Category: Royal Australian Navy

The biography of the naval officer who was the first to unravel Japanese naval telegraphy and break their codes. A fascinating tale.

Radio talks and stories describing life in the Australian Navy.

About one-third of this excellent history is devoted to the RAN.

Focuses on the individuals.

The proceedings of a fiftieth anniversary conference bringing together some well-known names to take a new look at such topics as the social background of RAN officers, the RAN Hydrographic Branch, the role of Fairmiles, Vice Admiral Collins, the Battle of Savo, etc.

An assessment of the impact of the submarine threat on maritime defence and policy and on the RAN's effectiveness in dealing with trade defence.

Stories of the little ships that carried war material from Australia to New Guinea, crewed by Australians but flying the American flag.

Shean joined the RANVR halfway through an engineering degree at the University of Western Australia. After training at HMAS Rushcutter in New South Wales he moved to the UK and 15 exciting months in Bluebell in the Battle of the Atlantic. He then switched to midget submarines where he had a distinguished career including attacks on the harbours of Bergen and Saigon. An excellent tale.

A career officer who served on the cruisers Australia, Canberra and Sydney.

Looks at seven stories of the bravery and determination of the RAN in the Pacific in WWII. They include the convoy escorts along Australia's east coast, where the first Australian ship to be sunk by an enemy submarine in Australian waters was lost.

A selection of seventy-six letters and cables home. He travelled to the UK in 1940 and after training served on Kashmir, Trinidad and Howe, surviving the sinking of the first two. In 1944 he returned to Australia serving on Orara then in a shore job. The letters are fresh and innocent and give a lively depiction of his world.

A curious mixture of official documents, technical descriptions, personal reminiscence, and attacks on Prime Minister Menzies.

Stening served in Waterhen in the Mediterranean but was captured when Perth was sunk in the Java Sea. He then looked after and led men in some eight POW camps before war's end..

A pot–pourri of tall tales and tragedies, mainly from WWII.

His edited wartime diaries. It begins in 1940 with his passage to Egypt to join Waterhen and covers her busy war until sunk in June 1941. He was then drafted to Nizam and saw more Mediterranean action before she moved east. In late 1942 he received a draft home and after leave joined the new Warramunga. After more hard service in the Pacific he was given a shore job at Milne Bay in the oiling party. At the end of 1944 he moved on to Oro Bay, now as a driver where he stayed until war's end. The final quarter of the book covers the Korean War.

Tales of the small ships of the RAN including anecdotes of trawlers, minesweepers, and corvettes. Two of the tales concern New Zealand corvettes and an Indian sloop.

A biographical account of the work of the WRANS.

A member of the Reserve, he was called up in 1939. His war began with Sydney then served on each of the Scrap Iron destroyers in the Mediterranean in the worst of the battles, before being sunk in Waterhen. He joined Perth briefly late in 1941, then went for officer training. Then he joined the corvette Echuca and in early 1943 the survey corvette Shepparton where his specialised survey skills kept him until war's end.

Based on the memories of those who served.

A personal memoir. No copy seen.

A useful general history, much of it devoted to WWII.

THOMSON, Max. 8th Div Home From Changi 1945 (H.M.A.S. Hawkesbury). Addendum: USS Mount Hood Explodes 1944. (Naval Historical Society of Australia, Monograph 11). 13p., illus. Garden Island, NSW: Naval Historical Society of Australia, 1989.

The text of two lectures given to the Victoria Chapter of the Society in 1988 and 1989. The first records the movements of Hawkesmoor in the dying days of the war and her trip to Singapore to return Australian POWs. The second deals with a catastrophic incident in Manus harbour in November 1944. There are several pages of poorly reproduced photographs.

JONES, Peter. Guy Griffiths: The Life & Times of an Australian Admiral. 312p., bibliog., illus., index. Melbourne, Vic.: Arden, 2021. ISBN: 9781922454676.

A well written authorised biography of a distinguished Australian admiral. A country boy from the Hunter Valley he went to the Royal Australian Naval College aged 13 as a cadet midshipman in 1937. On graduation he joined Repulse and was with her for the Bismarck hunt then survived her sinking off Malaya in 1941. He continued to see active service in the Pacific War and was awarded a DSC while serving on Shropshire and was in Tokyo Bay when Japan surrendered formally. His distinguished career continued post-war until his retirement in 1980. A well written and empathetic biography.

REID, Richard. Australia Under Attack: Sydney and the Midget Submarines, 1942. 64p., illus. Canberra: Department of Veteran’s Affairs, 2007. ISBN: 1920720014.

A short illustrated account. Part of a series published by the Department of Veteran’s Affairs. The re-use of the ISBN suggests this may be a revised version of the authors 2002 work No Cause for Alarm, q.v.

KAY, Mary. Tin Can Heroes: Max Grey’s Story as Told to Mary Kay. [124p]., illus. Smithton, Tas.; Circular Head Heritage Centre, c.2010.

Called up in 1941 he trained at the Flinders Naval Depot, then served on HMAS Adelaide, Ararat and Australia. This is his story of his war service.

BRITTS, Angus. A Ceaseless Watch: Australia's Third-Party Naval Defense 1919-1942 (Studies in Naval History and Sea Power). 336p., bibliog., illus., index. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 2021. ISBN: 9781682475331.  

Studies Japanese, British, American and Australian naval planning in the years leading up to the outbreak war with Japan. Explores how a small navy interacted with major powers and how Australia shifted its reliance on the Royal Navy to forge a new relationship with the United States.

HMAS Harman: A History 1943-1983. [23p.], [Canberra: HMAS Harman., c.1983]. ISBN: 064286909X

The RAN Wireless/Transmitting Station, Canberra, began operations on April 20, 1939 and was commissioned in 1943. During WW2, the Canberra station provided communications services for ships and allied navies working in the Pacific theatre. It was staffed by members of the WRANS. This short pamphlet is mainly concerned with the post war years. Updated and republished in 1993 under the authorship of Annette Nelson, q.v.

NELSON, Annette. A History of HMAS Harman and Its People: 1943-1993. 40p., illus. Canberra: HMAS Harman, 1993.

The RAN Wireless/Transmitting Station, Canberra, began operations on April 20, 1939 and was commissioned in 1943. During WW2, the Canberra station provided communications services for ships and allied navies working in the Pacific theatre. It was staffed by members of the WRANS. An earlier anonymous edition with the same title was published in 1983, q.v. A second edition of this title was published in 2003, and a third edition in 2013 by the same author.

LANCE, Kate. Redbill: From Pearls to Peace – the Life and Times of a Remarkable Lugger. 399p., bibliog., illus., index. Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2004. ISBN: 1920731423.

An award-winning ship biography. Built in 1903, Redbill sailed first as a pearler. When war came to the Pacific, she was there as the first bombs fell on Darwin and she was commissioned and was used with other luggers until laid up as a hulk as the war moved on. After the war she had a busy career from carrying cargo for missionaries to working with Greenpeace against French nuclear testing.

LEWIS, Tom. The Submarine Six: Australian Naval Heroes.201p., bibliog., illus., index. Kent Town, SA: Avonmore, 2011. ISBN: 9780987151919.

Australia’s Collins Class submarines are named after six naval heroes, sadly little known even in Australia. This book provides brief biographies of the six: Vice Admiral Sir John Collins, who served with Sydney in the Mediterranean, then after staff appointments in Singapore and Australia commanded the cruiser Shropshire working with TF74 of the US Seventh Fleet, until badly wounded in action. Captain Emile Dechaineux commanded Vivacious at Dunkirk then Eglington on North Sea convoys before returning to staff work in Australia, followed by command of the new destroyer Warramunga which soon joined TF74. Finally he commanded the cruiser Australia with TF74 and was killed in action when she was hit by a Japanese suicide bomber. Rear Admiral Hal Farncomb commanded Perth in the South Atlantic, then Canberra in Western Australian waters and finally Australia in the Pacific, including the battles of the Coral Sea and Savo Island. In 1944 he took command of the carrier Attacker and saw action at the landings in the South of France and Normandy before finishing the war commanding the Australian Squadron in TF74. Lt. Cdr. Robert Rankin, who the author argues should have received a Victoria Cross, served for two years in the Mediterranean before taking command of the sloop Yarra, where he died fighting to the end in a hopelessly one-sided action against Japanese cruisers. Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheehan, who served in Armidale, refused to abandon ship as she sank and died returning fire on her aerial attackers. And finally Captain Hec Waller who commanded Stuart at the Battle of Matapan, then returned to Australia in 1941 to take command of Perth, which he commanded until he was killed in action during her sinking. Passionately told tales in a warts and all style.

RICKARD, D.R. The Royal Australian Navy – The First 100 Years. A 365 Day Almanac of Notable Events. xiv, 140p., bibliog., illus., index. Brighton, SA: author, 2005. ISBN: 0646451162.

Follows the style of The Royal Navy Day By Day. Fact filled and interesting.

SPETHMAN, D. W. & MILLER, R. G. The Naval Auxiliary Patrol Queensland Squadron, 1941-1944. 50p., illus. Fort Lytton: Fort Lytton Historical Association, 2001.

Research notes on Organisations, Vessels, Patrol Duties, Patrol Areas, Weapons, Bases, Maintenance and Slipways etc. The Naval Auxiliary Patrol (NAP) was a war-raised unit approved on 25 June 1941. It was charged with patrolling and safeguarding Australia's inner harbours, ports, rivers and estuaries against enemy sabotage or attack and it was part of the RANVR.

A brief account of raider and submarine action in the Bass Strait in two world wars.

VEALE, R.S. Autobiographical Recollections of a Naval Reserve Officer: 1893-1987. 158 p., bibliog., illus., index. [Melbourne : Navy League of Australia], 1997.

Limited edition of 100, hand numbered. There are chapters related to Veale and the Royal Australian Navy and reserves. From 1900, WW1, WW2, post war. A second edition was published in 2002, ISBN: 0958028567.

SKEELS, Fred. The Java Rabble: A Story of a Ship, Slavery and Survival. viii, 151p., illus. Perth: Hesperian, 2008. ISBN: 0859054195.

Skeels joined the navy in 1941 at the age of eighteen, and a year later was in the great battles of the Java Sea and Sunda Straits in which the Perth and its allies were sunk. Held in the Japanese death camps until the war’s end, he was shipped as a slave labourer from Java to Malaya, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and finally Japan.

WORLEDGE, G. R. Contact! HMAS Rushcutter and Australia's Submarine Hunters 1939–1946. xxi, 490p., illus., index. Sydney: Anti-Submarine Officers' Association, 1994. ISBN: 064615446X.

A straightforward account of the setting up and running of the A/S Warfare School at Sydney, with appendices giving class lists, honours, and awards etc. Almost three-quarters of the book however is devoted to personal reminiscences of "graduates" who served widely in the RN and RAN.

Originally published as two articles in Stand To in 1957, this covers his service in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean.

FIRKINS, Peter. Of Nautilus and Eagles: History of the Royal Australian Navy. viii, 269p., bibliog., illus., index. Stanmore, N.S.W.: Cassell Australia, 1975. ISBN: 0726928623.

A good general account by a professional historian and largely concerned with WWII. A revised second edition was published in 1983.             

SHEEDY, Brian. The War at Sea. 371p., bibliog., illus., index.  Dromana, Vic.: B. Sheedy, [1998].   ISBN: 0646357239.

Life as a regular rating on the lower deck of the RAN in war and peace. The author was a signalman on Perth during operations in the Mediterranean in 1940-1941. The book consists very largely of his wartime diary.

LYNE, Allen. Lost: The Stories of All Ships Lost by the Royal Australian Navy. 305p., illus., index. Adelaide: author, 2013. ISBN: 9800646903750.

A chronological guide to the forty-five ships lost by the RAN, most of them in WW2. Some of the descriptions are controversial.

This biography of Commander Rupert 'Cocky' Long also presents a history of Australia's Naval Intelligence Division, of which Long was the head for twelve years. Describes secret WWII operations, inter-service rivalry, international intrigues, the dramatic activities of the Allied Intelligence Bureau (founded by Long) in the Pacific during WWII, and the setting up of the coastwatcher network in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

Really a photo album, which includes details of the service of many minor vessels such as the Manly ferry Burra Bra.

Choules was the last serviceman survivor of the First World War. He served in the RAN in WW2. Based at Fremantle as a CPO, he was responsible for much of the maintenance of the torpedoes, depth charges, mines and mine detection equipment of these vessels. It was also his job, too, to "de-louse" or otherwise dispose of the various stray mines and depth charges that washed up on Western Australia's extensive coast.

Autobiography of service in the South Pacific. No copy seen.

A fact rich but rather incoherent account of their service.

A well-illustrated but routine general history.

A light-hearted autobiography recounting his war service. He joined up as a seaman in 1944 and served in the Pacific on Nizam and Quadrant.

A biography of Sheila McClemans who was a pioneer legal practitioner in Western Australia. She served as the wartime Director of the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service and was President of the Australian Federation of University Women. Her wartime service is fully described.

The WRANS only formed in 1941, but rose to a strength of 3,000 and proved just as valuable as their British sister WRNS. This book was written about 1947, but first published by the Society in 1975.

The collected writings of an ex-Chief Petty Officer. Some are personal tales, some record Australian heroism on land and sea in both world wars, some describe historical events such as the Spud Run to Tobruk.

A weakly written account of his service, principally on Manoora. He had earlier served in the Merchant Marine and RANVR. In early 1944 he was transferred to the RAN Beach Commando Force A.

A curious short tribute illustrated with a few photographs, pictures of stamps, stained glass windows, and ships crests.

Almost half of the book is devoted to Admiral Collins wartime service and as his subtitle suggests he is more interested in memories than detailed history. During the war he was Captain of Sydney (1939–41), Assistant Chief of Staff to C-in-C China at Singapore then Java (1941–42), NOIC Western Australia (1942–43), and finally captain of Shropshire, latterly commanding TF74 of the American 7th Fleet (1943–45). An enjoyable book.

Although this covers a much wider time period, there is a significant focus on the events of WW2.

A curiosity of affection and anecdote.

A comprehensive listing of ships and men lost while serving in the RAN in the twentieth century. The book is in two sections, covering ships lost and ships damaged and/or with casualties. In each section there is a photograph of the vessel, leading details, a brief history of the ship and details of her loss or action damage. Casualties whether in action or accidental, commanding officers and battle honours are fully listed. An excellent work of reference.

In 1939–40 he was Australian Director of Operations and Plans. After a short spell in Washington as Naval Attaché, he took command of the new destroyer Norman. She worked up at Scapa, had a brief trip to Russia, then joined the Eastern Fleet at the beginning of 1942. She was at Madagascar, took part in the Vigorous convoy to Malta, then rejoined the Eastern Fleet. In June 1943 he was relieved, had a spell in hospital, then went back to a planning role. Just before the end of the war he took command of the new Tribal Class destroyer Bataan.

A professional musician, he joined up in 1940 as a bandsman and served in Canberra Australia and Shropshire, working in the Transmitting Station. A brief autobiographical account.

A newspaper reporter's lurid account of war on Australia's east coast. Much anti-Japanese propaganda.

The final anthology mixing history, art and storytelling.

The usual mixture of poems, pictures, and stories describing another year of war.

An official view of recent events, followed by anecdotes, poems, cartoons, and reports from serving members of the RAN.

A tribute to the RAN, half formal history, half school magazine.

An autobiography. He joined up in 1941 and trained at Rushcutter. He served in small boats and Fairmiles in the South West Pacific. An enjoyable tale.

The autobiography of a rebel. She had a brief sojourn in the navy, working with the fledgling Signals Intelligence organisation in Albert Park, before service with WAS(B) in Burma at the end of WW2. Several editions.

He was called up in August 1942 and after brief training went to Darwin where he equally briefly commanded a boom patrol boat. He spent the war in and around Darwin on a variety of local vessels and corvettes.

An autobiography. A narrative of almost nineteen years of service with the RAN and all but three at sea, which earned the author numerous decorations, among them the Atlantic Star, Africa Star, Burma Star with Pacific Clasp, the Greek Service Medal, 1942 Maltese Cross and 1942 Liberation of the Philippines.

Each of the major units of the ANZAC navies is represented in at least one of the tales, covering all theatres of the war. A second revised and enlarged edition was published in 1952.

A good account. The final third in effect looks at cruiser aircraft operations in WWII.

An autobiography. He joined up in 1942 and after brief service on Westralia was sent for amphibious landing training. In July 1943 he went on commando training as one of an elite force of 120 men. In January 1945 they went to war and he saw active service in the Dutch East Indies and Borneo as part of the Beach Party leading assaults.

A guide aimed at the American market, explaining Australia's role in the war. Naval exploits are mentioned as a small part of this.

The history of Australia's Naval Policy from 1939 to 1959, based on extensive original research.

A well-illustrated history of the women who served in the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service by a former Wran.

A pictorial history of the Royal Australian Navy during World War Two. The book is presented in a six year chronological format. It describes the various ships, naval actions and incidents, war losses, aviation activities and the introduction of new and unusual warships into the Australian Fleet between September 1939 and September 1945.

The autobiography of a merchant captain. A member of the Australian Naval Reserve, he was called up but drafted into the RAAF on secondment to teach navigation. In 1944 he was fully transferred to the RAAF and flew operationally in Catalinas. About one–quarter of the book is concerned with his wartime career. Reprinted by Rigby of Adelaide in 1978. ISBN: 0727005537.

A history of the RAN's Hydrographic service beginning with its establishment in Melbourne on 1st October 1920 up to 1995. It marks the Hydrographic Services 75th anniversary. The Principal Surveys are described year by year.

The autobiography of a Tasmanian who is described as "unusual and complex". There is good coverage of his war service, both on shore and on the corvette Junee. A revised and expanded second edition was published in 2006 (ISBN: 1921206411).

This work covers the naval forces of Australia and New Zealand for the period 1914-1945.It is illustrated by more than 600 photographs and 100 line drawings, accompanied by introductions, brief narratives, historical resumes and appendices. Reprinted by Golden in 1987.

The excellent official history. Reprinted in 1985.

A family memoir covering three generations. Her father was sunk on Perth then was a prisoner of the Japanese.

A disappointing memoir of a distinguished career. He began the war as Navigating Officer of Edinburgh in home waters. In April 1940 he moved to Renown for a month, then via the training school Dryad to Rodney and Nelson based at Scapa. There were 10 months of Atlantic convoys, the Bismarck hunt and Mediterranean convoys with Force H, then the Home Fleet. In 1942 he returned to Australia and joined Australia as a Staff Officer to Admiral Crace with TF44, operating in the Solomons and New Guinea area. In August 1943 she was redeployed to the Southwest Pacific as part of TF74. In late 1944 he was appointed to the Australian Naval Staff for post-war planning.

Papers from the 1989 Australian Naval History Seminar. Those on WWII cover carrier policy, the historiography of HMAS Sydney, the Savo Sea Battle, British strategy against Japan, technology transfer, and a biography of Admiral Farncomb.

Since 1916 there have been more mutinies in the Royal Australian Navy than in any other navy maintained by an English speaking nation. New Zealand's navy, by contrast, has suffered only one mutiny, although it was one of the largest to occur in recent naval history. This is the first comprehensive study of naval insurrections in these two countries. Drawing on original records, private correspondence, newspaper reports and interviews with men accused of mutiny, it examines when and why such outbreaks occur.