Thirty years in the Royal Australian Navy

One man. Seven seas. Thirty years.

An aimless sixteen-year-old yearns to see the world. He finds purpose and adventure when he becomes a sailor in the Royal Australian Navy. In Once a Sailor he tells his story. Through his misguided antics that threaten to sabotage his career to his climb through the ranks, the boy becomes a man.

You will be amazed at the descriptions of the working and living conditions on the navy ships of a time gone by. You’ll be taken on an incredible worldwide voyage as a wilful teen learns respect for authority and climbs the ladder to success. You’ll see him fall and get back up. More than once, until he at last reaches his goal of rising through the ranks to wield his own authority with grace and dignity.

You’ll read anecdotes that will make you laugh, cry, cringe, and cheer. You will feel part of the action as you are taken on the journey with a man who was – Once a Sailor.

About the Author

Ray Rees spent the majority of his working life, thirty-one years in fact, in the Royal Australian Navy. He enlisted as an apprentice shipwright in 1975. His first seafaring adventure was in the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne. He went on to graduate from RMIT with a Bachelor’s Degree of Engineering in 1988 before progressing through the commissioned ranks.

Further sea time, including Gulf War I, interspersed with challenging engineering jobs ashore led him to complete two years as the Marine Engineer Officer in the guided missile destroyer HMAS Brisbane II. Completing the RAN Staff Course and an MBA, he was posted to San Diego, spending three- a-half years working for the United States Navy in ship repair and project management. Returning to Australia, he managed to sustain eighteen ships, large and small before transferring to the Reserves and moving into the private sector.

You’ll no longer find him in the bowels of a fighting ship, instead you will see him preserving and sailing with the Sydney Heritage Fleet on the 1874 Barque James Craig enjoying the wind and the sun on his face in the beautiful waters around Sydney.