The Royal Australian Navy Memorial on Anzac Parade in Canberra, the national capital of Australia, honours the sailors who have served to protect the nation. On 10 July 1911, the

Commonwealth Naval Forces The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal 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 ...

were renamed the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal 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 ...

. The RAN has served, in all oceans, in conflict and peace, since then. The memorial was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 March 1986, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the formation of the RAN.

Design

Bronze figures feature in the memorial and show the daily activities of naval life; the geometric forms, such as the anchor chain, depict elements of a ship. The torrents of water complement the dynamic forms of the work. (The memorials along Anzac Parade were specifically exempted from water restrictions during the

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

of 2005.) The memorial is also known as ''Sailors and Ships - Interaction and Interdependence'', and was designed and executed by

Ante Dabro Ante Dabro (born 13 January 1938, Čavoglave, Croatia) is a Croatian-born Australian artist/sculptor and art teacher who has lived and worked in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory since the late 1960s. Dabro's sculptures are typified by ...

in collaboration with Lester Firth and Associates, and Robert Woodward.

References

{{Australian war memorials Navy Memorial, Canberra Navy Memorial, Canberra Memorial, Canberra Naval monuments and memorials Outdoor sculptures in Canberra