HMAS Vendetta was one of three destroyers built for and operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The destroyer was built by Williamstown Naval Dockyard and entered service in 1958. During her early career, Vendetta was deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve on multiple occasions. In 1965 and 1966, the destroyer undertook deterrence patrols during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation. Along with several runs escorting the troop transport to South Vietnam, from late 1969 to early 1970 Vendetta was assigned to combat operations and became the only Australian-built warship to serve in a shore bombardment role during the Vietnam War.
The ship underwent a two-year modernisation from 1971 to 1973, and in December 1974 was one of thirteen RAN warships involved in Operation Navy Help Darwin after Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin. Several more deployments were made to the Far East, up until 1978. In October 1979, the destroyer was decommissioned, and served as a parts hulk for sister ship . Vendetta was sold for ship breaking in January 1987.
Design and construction
The Royal Australian Navy initially ordered four s, 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. Vendetta 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 long, with a beam of , and a draught of at mean, and at full or deep load. Her propulsion system consisted of two Foster Wheeler boilers, feeding two English Electric geared turbines, which provided to two propeller shafts. Vendetta could sail at over , and had a range of at . Her standard ship's company consisted of 20 officers and 300 sailors.
Vendettas main armament consisted of six 4.5-inch guns mounted in three twin turrets, two forward and one aft with a maximum rate of fire of 16 rounds per minute per barrel or 96 rounds per minute overall. Her anti-aircraft outfit consisted of six 40 mm Bofors; two single mountings on the forward superstructure, and two twin mountings on the aft superstructure. Five 21-inch torpedo tubes were fitted to a single pentad mount on the deck between the forward and aft superstructures. For anti-submarine warfare, a Limbo anti-submarine mortar was carried on the aft deck, offset to port.
Vendetta was laid down at Williamstown Naval Dockyard, Melbourne on 4 July 1949. By 1950, it was already apparent that the Australian Darings would not be completed on time, as the Australian dockyards were experiencing difficulty in keeping up with the construction schedule. The destroyer was launched on 3 May 1954 by the widow of Hector Waller, who commanded the Scrap Iron Flotilla (including the original ) during World War II. On 18 July 1958, on the first occasion Vendetta engaged her engines during builder's trials, the destroyer accidentally rammed the Alfred Dock caisson. The collision was caused when the sailor manning the engine telegraph incorrectly relayed an order of "half astern" as "half ahead", then repeated the mistake when the order was repeated to compensate for the first error. Vendettas bow breached the caisson, and threatened to flood the dock with inside. A controlled flooding kept the caisson from failing and prevented damage to Quickmatch or further damage to Vendetta, but the repairs to the destroyer's bow set completion back by three months.
Vendetta was commissioned on 26 November 1958. By the time she was commissioned, the ship's cost increased from A£2.6 million to A£7 million. Only three ships, , Vendetta, and , were completed; the fourth was cancelled to save money. Like the preceding destroyer, Vendetta took her name from the concept of vendetta, with the ship's badge depicting a stiletto dagger clenched in a fist, and the ship carrying the motto "Vindico", Latin for "I Avenge".