HMAS Vampire (D11)

HMAS Vampire, HMAS Onslow, and the HM Bark Endeavour replica on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum
History
Australia
Builder:	Cockatoo Island Dockyard
Laid down:	1 July 1953
Launched:	27 October 1956
Commissioned:	23 June 1959
Decommissioned:	13 August 1986
Reclassified:	Training ship (1980)
Motto:	"Audamus" Latin: "Let Us Be Daring"
Nickname(s):	"The Bat Mobile" "The Bat" "The Mean Machine"
Honours and awards:	Malaysia 1964–66 Plus six inherited battle honours
Status:	Preserved as museum ship
General characteristics
Class and type:	Daring class destroyer
Displacement:	2,800 tons standard 3,560 tons full load
Length:	388 ft 11.5 in (118.6 m)
Beam:	42 ft 11.375 in (13.1 m)
Draught:	12 ft 9 in (3.9 m)
Propulsion:	2 × Foster Wheeler boilers, English Electric geared turbines, 2 shafts, 54,000 shp (40,000 kW)
Speed:	Over 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range:	3,700 nautical miles (6,900 km; 4,300 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement:	20 officers, 300 sailors
Sensors and processing systems:	Sonar: Type 170 attack Type 174 search Type 185 submarine detection Radar: Flyplane 3 gunfire director (remove 1970–71) MRS 8 gunfire director (remove 1970–71) 2 × M22 gunfire directors (installed 1970–71) LW-02 air search (installed 1970–71) 8gr-301A surface search and navigation
Armament:	6 × QF 4.5-inch (113-mm) guns (3 dual turrets) 6 × 40-millimetre (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns (2 twin mountings, 2 single mountings) 4 × 0.5-inch (13 mm) Browning machine guns 1 × 5-tube 21-inch (530 mm) Mark IV torpedo launcher 1 × Limbo anti-submarine mortar (later removed) Sea Cat missile system (installed later)

HMAS Vampire 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 constructed at Cockatoo Island Dockyard between 1952 and 1959, and was commissioned into the RAN a day after completion.

Vampire was regularly deployed to South East Asia during her career: 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 Phillip'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.

The Royal Australian Navy initially ordered four Daring class destroyers, which were to be named after the ships of the "Scrap Iron Flotilla" of World War II. The ships were modified during construction: most changes were made to improve habitability, including the installation of air-conditioning.Vampire and her sister ships were the first all-welded ships to be constructed in Australia.

The Darings had a standard displacement of 2,800 tons, which increased to 3,600 tons at full load.Vendetta and her sisters were 390 feet (120 m) long, with a beam of 43 feet (13 m), and a draught of 12 feet 9 inches (3.89 m) at mean, and 14 feet 6 inches (4.42 m) at full or deep load. Her propulsion system consisted of two Foster Wheeler boilers, feeding two English Electric geared turbines, which provided 54,000 horsepower (40,000 kW) to two propeller shafts.Vampire could sail at over 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph), and had a range of 3,700 nautical miles (6,900 km; 4,300 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph). Her standard ship's company consisted of 20 officers and 300 sailors.