Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Royal Australian Naval College Magazine, Fourth Number
Royal Australian Naval College Magazine, Fourth Number

Royal Australian Naval College Magazine, Fourth Number

Printer
DateJuly 1916
Object number00055444
NameMagazine
MediumPaper
DimensionsOverall: 245 × 185 × 4 mm
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection gift of Robert Murphy
DescriptionAn issue of the Royal Australian Naval College Magazine, Fourth Number, July 1916. Included in this issue of the magazine is the college log (a calendar of the year’s events), sporting results, in addition to a recap of the war by the editor and an article on the life of Richard Bowen. Of particular note is an extract from Gallipoli from Lieutenant Colonel Gardiner Austin who is noted as having flown the first flag at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. Lieutenant Colonel John Gardiner Austin arranged for a small arms ammunition depot to be established near Hell Spit among the dead and wounded. He raised this flag, an ordnance pennant, within hours of the landings. The pennant was continued to be used throughout the campaign at the depot on Brighton Beach. HistoryCaptain's Point on Jervis Bay was selected by Australia's Parliament as the site of the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC) on 7 November 1911. Construction of the main college buildings was completed in early 1915, and the facility opened on 10 February of that year. In 1930, the RANC moved to Flinders Naval Depot in Victoria as a cost-saving measure driven by the effects of the Great Depression. During this period, the facility's buildings were leased as hotels and guesthouses, although the Royal Australian Navy retained use of those along the waterfront, as well as some housing for married naval personnel. In the early 1950s it became clear that Flinders Naval Depot was becoming overcrowded; consequently, the Australian government decided to relocate the RANC to its original site at Jervis Bay in 1956. The RANC reopened at Jervis Bay in January 1958 and the installation was commissioned HMAS Creswell after Vice Admiral Sir William Creswell, KCMG, KBE.SignificanceThis issue of the RANC Magazine is closely associated with the earliest years of the Royal Australian Naval College (RANC), Australia's authority for the basic and leadership training of officers for service in the Royal Australian Navy. Often nicknamed the 'Cradle of Australia's Navy', the facility has, since its inception, produced some of the nation's most notable naval leaders in both peace and war. The magazine issue is notable because it shows the installation shortly after it was established, and includes articles that reference WWI (which was ongoing at the time the magazine was published).