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Naval Aviation
Occasional Paper 101: RAN Torpedo Factory, Neutral Bay
By Midshipman Lloyd Skinner, RAN In 1942, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Torpedo Factory, located at Neutral Bay, Sydney commenced operations. Previously, the Torpedo Depot at Garden Island across the ...
Occasional Paper 100: Operation Estes
By Midshipman Lloyd Skinner, RAN Beginning in 1980, Operation Estes saw the government call upon the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to conduct regular surface patrols around Bass Strait. Aerial and ...
Occasional Paper 89: Operation Bursa, Use of Naval Air Support in Protection of Australian Oil Rigs 1980-1989
The following is a summary of a paper by Captain Marcus Peake RAN Ret’d, Webmaster of the Fleet Air Arm Association of Australia (FAAAA). The full story, published in August ...
Finding of Akagi and Kaga focuses attention on Japan’s formidable aircraft carriers and the Darwin raid
By Tom Lewis Dr. Tom Lewis OAM is a retired naval officer, and the author of 14 books. Some of this text was drawn from Carrier Attack, published in 2013 ...
Occasional Paper 72: Spitfires in the RAN
The Supermarine Spitfire was the most well-known of the World War II era fighter aircraft but by the late 1940’s was quickly becoming obsolete. In October 1948, 15 ex-RAAF Spitfires ...
Occasional Paper 68: Bristol Sycamore HR50/51
This paper, first published by the Sea Power Centre – Australia provides an overview of the service history of the Bristol Sycamore rescue and training helicopter operated by the RAN ...
Occasional Paper 49: The Good Times and The Bad Times
April 2019 The following paper describes the experiences of a young Royal Navy conscript, Gordon Cansdale who served in the Fleet Air Arm from 1945 to 1947. Gordon describes the ...
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 ...
The RAAF at Sea before World War II
The following article first appeared in the Air Power Development Centre Bulletin Pathfinder, Issue 175 dated April 2012 and is reproduced with their kind permission. The perspective of our sister ...