Able Seaman, Communications Specialist, Natalie Haumu, retrieves a signal flag, aboard the RAN Durance Class Underway Replenishment Tanker, HMAS Success as the ship begins a Refuel At Sea operation with the US Navy

From 1788 to 1859 Australia depended on units detached from the Royal Navy based in Sydney to provide Naval defence. In 1859, Australia was established as a separate British Naval Station and until 1913, a squadron of the Royal Navy was maintained in Australian waters. The title Royal Australian Navy was granted by King George V in 1911. The RAN today patrols an area of almost 10 percent of the world’s surface and employs over 12500 personnel. Julian transferred to the RAN after service with the Royal Navy.

Here’s a selection of images, both historical and contemporary, of the Royal Australian Navy:

			An Australian sailor stands beneath his country’s naval ensign on the large patrol craft HMAS Wollongong during the joint U.S./Australian Exercise Kangaroo ’89
			Tied to a mooring buoy at a southern Japanese port (presumably Sasebo), after “an extended period of operations in Korean waters”, circa May 1951. The ships are (from left): HMAS Warramunga (Australian Destroyer, 1942) HMCS Nootka (Canadian Destroyer, 1946) HMS Cockade (British Destroyer, 1945)
			On June 14, 1999, the Australian Collins class submarine HMAS Farncomb fired a Mark-48 war-shot torpedo at the 28-year-old former Destroyer Escort Torrens. The firing was part of the Collins class trials requirements and was designed to validate the submarine’s combat system. The submerged Farncomb fired the Mark-48 torpedo at the stationary hulk of the 2700-ton Destroyer Escort from over the horizon. The plume of water and fragments shot some 150 metres skyward as the blast of the torpedo cut the ship in two. The stern section sank rapidly after the torpedo hit; the bow section remained afloat, but sank sometime later.
			A RAN Fremantle class patrol boat, taken at HMAS Waterhen. The actual vessel is ex-HMAS Wollongong, although she has been modified to represent the fictional HMAS Hammersley, the centrepiece of the Sea Patrol television series.
			Royal Australian Navy vessel HMAS River Snake in 1945. The ship was operated by the Services Reconnaissance Department.
			From left to right: HMAS Darwin, USS Paul Hamilton, USS Fletcher, HMAS Anzac, and HMS Cardiff. The Security Council Coalition ships are conducting Maritime Interdiction Operations in the Central Command Area of Responsibility in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Links

Royal Australian Navy The Official Site

History of the RAN 200 years of tradition

The Gun Plot Spins a few salty dits

RAN nicknames Origins of yer moniker

Books

The Navy and the Nation: The Influence of the Navy on Modern Australia edited by David Stevens and John Reeve published by Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 2005

No Pleasure Cruise, the Story of the Royal Australian Navy by Tom Frame published by Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 2004

Island Nation: A History of Australians and the Sea by Frank Broeze published by Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1998

Maritime Power in the 20th Century: The Australian Experience edited by David Stevens published by Allen and Unwin, Sydney, 1998

Work Hard, Play Hard: The Royal Australian Naval College 1913-1988 by I. J. Cunningham published by Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1988

Australia's Colonial Navies by Colin Jones published by Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1986