Warships of Australia

Warships of Australia PDF Author: Ross Gillett
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780727004727
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description

Warships of Australia

Warships of Australia PDF Author: Ross Gillett
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780727004727
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Get Book Here

Book Description


The ABC of Royal Australian Navy Corvettes

The ABC of Royal Australian Navy Corvettes PDF Author: Libby Pearce
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780646804040
Category : Australia
Languages : en
Pages : 142

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Book Description
The tradition of naming ships of the Royal Australian Navy's fleet after our nation's cities and towns began when the Royal Australian Navy Fleet Unit was created in the years immediately preceding World War I. When the Australian Fleet Unit first arrived in Sydney on 4 October 1913 it was led into Port Jackson by the flagship HMAS Australia (I), followed closely by two brand new cruisers each carrying the name of Australia's largest cities - Melbourne and Sydney. Later, more cruisers were ordered and over time the names of other capital cities were added including Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and Hobart. The citizens of those major cities took much pride in having state-of-the-art Australian warships so named, particularly as most knew someone serving in them. It followed that the exploits and adventures of those men and ships were reported with great enthusiasm and pride by 'hometown' newspapers.Soon after the outbreak of World War II an order was placed for sixty minesweepers of simple design to be constructed in Australian shipyards as part of the Commonwealth Government's wartime shipbuilding programme. Rapidly produced, these vessels were capable of patrol work, shore bombardment, minesweeping, escort and survey duties and troop-transport. They became popularly known as corvettes and with so many ships commissioning the Navy turned its attention to regional towns and communities in search of worthy names.The lead ship of the class was named HMAS Bathurst after the town in the central tablelands of NSW and those that followed each took their names from other regional towns dotted around the country. This linkage between the Navy and the Nation forged strong and enduring links between the RAN and the communities it drew upon to crew its fighting ships at a time when Australia never felt more threatened. Altogether 56 Bathurst class corvettes saw active service in the RAN during World War II performing valuable work in far-flung theatres in both hemispheres. Four corvettes were built for the Royal Indian Navy. Three corvettes were lost during the war and a fourth in 1947 while clearing mines from the Great Barrier Reef.

On the Gunline. U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy Warships Off Vietnam, 1965-1973

On the Gunline. U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy Warships Off Vietnam, 1965-1973 PDF Author: David D. Bruhn
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780788458958
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 374

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Book Description
During the Vietnam War, 270 U.S. Navy and four Royal Australian Navy warships served at various times on the gunline. Within this armada were the battleship New Jersey, ten cruisers, 212 destroyers, fifty destroyer escorts, and the inshore fire support ship Carronade. When necessary, naval guns poured out round after round, until their barrels overheated and turned red, exterior paint blistered, and rifled-barrel liners were worn smooth. Allied troops locked in battle with North Vietnamese Army or Viet Cong troops in South Vietnam were grateful for artillery support from the sea. When North Vietnam launched the Easter Offensive across the DMZ in 1972, eight to ten ships in line, abreast, often firing simultaneously and around the clock, delivered desperately needed fire support. At one point, over forty cruisers and destroyers were serving together on the gunline. Warships conducting SEA DRAGON and LINEBACKER operations--naval bombardment of military targets along the coast of North Vietnam--came under fire on a number of occasions. Runs in to within five miles of a hostile shore, to strike Vinh, Haiphong, and other targets, often preceded duels with shore batteries. Most such action occurred at mission completion as ships zigzagged, while racing seaward at high speed to clear the coast, to throw off the aim of enemy gunners. This book highlights the grit, determination, and heroism of young men--many who would likely have preferred the laid-back lifestyle of the 1960s, were it not for their country's call to arms. Photographs; maps and diagrams; appendices; a bibliography; and an index to full-names, places and subjects add value to this work.

A Very Rude Awakening

A Very Rude Awakening PDF Author: Peter Grose
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1741762456
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
In May of 1942, the war seemed very far away to most Sydneysiders - until the night the three Japanese midget submarines crept into the harbour and caused an unforgettable night of mayhem, high farce, chaos and courage. A ground-breaking new look at one of the most extraordinary stories of Australia at war. On the night of 31 May 1942, Sydney was doing what it does best: partying. The theatres, restaurants, dance halls, illegal gambling dens, clubs and brothels offered plenty of choice to roistering sailors, soldiers and airmen on leave in Australia's most glamorous city. The war seemed far away. Newspapers devoted more pages to horse racing than to Hitler. That Sunday night the party came to a shattering halt when three Japanese midget submarines crept into the harbour, past eight electronic indicator loops, past six patrolling Royal Australian Navy ships, and past an anti-submarine net stretched across the inner harbour entrance. Their arrival triggered a night of mayhem, courage, chaos and high farce which left 27 sailors dead and a city bewildered. The war, it seemed, was no longer confined to distant desert and jungle. It was right here at Australia's front door. Written at the pace of a thriller and based on new first person accounts and previously unpublished official documents, A Very Rude Awakening is a ground-breaking and myth-busting look at one of the most extraordinary stories ever told of Australia at war.

Sir William Rooke Creswell and the Foundation of the Australian Navy

Sir William Rooke Creswell and the Foundation of the Australian Navy PDF Author: Sheila Dwyer
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 144385882X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
The six Australian colonies united on 1st January 1901 to become the Commonwealth of Australia. One of the reasons given for this federation was that the Commonwealth could provide a common defence. William Rooke Creswell argued that, as an island continent, Australia could not defend itself without a navy. He saw no point in having a 70,000 strong army if only one enemy battleship could destroy port cities and disrupt maritime trade and sea communications. Creswell was not alone in his campaign to establish a navy for Australia but he was the one constant advocate throughout the years from his first proposals on a navy for Australia in 1886 to when the first ships of the Australian Fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour in October 1913.

Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II

Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II PDF Author: Francis Edwin McMurtrie
Publisher: Gramercy Books
ISBN: 9780517679630
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Describes the ships used by the British, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and American navies during World War II

How to Defend Australia

How to Defend Australia PDF Author: Hugh White
Publisher: La Trobe University Press
ISBN: 1743820976
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
A brilliant and important book about Australia’s future Can Australia defend itself in the Asian century? How seriously ought we take the risk of war? Do we want to remain a middle power? What kind of strategy, and what Australian Defence Force, do we need? In this groundbreaking book, Hugh White considers these questions and more. With exceptional clarity and frankness, he makes the case for a reconceived defence of Australia. Along the way he offers intriguing insights into history, technology and the Australian way of war. Hugh White is the country’s most provocative, revelatory and yet realistic commentator on Australia’s strategic and defence orientation. In an age of power politics and armed rivalry in Asia, it is time for fresh thinking. In this controversial and persuasive contribution, White sets new terms for one of the most crucial conversations Australia needs to have. ‘This book, by one of Australia’s leading defence policy thinkers, will be a very important contribution to our national discussion in coming years. Hugh White tackles many challenging issues and opens up the new debate that we need to have as Australia plots its course through a changing international environment.’—Robert O’Neill, former Chichele Professor of the history of war, University of Oxford ‘Hugh White is among our most knowledgeable and practised strategists. While I am strongly supportive of the US alliance, How to Defend Australia is a serious work from a serious patriot that requires close reading. It deserves a wide audience.’—Kim Beazley

Australia's Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise

Australia's Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise PDF Author: J. L. Birkler
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In 2015, the Australian government will produce a new Defence White Paper to outline revised and refined defense objectives. As it prepares the new report, a basic question facing the government is whether Australia should buy ships from foreign shipbuilders or support a domestic naval shipbuilding industry. This question is complex, containing many facets and issues that often center on cost trade-offs and economic considerations, but that also touch upon important national and strategic concerns.

Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I

Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I PDF Author: John Evelyn Moore
Publisher: Crescent
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Reproduced from the wartime editions of Jane's All the World's Ships.

Cruiser

Cruiser PDF Author: Mike Carlton
Publisher: Random House Australia
ISBN: 1864711337
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 722

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Book Description
Of all the Australians who fought in the Second World War, none saw more action nor endured so much of its hardship and horror as the crew of the cruiser HMAS Perth. Most were young--many were still teenagers--from cities and towns, villages and farms across the nation. In three tumultuous years they did battle with the forces of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Vichy French, and, finally, the Imperial Japanese Navy. They were nearly lost in a hurricane in the Atlantic. In the Mediterranean in 1941 they were bombed by the Luftwaffe and the Italian Air Force for months on end until, ultimately, during the disastrous evacuation of the Australian army from Crete, their ship took a direct hit and thirteen men were killed. After the fall of Singapore in 1942, HMAS Perth was hurled into the forlorn campaign to stem the Japanese advance towards Australia. Off the coast of Java in March that year she met an overwhelming enemy naval force. Firing until her ammunition literally ran out, she was sunk with the loss of 353 of her crew, including her much-loved captain and the Royal Australian Navy's finest fighting sailor, 'Hardover' Hec Waller. Another 328 men were taken into Japanese captivity, most to become slave labourers in the infinite hell of the Burma-Thai railway. Many died there, victims of unspeakable atrocity. Only 218 men, less than a third of her crew, survived to return home at war's end. Cruiser, by journalist and broadcaster Mike Carlton, is their story. And the story of those who loved them and waited for them.