HMAS Vampire (D68/I68) was a V class

V and W class destroyer

The V and W class was an amalgam of six similar classes of destroyer built for the Royal Navy under the War Emergency Programme of the First World War and generally treated as one class...

 destroyer of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 (RN) and Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN). Launched in 1917 as HMS Wallace, the ship was renamed and commissioned into the RN later that year. Vampire was loaned to the RAN in 1933, and operated as a depot tender until just before World War II. Reactivated for war service, the destroyer served in the Mediterranean as part of the Scrap Iron Flotilla

Scrap Iron Flotilla

The Scrap Iron Flotilla was an Australian destroyer group that operated in the Mediterranean and Pacific during World War II. The name scrap iron flotilla was bestowed upon the group by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels....

, and was escorting the British warships and during their loss to Japanese aircraft

Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse

The sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a Second World War naval engagement that took place north of Singapore, off the east coast of Malaya, near Kuantan, Pahang where the British Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse were sunk by land-based bombers and...

 in the South China Sea in December 1941. Vampire was sunk on 9 April 1942 by Japanese aircraft while sailing with the aircraft carrier from Trincomalee.

Construction

The destroyer was one of five Admiralty V class flotilla leader

Flotilla leader

A flotilla leader was a warship suitable for commanding a flotilla of destroyers or other small warships, typically a small cruiser or a large destroyer...

s ordered by the RN in the 1916–17 construction program. 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, the main differences were limited to the layout of the bridge and accommodation areas.

Vampire had a standard displacement

Displacement (ship)

A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

 of 1,188 tons, and a deep load displacement of 1,489 tons. She was 312 foot in length overall and 300 feet (91.4 m) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 29 foot, and a maximum draught of 13 foot. Propulsion machiney consisted of three White Forster boilers supplying two Brown-Curtis steam turbines, which provided 27000 shp to the destroyer's two propellers. Maximum speed was 34 knots (18.5 m/s), and Vampire could sail 3500 nautical miles (6,482 km) at 15 knots (8.2 m/s). The standard ship's company was made up of 6 officers and 113 sailors.

Main armament for a V class destroyer consisted of four QF 4 inches (101.6 mm) Mark V guns

QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun

The QF 4 inch Mk V gun was a Royal Navy gun of World War I which was adapted on HA mountings to the heavy anti-aircraft role both at sea and on land, and was also used as a coast defence gun.-Naval service:...

. This was supplemented by a QF 2-pounder gun

QF 2 pounder naval gun

The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...

 (with a second installed in Jaunary 1942), two twin Lewis gun

Lewis Gun

The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...

 mountings, a single Lewis gun (later replaced by a 4-barrel Vickers .303 gun), and two torpedo tube sets (initially 3-tube, later replaced by 4-tube sets). Four depth charge chutes were fitted during construction, with two depth charge throwers installed later; the destroyer could carry up to 50 charges.

The ship was laid down as HMS Wallace by J. Samuel White & Co Ltd

J. Samuel White

J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White . It came to prominence during the Victorian era...

 at Cowes

Cowes

Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...

 on the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

 on 10 October 1916, and was launched on 21 May 1917. In July 1917, the ship was renamed Vampire, and was commissioned into the RN on 22 September 1917.

Transfer to RAN

In 1933, it was decided to replace the five S class destroyers

S class destroyer (1916)

The S class were a class of 67 destroyers built from 1917 for the Royal Navy. The design was based on the Admiralty modified R class and all ships had names beginning with S or T....

 (HMA Ships , , , , and ) and the flotilla leader on loan to the RAN with newer ships. Vampire, along with three sister ships (the V class destroyer and the W class destroyers and ) and the Scott class flotilla leader  were selected by the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

 for loan to Australia as a flotilla.

The five vessels were paid off from RN service at Portsmouth, England on 11 October 1933, and were commissioned into the RAN on the same day. Less than a week later, the ships left for Australia, arriving in Sydney on 21 December. Vampire was paid off into reserve on 31 January 1934, but was recommissioned for three days in mid-July to be sailed down to Flinders Naval Depot for use as a tender. The destroyer remained in "reserve commission" until 11 May 1938, when she was recommissioned for full service.

World War II – Mediterranean

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

Scrap Iron Flotilla

The Scrap Iron Flotilla was an Australian destroyer group that operated in the Mediterranean and Pacific during World War II. The name scrap iron flotilla was bestowed upon the group by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels....

") as they were deployed to the Mediterranean Theatre. From her arrival until April 1940, Vampire was primarily assigned to convoy escort duties between Malta and Marseilles. The destroyer operated as an escort and anti-submarine patrol ship from the end of April, and escorted the British aircraft carrier during the Battle of Calabria

Battle of Calabria

The Battle of Calabria, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in World War II. It was fought between the Italian Royal Navy and the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The battle occurred 30 miles to the east of Punta Stilo, the "toe" of Italy , on 9 July 1940...

 on 9 July. 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.
After repairs in Alexandria, Vampire resumed escort and patrol duties, and on several occasions was unsuccessfully used in attempts to lure the Italian fleet to where they could be engaged by the Allies. In late October and early November, the early phases of the Battle of Greece

Battle of Greece

The Battle of Greece is the common name for the invasion and conquest of Greece by Nazi Germany in April 1941. Greece was supported by British Commonwealth forces, while the Germans' Axis allies Italy and Bulgaria played secondary roles...

, the destroyer escorted convoys in Greek waters, before being deployed to aid the Western Desert Campaign

Western Desert Campaign

The Western Desert Campaign, also known as the Desert War, was the initial stage of the North African Campaign during the Second World War. The campaign was heavily influenced by the availability of supplies and transport. The ability of the Allied forces, operating from besieged Malta, to...

 as an escort. On 20 December, Vampire stripped her engines, forcing the destroyer to dock for repairs. These were completed on 8 January 1941, and Vampire was sent back to Greece, where she operated until May, aiding in the Allied reinforcement (Operation Lustre

Operation Lustre

Operation Lustre was an action during World War II, involving the dispatch of British, Australian, New Zealand and Polish troops from Egypt to Greece in March and April 1941, in response to the failed Italian invasion and the looming threat of German intervention, revealed through Ultra.It was seen...

) and evacuation (Operation Demon). She was then deployed back to the Western Desert Campaign, operating as part of the "Tobruk Ferry Service

Tobruk Ferry Service

The Tobruk Ferry Service was the name given to the force of Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy ships involved in the supply of Allied forces involved in the Siege of Tobruk...

"; ships transporting supplies and reinforcements to the Allied-controlled, besieged town of Tobruk

Siege of Tobruk

The siege of Tobruk was a confrontation that lasted 240 days between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War...

. However, after two trips, the destroyer had to be removed from service because further engine problems were causing the ship to vibrate excessively at speeds over 16 knots (31.4 km/h). The ship sailed to Singapore for major repairs, which lasted until late 1941.

World War II – British Eastern Fleet

In December 1941, she joined to the British Eastern Fleet

British Eastern Fleet

The British Eastern Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy which existed from 1941 to 1971...

 at Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

, Ceylon. In the first week of December, the battlecruiser started on a trip to Australia with Vampire and as escorts, but the force was recalled. Early in the morning of 8 December (Singapore time), Singapore came under attack by Japanese aircraft. '"Repulse and the British battleship , which were in the harbor at the time, shot back with anti-aircraft fire; no planes were shot down, and the ships sustained no damage. After receiving the reports of the attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

 and invasions of Siam by the Japanese, Force Z (consisting of Prince of Wales and Repulse, escorted by Vampire, , , and Tenedos) put to sea at 1730 hours on 8 December.

At 20:55 hours, Admiral Philips cancelled the operation, and ordered the force to return to Singapore. On the way back, they were spotted and reported by Japanese submarine I-58

Japanese submarine I-58

I-58 was a Japanese B3 type cruiser submarine that served in the final year of World War II. Modified to carry Kaiten manned torpedoes, she damaged two enemy destroyers with them, but her most significant success was the , sunk with conventional torpedoes on 30 July 1945...

. The next morning, 10 December, they received a report of Japanese landings at Kuantan

Kuantan

Kuantan is the state capital of Pahang, the 3rd largest state in Malaysia. It is situated near the mouth of the Kuantan River and faces the South China Sea. If one measures the distance along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, it is located roughly halfway between Singapore and Kota Bharu...

, and Express was sent to investigate the area, finding nothing. That afternoon, Prince of Wales and Repulse were attacked and sunk

Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse

The sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse was a Second World War naval engagement that took place north of Singapore, off the east coast of Malaya, near Kuantan, Pahang where the British Royal Navy battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Repulse were sunk by land-based bombers and...

 by 85 Japanese aircraft off Kuantan aircraft from the 22nd Air Flotilla based at Saigon. Vampire rescued 225 of the ships' 2,081 survivors from the sea, and transported them to Singapore.

On 26 January 1942, following reports that an unescorted group of Japanese troopships were sailing near Endau

Endau

Endau is a small town in Malaysia. It lies on the northern tip of east Johor and the southern tip of Pahang. It is famous as one of the largest fishing ports on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia.Located north of Mersing...

, Malaya, Vampire and were ordered to intercept

Battle off Endau

The Battle off Endau was a Second World War naval battle. It took place off Endau on 27 January 1942. Part of the Battle of Malaya, it was the first major naval engagement since the sinking of the battleship and the battlecruiser , and the last effort by the Royal Navy to intercept Japanese convoy...

. Reaching the Japanese convoy at 0200 the next morning, the two destroyers found the troopships were protected by the cruiser Sendai

Japanese cruiser Sendai

was a Sendai-class light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after the Sendai River in southern Kyūshū.-Background:Sendai was the lead ship of the three vessels completed in her class of light cruisers, and like other vessels of her class, she was intended for use as the flagship...

 and six destroyers. The allied destroyers attempted to escape: Vampire was successful, but Thanet was sunk.

On 11 February, Vampire was attached to Eastern Fleet forces operating in the Indian Ocean. At the start of April, Vampire was ordered to escort the British aircraft carrier from Ceylon, as the Japanese presence in the area was likely to overpower the area.

Loss

Following the Japanese Fast Carrier Task Force's attack on Colombo in early April, Hermes and Vampire were ordered to depart Trincomalee to avoid a follow-up strike. Sailing on April 8, the two ships avoided the aerial bombing of the port early the next morning, but were spotted and attacked by Japanese carrier aircraft at 10:35.

Hermes was lost within twenty minutes, and after the aircraft left, those aboard Vampire thought they had been spared. However, the aircraft had returned to the carriers to rearm, and on their return bombed the destroyer heavily. Vampire shot down at least one aircraft before breaking in half and sinking: her ensign

Ensign

An ensign is a national flag when used at sea, in vexillology, or a distinguishing token, emblem, or badge, such as a symbol of office in heraldry...

the last to submerge. Despite the ferocity of the attack, Vampires commanding officer and eight sailors were the only fatalities.

Vampire was awarded five battle honours for her wartime service: "Calabria 1940", "Libya 1940–41", "Greece 1941", "Crete 1941", and "Indian Ocean 1941–42".

External links

• Sea Power Centre – Australia. HMAS Vampire ship's history