The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of Defence (MINDEF) and the Chief of Defence Force (CDF). The Department of Defence as part of the Australian Public Service administers the ADF.
HMAS Maryborough (J195/B248/A122), named for the city of Maryborough, Queensland, was one of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II, and one of 20 built on Admiralty order but manned by personnel of and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). She was the first naval vessel built in Queensland for the Royal Australian Navy during World War II.
Vice Admiral Christopher Angus Ritchie is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy, who served as Chief of Navy from 2002 to 2005.
The Royal Australian Naval College (RANC), commonly known as HMAS Creswell, is the naval academy of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). It consists of the RAN School of Survivability and Ship's Safety, Kalkara Flight, the Beecroft Weapons Range and an administrative support department. It is located between Jervis Bay Village and Greenpatch on the shores of Jervis Bay in the Jervis Bay Territory. Since 1915, the RANC has been the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Australian Navy.
HMAS Bathurst (J158), named for the city of Bathurst, New South Wales, was the lead ship of 60 Bathurst-class corvettes constructed during World War II and one of 20 built for the Admiralty but manned by personnel of and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Constructed during 1940, the ship spent most of her early career operating with the British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean. She returned to Australian waters in late 1944, then was deployed to New Guinea in 1945, but saw little action. Bathurst was paid off in 1946, and sold to a Sydney scrap merchant in 1948.
Admiral Sir Anthony Monckton Synnot, was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy, who served as Chief of the Defence Force Staff from 1979 to 1982.
Rear Admiral James Vincent Purcell Goldrick, was an Australian naval historian, analyst of contemporary naval and maritime affairs, and a senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Following his retirement from the RAN, Goldrick was a fellow at the Sea Power Centre – Australia and an adjunct professor in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy. He was also a member of the Naval Studies Group at the Australian Centre for the Study of Armed Conflict and Society, an adjunct professor in the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University and a professorial fellow of the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security at the University of Wollongong. He was a visiting fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford in the first half of 2015, and a non-resident Fellow of the Lowy Institute from 2013 to 2018.
Vice Admiral Russell Harry Crane, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), who served as the Chief of Navy from July 2008 until his retirement in June 2011.
Vice Admiral Matthew John Tripovich, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy. He served as Chief Capability Development Group from 2007 until his retirement in October 2010.
Rear Admiral Nigel Stephen Coates, was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy.
Admiral Sir George Michael Zambellas, is a retired Royal Navy officer. He was the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from April 2013 until he handed over duties to Admiral Sir Philip Jones in April 2016.
Vice Admiral Sir Henry Mackay Burrell, was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). He served as Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) from 1959 to 1962. Born in the Blue Mountains, Burrell entered the Royal Australian Naval College in 1918 as a 13-year-old cadet. His first posting at sea was aboard the cruiser HMAS Sydney. During the 1920s and 1930s, Burrell served for several years on exchange with the Royal Navy, specialising as a navigator. During World War II, he filled a key liaison post with the US Navy, and later saw action as commander of the destroyer HMAS Norman, earning a mention in despatches.
Fleet Command is responsible for the command, operations, readiness, training and force generation of all ships, submarines, aircraft squadrons, diving teams, and shore establishments of the Royal Australian Navy. Fleet Command is headquartered at HMAS Kuttabul in Sydney, and is led by the Commander Australian Fleet (COMAUSFLT), also referred to as Fleet Commander Australia (FCAUST), which is a rear admiral (two-star) appointment.
The Navy Command is the current headquarters body of the Royal Navy, and as of 2012 its major organisational grouping. It is a hybrid, neither a command, nor simply an installation. Royal Navy official writings describe Navy Command Headquarters both as a physical site, on Whale Island, Hampshire, a collective formed of the most senior RN officers, and as a budgetary grouping.
Rear Admiral Stephen Richard Gilmore, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy. He served as Commander Australian Fleet from October 2009 until December 2011, and as the Head Australian Defence Staff (Washington) and Australian Defence Attaché at the Embassy of Australia, Washington, D.C. from January 2014 until his retirement in 2017.
Rear Admiral Trevor Norman Jones, is a retired senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). He served as Deputy Chief of Navy from 2011 to 2013, Head Military Strategic Commitments from April 2013 to December 2014, and the Commander Joint Task Force 633 from December 2014 to January 2016.
Vice Admiral Raymond James Griggs, is an Australian senior public servant and a former senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy. He served as Chief of Navy from June 2011 to June 2014, before being appointed Vice Chief of the Defence Force until his transfer to the reserve in July 2018.
Vice-Admiral Paul Andrew Maddison, is a Canadian academic, former diplomat and retired officer of the Royal Canadian Navy. He served as Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy from 22 July 2011 to 21 June 2013. He subsequently served as the High Commissioner of Canada to Australia from August 2015 until May 2019.
Rear Admiral Allan Kendall du Toit, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy, who served as Australia's Military Representative to NATO and the European Union from 2013 until his retirement in 2016. Du Toit previously served as the Commander Border Protection Command until being succeeded by Rear Admiral Tim Barrett in February 2010.
Vice Admiral Stuart Campbell Mayer, is a retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Navy. He joined the navy via the Royal Australian Naval College at HMAS Creswell in 1984 and qualified as a Principal Warfare Officer in 1994. He commanded HMAS Canberra (2002–04), HMAS Anzac (2007–09) and the International Stabilisation Force (2009–10), and deployed on operations to the Persian Gulf, East Timor, and the Arabian Sea during the Iraq War. He served as Commander Australian Fleet from 2014 to 2018, Head Force Design within the Vice Chief of Defence Force Group from 2018 to 2019, and Deputy Commander United Nations Command, based in South Korea, from 2019 to 2021. He retired from the navy in 2022 and was appointed a partner in Ernst & Young's consulting division.
