naval Men’s Association and could be purchased ...
Occasional Paper 6: Royal Australian Navy Ships Honour Roll
March 2017 Given the 75th anniversary commemoration events taking place around Australia and overseas in 2017 to honour ships lost in the RAN’s darkest year, 1942 it is timely to ...
Occasional Paper 5: Ken Brown: Service in HMAS Nestor
February 2017 By Warrant Officer Martin Grogan Mr Ken BROWN (aged 95) a retired RAN Lieutenant Commander and World War Two veteran was recently awarded the British Arctic Star. This ...
Book Review: Bravo Zulu: Honours and Awards to Australian Naval People Volume 1: 1900-1974
By Ian Pfennigwerth. Echo Books, Geelong, 2016. Hardcover & Paperback with illustrations, maps and index, 775 pages. RRP from $65. Available through Echo Books at www.echobooks.com.auor from Ian Pfennigwerth at ...
Book review: The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service since 1945
By Peter Hennessy and James Jinks, Publishers Allen Lane, 2015, Hardcover & Paperback, 864 pages. RRP from $30. To many people the submarine is a mystery – what do they ...
First to Command!
Commander Norman Hamon Shaw OBE, RAN The first graduate of the RANC to command a warship By Commander Tony Vine, RANR Norman Shaw was born in Perth Western Australia on ...
The HMAS Melbourne-Voyager Collision: A Tragedy that Damaged and Reformed
By MIDN Mollie Burns, RAN – NEOC 54 Naval Historical Society Prizewinning Essay Introduction The collision of HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager remains the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) worst peacetime disaster. Occurring ...
Mine Hazards during Mine Clearance Operations by the RAN
By Mike Turner Awards for Rendering Mines Safe (RMS) operations give some indication of the hazards involved. The George Cross (GC) was awarded four times and the George Medal (GM) ...
Petty Officer Fredrick Harold Harvey and Colombian Naval Service
As told by his son CMDR Vic Harvey, RAN, Rtd Fredrick Harold Harvey was a proud Geordie lad, born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s suburb of Benwell, on 13 August 1899. Benwell in ...