Speech transcript. Thank you. The Allied aircraft assigned to Malaya at the time was totally inadequate to oppose the Japanese bombers. Historian Mat McLachlan explores HMAS Vampire, at the Australian National Martime Museum at Darling Harbour in Sydney. [1] Originally, there were to be differences in design between the V class leaders and the rest of the V-class destroyers, but in order to save time in designing the destroyers, changes were limited to the layout of the bridge and accommodation areas. [4] At the start of April, Vampire was ordered to escort the British aircraft carrier HMS Hermes from Ceylon, as the Japanese presence in the area was likely to become dominant. All her crew could do was watch in horror as the British battlecruisers succumbed to the deadly stings of the swarm of Japanese bombers. He was the first battle death in a Royal Australian Navy ship during World War II. Both ships sailed at 1630 and when … HMAS Vampire … The first attack wave of Japanese planes took off in pre-dawn darkness (30 minutes before sunrise) from the aircraft carriers Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu, moving about 200 miles south of Sri Lanka. [4] [9], Hermes was attacked by 45 bombers and sustained 40 hits or very near misses and was lost within twenty minutes. The cruiser was sold for scrapping in 1962. The eighth HMS Worcester, was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II. Built during 1939 and 1940, the destroyer was commissioned into the RAN, although she was ordered and owned by the British government. Following bomb damage repairs at Alexandria, Vampire sailed on 23 July in company with Vendetta (I), screening the cruiser HMS Orion for a diversionary demonstration off Castelorizo Island. During her time in the Mediterranean, Waterhen was involved in escort and patrol duties, performed shore bombardments, and participated in Allied evacuations from Greece and Crete. Vampire had some low calibre anti-aircraft guns, but she found that her 4-inch high angle guns were ineffective. Coordinates: 7°35′N82°5′E / 7.583°N 82.083°E / 7.583; 82.083, 1917-1942 V-class destroyer of the Royal and Royal Australian navies, "Navy Marks 109th Birthday With Historic Changes To Battle Honours", "Royal Australian Navy Ship/Unit Battle Honours", Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy, Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in April 1942, Bombed and sunk by Japanese aircraft on 9 April 1942, 3 × White Forster boilers, 2 × Brown-Curtis turbines, twin screws, generating 27,000, 1 × Lewis .303 gun (later replaced by 1 × 4-barrel Vickers .303 gun), 4 × depth charge chutes (installed later). [1] The only damage sustained by Vampire was the result of near misses and splinters caused by Italian aircraft bombing Eagle: an RN torpedo gunner aboard the destroyer became the first fatality of the war aboard a RAN ship when he died three days later from splinter wounds. HMAS Vampirewas a V-classdestroyerof the Royal Navy(RN) and Royal Australian Navy(RAN). Launched in 1917 as HMS Wallace, the ship was renamed and commissioned into the RN later that year. The National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbor, seen from Sydney Tower the tallest structure in Sydney, Australia, and a favorite observation point for visitors and tourists. Much of her war service was with the Royal Navy and United States Navy in the Indian Ocean and Australia. She was 312 feet 0.75 inches (95.1167 m) in le… HMAS Diamantina is one of the last remaining River Class Frigates from WW2. A British hospital ship, HMS Vita, rescued the members of Vampire's crew that survived the assault. [1] From her arrival until April 1940, Vampire was primarily assigned to convoy escort duties between Malta and Marseilles. Copyright © 2004-2020 Lava Development, LLC., all rights reserved, J. Samuel White & Co Ltd, Cowes, England, UK, 4x101.6mm QF 4in Mk V guns, 1x40mm QF 2pdr gun, 1x7.7mm Vickers gun, 4x7.7mm Lewis guns, 3x3x21in torpedo tubes, 1x12pdr gun (after Apr 1941), 2x2pdr guns (after 5 Jan 1942), 50 depth charges. Vampire performed a rescue of the survivors floating among the flotsam of HMS Repulse, sparing two hundred that escaped the sinking warship of a total crew of eight hundred aboard, an action foreshadowed by the service HMS Vita performed in 1942 for the crew of Vampire herself. Take a 360 degree tour Book a ticket Buy Vampire Merchandise. Sunk in the Battle of the Java Sea, Electra was a witness to many naval battles, including the Battle of the Denmark Strait and the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse. [6] Early in the morning of 8 December (Singapore time), Singapore came under attack by Japanese aircraft. Please refrain from using strong language. One of the first all-welded ships built in Australia, she was constructed at Cockatoo Island Dockyard between 1952 and 1959, and was commissioned into the RAN a day after completion.. [1], Vampire operated in Australian waters until the start of World War II, and on 14 October 1939, joined her sister ships and Stuart (a force nicknamed the "Scrap Iron Flotilla") as they were deployed to the Mediterranean Theatre. [2], Main armament for a V-class destroyer consisted of four QF 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mark V guns. This later Vampire had steamed a total of 808,026 nautical miles during her 27 years of service. It represents end of the era for the ‘big gun’ warship in the RAN, a period where warships used manned guns as their primary offensive armament. HMAS Vampire was the third of three Australian-built Daring class destroyers serving in the Royal Australian Navy. Assembled in 1941, the purpose of the group was to reinforce the British colonial garrisons in the Far East and deter Japanese expansion into British possessions, particularly Malaya and Singapore. Vampirewas loaned to the RAN in 1933, and operated as … [2] Propulsion machinery consisted of three White Forster boilers supplying two Brown-Curtis steam turbines, which provided 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) to the destroyer's two propellers. Hobart was placed in reserve in 1947, but plans to modernise her and return her to service as an aircraft carrier escort, training ship, or guided missile ship were not followed through. [2], On entering service, Vampire was initially assigned to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla. After the war's end, the destroyer was decommissioned and returned to the British. The ship was built during the early 1940s as one of the War Emergency Programme destroyers, and entered service in 1942. Final trials concluded on 26 November. Vampire was awarded for free to players who completed a series of in-game missions in December 2017, and also offered for sale worldwide starting on 5 … HMAS Vampire was the third of three Australian-built Daring class destroyers serving in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). [4] She was then deployed back to the Western Desert Campaign, operating as part of the "Tobruk Ferry Service"; ships transporting supplies and reinforcements to the Allied-controlled, besieged town of Tobruk. World War 2 Medals and Decorations; Navigation. The first RAN ship bearing the name "Vampire" was sunk by Japanese bombers off Ceylon on 9 April while escorting the British light aircraft carrier, HMS Hermes, which was also sunk. [4] Reaching the Japanese convoy at 02:00 the next morning, the two destroyers found the troopships were protected by the cruiser Sendai and six destroyers. In 1933, Waterhen and four other British ships were transferred to the RAN. [4] In September, Commander William Moran was appointed captain of Vampire. Running until 20 December, players will have to take part in five battles, excluding … 50 depth charges. [8] Vampire rescued 225 of the ships' 2,081 survivors from the sea, and transported them to Singapore. Launched in 1917 as HMS Wallace, the ship was renamed and commissioned into the RN later that year. Of note is the frigate HMAS Macquarie crashing through a swell in the Great Australian Bight in 1952, and the Daring-class destroyer HMAS Vampire performing the same feat in 1969. During the war, Hobart was involved in the evacuation of British Somaliland in 1940, fought at the Battle of the Coral Sea and supported the amphibious landings at Guadalcanal and Tulagi in 1942.