By Capitán de fragata (sp) Mariano Alfredo Sanchez Bravo Mariano Alfredo Sanchez Bravo was born in Guayaquil on 9 July 1950. He entered the Ecuadorian Naval Academy in September 1971 ...
The Navy of Ecuador through History
First Day Covers
An eagle eyed reader recently sent us a copy of a postal first day cover which appears quite remarkable for the number of errors it contains. The errors are numerous ...
Red Lead – A Cat’s Tail
By Walter Burroughs One of the privileges of writing naval history is occasionally being invited to visit ships and establishments and meeting some of the fine men and women who ...
Memoirs of George William Rayner 15 Oct 1886 – 18 July 1962
These important memoirs provided by Robert Rayner are taken from his grandfather’s handwritten notes discovered in the family’s Sydney home in 2007. Early Life in Prison! I was born at ...
Louis Brennan (1852-1932) – the Wizard of Oz
By Mike Turner Louis Brennan was a brilliant and prolific inventor. Two of his best known inventions were a gyro-stabilised train for a monorail and a type of helicopter, but ...
HMAS Yarra (II) Unit Citation for Gallantry
By LCDR Desmond Woods, RAN On 4 March this year the Governor General Her Excellency the Honourable Quentin Bryce, AC, CVO awarded a retrospective Unit Citation for Gallantry to HMAS ...
The 1963 Tragic Whitsunday Whaler Incident
By Kingsley Perry Commander Kingsley Perry (Retd) was a midshipman under training in HMAS Sydney in 1963 when a tragic boating accident occurred in the Whitsunday Group, resulting in the ...
Letter: SS Kanowna – did she have a mutiny?
Dear Editor I am a volunteer researcher of the Society making sure what may become history, and ensuring an extension of past facts is correct, which is important. Each issue ...
The Lessons Learned from the Actions of Both Sides during the Battle of the Coral Sea
By Midshipman Gerard G. Vejrych, RAN Gerard Vejrych was born in Canberra but raised in Suffolk, England. From an early age he aspired to pursue a career in military aviation ...
Letter: HMAS Kuru
Dear Sir, I was very interested to read the article concerning the above ship which was included in the September 2013 issue of the Review. My father was Commanding Officer ...
Book Review: They Sang Like Kangaroos: Australia’s Tinpot Navy in the Great War
They Sang Like Kangaroos: Australia’s Tinpot Navy in the Great War. By Anthony Delano: Australian Scholarly Press, Melbourne, Dec 2012. rrp $34.95 As his title may suggest, Doctor Delano has ...
Book Review: Discovery and Empire – the French in the South Seas edited by John West-Sooby
Discovery and Empire – the French in the South Seas edited by John West-Sooby. Published by the University of Adelaide Press, 2013. Paperback of 281pages with b&w maps and illustrations. ...
Book Review: Carrier Attack Darwin 1942: The Complete Guide to Australia’s own Pearl Harbor
Carrier Attack Darwin 1942: The Complete Guide to Australia’s own Pearl Harbor. By Dr Tom Lewis & Peter Ingram. Published by Avonmore Books, Kent Town, South Australia, 2013. Hardback, 368 ...
Book Review: Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy
Arthur Phillip: Sailor, Mercenary, Governor, Spy. By Michael Pembroke, Hardie Grant Books, Melbourne, 2013. Hardback, 354 pages, rrp $34.40 To his biography of Arthur Phillip the author adds – sailor, ...
Francis James Ranken
By Hector Donohue Early Career Francis James Ranken was born in 1864 at ‘Saltram’, Eglinton, near Bathurst. He was the eldest son of James Australian Ranken and was educated at ...
HMAS Hobart – The Skilful Survivor
As told to our Editor by Cyril Rayner The Australian Navy started the war with three relatively modern Modified Leander Class light cruisers. Of these fine ships much has been ...
A Short History of the Peruvian Navy
By Jorge Ortiz-Sotelo Jorge Ortiz-Sotelo is a retired Commander in the Peruvian Navy. He holds a B.A. in history from the Peruvian Catholic University and a Ph.D. in maritime history ...
Our Most Welcome Spanish Guest
Spanish guests are only infrequently welcomed to our shores, in fact this seems to occur about every 200 years. The famous navigator Luis Vaz de Torres visited in 1606 and ...
The RAN and the Capitulation of German New Guinea
In August 1914 the Australian government responded with caution to a British suggestion that it might undertake the destruction of the radio stations located in German colonial possessions in the ...
The Effectiveness of Torpedoes and Mines in World War II
By Mike Turner Mike Turner graduated from Sydney University with a degree in Science and an Honours degree in Aeronautical Engineering. After qualifying as a Ships Diver in 1957 he ...
Those Amazing Young Men and their Flying Machines
…brought to life with memorabilia from an Australian air ace found on Queensland rubbish tip By Jim Craigie The Great Find A World War I pilot’s helmet worn by Australia’s greatest ...
The Importance of Defence Strategy following the Battle of Sunda Strait
By Sub-Lieutenant G. Bateman, RAN Garry Bateman was born in Plymouth on 23 July 1980. His father was a Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy serving in submarines. This ...
Letter: HMAS Platypus and the Darwin Blitz February 1942
Dear Editor I have just read G. W. Ireland’s recounting of his experience in Darwin during the first and continuing raids and I would like to add that my father, ...
Letter: Manus Island
Dear Sir, I read Jerry Lattin’s treatise on Manus Island in the June edition of the NHS Review with great interest. My father, Chaplain Patrick Helyer ALCD, FRGS, RAN (Retd), ...
Book Review: Carriers at War 1939 -1945
Carriers at War 1939 -1945 by Adrian Stewart. Published by: Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2013. Paperback of 224 pages with numerous photographs. rrp about $30 but reductions now available. Barely ...