Australian Association for Maritime History

18/08/2026

The Great Circle 2026 Vol 48 No.1 is winging its way to members. To become a member, visit our website at: https://aamh.asn.au

Contents
Robert J King, The Southern Continent of Franciscus Monachus: Australis Ore

Jeremy Prestholdt, Slavery, Indian Ocean Africa and Global Crosscurrents of Forced Migration

Gary L Sturgess and Glen Lambert, ‘out of the usual line of duty’: the Marines on Australia’s First Fleet

Stefan J Ramonat, the Phantom Carpenter: A Convicts Transoceanic Escape in the Wake of Mutiny

Reports
Peter Cooke, Building 'Sophia Jane' Setting the Record Straight
Anna Efstathiadour and Charles Adams, Allied Naval Operations: The Royal Australian Navy and Royal Hellenic Navy in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1940-41

Reviews
Matt Pietrek and Alexandre Gabriel, The Rum Never Sets: 300 Years of Royal Navy & London Dock Rum (Matt Allen)
Marie-Sybille de Vienne, The Chinese in Maritime Southeast Asia (Jessica Buckton)

17/08/2026

AAMH Website back up
Photo: Commonwealth War Grave Cemetrry at Souda Bay on Crete - 85th anniversary of the battle of Crete and evacuation of ANZAC troops featured in the next Newsletter.
https://aamh.asn.au

09/08/2026

AAMH Website is temporarily down.
Coming in the next Newsletter: the Argo mystery; and the 85th commemoration of the evacuation of ANZACs from Crete

28/06/2026

Albany Maritime Festival

Venues across Albany heat up for the annual Maritime Festival. Dive into a month-long celebration of our Port City's cultural and maritime history with us!

20/06/2026

For World Albatross Day, we’re sharing this wonderfully odd photograph of an albatross specimen onboard the Barque Kassa, helpfully marked '12 ft' so no one could miss the main point: albatrosses are very, very large birds with an enormous wingspan.

Albatrosses have always loomed large in maritime life, both in sailors’ stories and in the real, windy world of long ocean passages. Today, they’re also a reminder of the wildlife that shares our seas, and how important it is to protect it.

05/06/2026

Student Travel Bursaries Available Now

AAMH recognizes the value of conferences to networking, and supporting students to present their research to a wider professional audience. AAMH is offering two $1500 travel assistance bursaries to enable tertiary students to travel to conferences in order to present a research paper related to maritime history.

Details:

Maritime history is the study of people and their activities in, on, around and under the waters of the world. This includes oceans, estuaries, rivers, and creeks.

31/05/2026

PS Canally Restored and Operational
Built in 1907 in Koondrook near Echuca, Victoria, the PS Canally was fitted with a steam locomotive engine in 1912 and primarily traded wool from Echuca up the Murrumbidgee River for 10 years.

After her initial trading years, the Canally moved into South Australian waters, where she transported dried fruits between Berri and Morgan from the Riverland settlements. In the 1920s, the PS Canally was pivotal in building the lock and weir system on the Murray River before changing hands between private owners and the Ministry of Public Works in NSW. By the 1950s, she had been repurposed as a barge and eventually sank at Boundary Bend after years of neglect.

It has now been restored and is fully operational in the tourism industry.
Source: https://exploremidmurray.com.au/experience/heritage-riverboats/ps-canally/
Photo credit: Sally May, QLD AAMH Councillor

13/05/2026

08/05/2026

08/05/2026