HMAS VAMPIRE D 11 was the third of three Australian built Daring class destroyers serving in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). One of the first all welded ships built in Australia, she was laid down 1 st July 1952 and launched 27th October 1956 at Cockatoo Island Dockyard where she was commissioned into the Navy on 23rd June 1959. Between laying down and completion, the ship’s cost increased from A£2.6 million to A£7 million.
Daring Class Destroyers Line Drawing
HMAS VAMPIRE was regularly deployed to South East Asia during her career and she was attached to the Far East Strategic Reserve on five occasions, including during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation, and escorted the troop transport HMAS SYDNEY on six of the latter’s twenty-five transport voyages to Vietnam. In 1977, the destroyer was assigned to escort the Royal Yacht BRITANNIA during Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s visit to Australia. In 1980, Vampire was reclassified as a training ship.
The warship remained in service until 1986, when she was decommissioned and presented to the Australian National Maritime Museum for preservation as a museum ship; the largest museum owned object on display in Australia.
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Sunday 26th April,2020
