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All the articles beginning with the latest
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A Brief history of Ships Bells
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 Bells have a centuries-long tradition of varied use in the navies and merchant fleets of the world. They have been used for signaling, keeping time, and providing alarm. Their functional and ceremonial uses have made them a symbol of considerable significance to the United States Navy. Read the article.
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Batons of The Duke of Wellington
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 Absolutely amazing that the Iron Duke would be so honoured by the crowned heads of Europe, I cannot cite any other Field Marshal who managed to be awarded any Baton other than his own country's one. Read the article.
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Britain launches first mammoth Submarine in the Astute Class of 4 new boats
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 Britain launched a massive sub that can hear a ship from across the Atlantic in June 08, 2007. She is four years late and a massive $900 million over-budget. (Wonder what Total Cost is?) But when the Royal Navy's super-sub HMS Astute finally arrived, she made for an awesome sight. An incredible new submarine to break all previous records in size, equipment, armament etc. Read the article.
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Extracts from James Dixon's Diary, a WW1 sailor serving in HMAS Australia, flagship of the RAN
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 WW1 service men and women have died, and with them their stories that helped to shape our nation in its early days after Foundation of the Commonwealth of Australia on January 1st. 1901.
I strongly believe that a record such at this one from James deserves to be preserved, hence this attempt to pay tribute to a young RAN sailor who soon found himself and his ship mates serving in the unforgiving North Sea, far from home and family,with the ever dreaded coaling ship always looming close by. Read the article.
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The Pel's Fishing Owl ( Scotopelia Peli )
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 Whilst watching a documentary about the Kalahari I was fascinated to see Sea Eagles and a bird species I was totally unaware of Pel's Fishing Owl at work catching fish. One of the world's largest Owls, can have a five foot wing span, it has the habit of fluffing up its head feathers to appear even bigger. Read the article.
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SS City of Launceston, a short life
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 Within about an hour the ship collided with the incoming 500 ton ship SS Penola out of Adelaide and under the command of Captain Snewin. Penola rammed into the starboard side of the City of Launceston, her bow penetrating the Captain's cabin and water started to rush into the stricken vessel. Read the article.
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RAN Reservists at Gallipoli, 1915
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 A great deal has been written about the Diggers of the AIF at Gallipoli, and the birth of the ANZAC tradition. However, very little is known about a team of Australian Naval Reservists who made up the RAN Bridging Train who spent some four months ashore at Sulva Bay, north of Anzac Cove, and who were the last to leave in the evacuation of December 1915. Even today, 92 years after this extraordinary effort at Gallipoli, the exploits of the RAN Bridging Train remain little recognised. Read the article.
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HM Naval Base Portsmouth
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 I served in Portsmouth's Naval Schools of Gunnery, Signals, and Navigation taking my Sub Lieutenant's course in 1941. Post war I was appointed to HMS Vernon at Portsmouth in 1946, as part of my courses to qualify as a Specialist Torpedo- Anti Submarine Officer. Read the article.
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German Field Marshal Otto Moritz Walther Model. ( 1891- 1945 )
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 Model was the Field Marshal that Hitler always sent for when the going was really tough, his contemporaries in the Army are usually associated with a particular campaign, eg, Rommel with North Africa, and Paulus with Stalingrad, but Walther Model was used in areas that were critical to the regime. He earned the nickname of " Hitler's Fireman. " Read the article.
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Enemy Submarine Activity off the Australian Coast in WW2
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 Over 30 months, 27 Japanese Submarines had been busy in Australian waters, their main thrust over 12 months between June 1942 and June 1943. 18 ships, of 86,600 tons were sunk off our east coast, and the small Mamutu in northern latitudes, another 25 ships had suffered some damage when attacked, but still survived. Read the article.
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German Aircraft Carrier Graf Zeppelin never to be commissioned
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 By 1943 Adolf Hitler was not too interested in anything Navy, and the frustrated Raeder asked to be relieved, he was accommodated by Hitler, and Karl Donitz, the Submarine chief took charge. He was not at all interested in seeing an aircraft carrier gaining more focus than his beloved U-Boat arm, and all work stopped on Graf Zeppelin... Read the article.
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The Role of the War Correspondent
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 War has been reported on by intrepid war correspondents for many years, over time their role has changed, some times given a free rein, at others absolutely fettered, and under strict control and censorship by Head Quarters. Over time, the role of the front line war correspondent relying on his wits, ability, and taking the same risks as the fighting man in the thick of the action, has changed dramatically, we now seek the instant report by satellite, like that provided by CNN. Read the article.
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Field Marshal Erich von Manstein. ( 1887- 1973 )
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Given that both his natural and step father were Generals it may well have been expected that young Erich would walk in their footsteps to serve in the Army. There can be little doubt that of all Hitler's Field Marshals, Erich Manstein was the best and most brilliant. Read the article.
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Wolf Packs slaughter ships in Convoys SC-7 and HX-79, in October 1940
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 This became one of the most famous Wolf Pack attacks between the nights of October 16th to the 19th, 1940. Convoy SC7 was repeatedly attacked by a pack of seven boats, sinking 20 ships out of 34 in the convoy. The very next night, convoy HX79 was attacked with further losses of 13 ships, making a total of 33 ships in 48 hours. These attacks mounted against the two convoys came to be known as “The Night of the Long Knives”. Read the article.
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The Liberty Bell
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 "Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof - Lev. XXV, v. x. By order of the Assembly of the Province of Pensylvania [sic] for the State House in Philada." Read the article.
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Luftwaffe attack their own Destroyers on February 22nd. 1940
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The aircraft now returned machine gun fire, seemingly assuring all the ships it was an enemy plane. But Max Schulz reported this aircraft was in fact friendly, one of her lookouts had spotted a German Cross on a wing, but no one else wanted to accept that report, especially after that 1st. exchange of gunfire.
Read the article.
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Operation Pastorious. German Saboteurs came by night in June of 1942
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 Adolf Hitler ordered the school to train agents whose task would be to infiltrate into the United States of America to destroy vital power plants, factories, and communications. Eight men were chosen, two naturalised citizens of the US, and six Germans who had at one time lived in the US. This group were given a crash course in the art of sabotage at Quentz Farm. Read the article.
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Saved by Walter Schmietenknop
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 U-767 was detected by the British Support Group 14. Fame attacked. She reported 2-3 hits at 95 feet, and U-767 was doomed, sinking in 240 feet of water.
Only one crew member from her complement of 50 escaped, and this was Walter Schmietenknop. He was picked up by HMS Fame and now tells his remarkable story, "Saved."
Read the article.
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Athenia Manuscript authored by Judith Evelyn
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Judith's Manuscript ( tied up with ribbon ) covered her sailing, being sunk, and rescued from the liner Athenia, in the first casualty of the WW2 U-Boat war in the Atlantic. The ship was sunk by U-30 on Sunday the 3rd.of September 1939 the very first day that WW2 had been declared.
93 passengers and 19 crew members died. Read the article.
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Spitfires over Edinburgh in WW2
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 603 pilots flying the famous Spitfire Fighter, aided by their brothers in arms from Glasgow's 602 Squadron shot down three of the enemy aircraft. The Dornier 111 which crashed in East Lothia was the first German aircraft to be destroyed over Britain in WW2. A fourth bomber was accounted for by AA fire near North
Queensferry in Fife. Read the article.
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Index to Naval Operations articles on Ahoy
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 So that our readers who may be interested in articles on AHOY that covered a number of actions in WW2, and were prefaced by the term " Operations" in their title, and to make it simpler to access them, we have decided to consolidate this group under the heading: OPERATIONS PAGES, in the index on the left hand side of our Home Page. Read the article.
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Shot at Dawn, WW1 Army Executions
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 We now live in totally different times in 2006, back during WW1 it was deemed necessary to shoot 306 so called deserters or men showing cowardice to Make an example of them, no doubt to deter many others from following their example. Read the article.
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Only one Australian Serviceman is buried at Arlington National Cemetery
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Pilot Officer Milne died on a World War II air mission on November 26, 1942. He was a member of a multinational flight crew whose remains were discovered in New Guinea in 1989. Since his remains, and those of the United States Army Air Corps Technical Sergeant (Joseph E. Paul), were individually unidentifiable, they were buried together in the same casket, in grave 4754, Section 34, Arlington National Cemetery. Read the article.
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Shropshire Room Commissioned at HMAS Kuttabul
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 On Wednesday 5 July 2006 at 1030, the name Shropshire was “recommissioned” into the RAN, although this time not as a capital ship, nor even in a sea going capacity. The Shropshire Room was named in a ceremony at Maritime Command Headquarters within the grounds of HMAS Kuttabul at Potts Point in Sydney, continuing a name that served the RAN so well in WW2 and beyond. Read the article.
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Adolf Hitler and his WW2 Field Marshals
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 Work in progress
This article will cover 27 German Officers, 19 Army, 6 Luftwaffe, and 2 Navy. They will appear in alphabetical order, Army, Luftwaffe and Navy, selected in that way because of the number of Officers in each arm of the Service. Read the article.
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I Like the Navy
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I LIKE standing on the bridge wing at sunrise with salt spray in my face and clean ocean winds whipping in from the four quarters of the globe, the ship beneath me feeling like a living thing as her engines drive her through the sea.
Anon. R.A.N. (Retired) Read the article.
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Promoted to Field Marshal in unusual circumstances, and made Military history by being the first to hold that rank and be captured, never to be forgiven by Hitler. 
It took Otto and his men until September 8th. 1943 to locate where Mussolini was being held prisoner. The Commando Captain took a look via an aircraft at the Gran Sasso Hotel, high up in the Apennine Mountain range, and decided the only way to try and free Mussolini was by the use of Gliders. 
September 1939 brought the outbreak of the Second World War and Capt. Downer laid aside his British India uniform for that of the Royal Navy. His service was mainly in corvettes and frigates, first taking part in anti-submarine patrols off Norway in the Narvik area, and then in the Western Approaches, based at Liverpool and Birkenhead. 
Ban fired his second torpedo, to once more miss Chicago by some 4 meters, it ran aground on the East side of Garden Island, but did not blow up. Ban now successfully exited the harbour through the boom gate he had earlier entered, and took his Midget through Sydney Heads to the open sea, but never made the rendevous with his Mother Submarine, to disappear, his location and fate unknown over the next 64 years. 
The U.S. carriers were not at Pearl Harbor. 
"The steam powered vessel, the Savannah, has arrived at this port from the city of Savannah, Georgia, after a voyage of twenty seven days. This is the first ocean crossing by this type of boat and materially reduces the time formerly required for the Atlantic Ocean voyage." 
The sea is forced to give up one more of it secrets so tightly held these past 63 years. The Iron Knight lies 135 meters below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, fishermen's nets snagged on her bridge, proved to be the key to her discovery. 
