Captain Alastair Cooper

Captain Alastair Cooper joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1988. A Maritime Warfare Officer, he served at sea in HMA Ships Canberra (II), Melbourne (III) and Fremantle (II), and ashore as Director of the Sea Power Centre – Australia, Commanding Officer Navy Headquarters South Australia (now HMAS Encounter), the research officer to the Chief of Navy and in Navy Capability Division.

He has also worked in private sector telecommunications and as a public servant in the Department of Defence, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the Attorney General’s Department.

Publication highlights

“Mission Command at Sea and Command by Veto” [with Felicity Petrie], in Australian Army Journal, Australian Army Research Centre, Vol XXI, No. 3, 2025

The Navy Chiefs: Australia’s Naval Leaders 1911–1997 [ed. with James Goldrick], Allen and Unwin, 2024

“Where to now for an Australian Maritime School of Strategic Thought”, in Justin Jones (ed), Australian Maritime Strategic Thought 2013–2023, Sea Power Centre Australia, 2023

“Rapid Force Projection – Definitions and Options”, in Rapid Force Projection Conference Proceedings: Defining the Opportunities, Air Power Development Centre, 2020

“From Bradleys Head to Cap St Jacques: HMAS Sydney’s Passage from Light Fleet Carrier to Fast Transport”, in Tom Frame (ed.), The Royal Australian Navy in Vietnam: Lessons and Legacies, Birralee Press, 2015

“Lost at Sea: Missing out on Australia’s Naval History”, in Craig Stockings (ed.), Anzac’s Dirty Dozen: 12 Myths of Australian Military History, NewSouth, 2012 

“An Independent Navy for Australia, 1947-1959”, in Susan Rose (ed.), Naval Miscellany VII, Ashgate Press, 2008

“1945-1954: The Korean War Era” and “1955–1972: The Era of Forward Defence”, in David Stevens (ed.), The Royal Australian Navy, Oxford University Press, 2001

“Naval Forces Come Aground”, US Naval Institute Proceedings, March 1998 

“The Effect of WW2 on the Relationship between the RAN and the RN”, in David Stevens (ed.) The RAN in WW2, Allen and Unwin, 1996

“At the Crossroads: Anglo-Australian Naval Relations 1945–1971”, Journal of Military History, Vol. 58 No. 4, October 1994

Conference papers

“21st Century Seapower”, Royal Australian Navy/Australian Defence Force Academy, King-Hall Naval History Conference, Canberra, 24–25 July 2003

“In the Deep End: The Development of Australian Naval Leadership”, Australian War Memorial History Conference, Remembering 1942, Canberra, 31 May–1 June 2002

“The RAN, Raiders and the Defence of Trade”, Australian War Memorial History Conference, 1941, Canberra, 8 December 2001