Publication:Sea Talk Winter 2007/A Royal letter to the editor
A Mr G. Parker has called into question a banner that read ‘Happy 106th birthday Royal Australian Navy’ on the centrespread of the Autumn edition of SeaTalk.
He says: “I was a serving member of the Royal Australian Navy for a number of years and was fortunate enough to be serving at the time of the 75th Anniversary celebrations in 1986. Quite a memorable occasion, commemorated by, among other items, the publishing of a limited edition book, the title of which was First 75 Years of the Royal Australian Navy.
“A DVD produced with the assistance of the ABC was also available, the introduction of which, narrated by then Rear Admiral David Martin RAN opened with the words “Since 1911 our boys in blue etc”.
“My own recollection of the history of the service was that it was formally established by Royal Decree by King George V on 10th July 1911, a fact borne out on the web site. Imagine my dismay to read the Autumn 200y edition of SeaTalk to see that the 106th birthday of the Service was celebrated under the heading “Happy 106th birthday Royal Australian Navy”.
“Would you not agree, perhaps the use of the term ‘Royal’ was most inappropriate on this occasion?”
Thank you for drawing this to my attention Mr Parker. According to one reference: “During the period before Federation, each of the six Australian colonies operated their own colonial naval force; these amalgamated in 1901 as the Commonwealth Naval Force. The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) was established in 1911, and in 1913 the fleet steamed through Sydney Heads for the first time.”
I notice from the text of the story that what we were celebrating on March 1 was the ‘foundation’ of the Royal Australian Navy – even though service didn’t bear the appellation ‘Royal’ until 1911.
So I guess we were celebrating the 106th anniversary of the foundation of our Navy.
No I don’t agree that the use of ‘Royal’ was inappropriate – it just took a few years for King George to get around to ‘naming the baby’. - Ed.
