HMAS Vendetta (D69)
HMAS Vendetta (D69/I69) (formerly HMS Vendetta (FA3/F29/D69)) was a V-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). One of 25 V class ships ordered for the Royal Navy during World War I, Vendetta entered service in 1917. During World War I, Vendetta participated in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, and operated against Bolshevik forces during the British Baltic Campaign. Most of the ship's post-war career was spent operating in the Mediterranean. In 1933, Vendetta was one of five destroyers selected for transfer to the RAN. Over the next six years, the ship was either involved in peacetime activities or was in reserve, but when World War II started, she was assigned to the Mediterranean as part of the 'Scrap Iron Flotilla'. During the Greek Campaign, Vendetta was involved in the transportation of Allied troops to Greece, then the evacuation to Crete. After, the destroyer served with the Tobruk Ferry Service, and made the highest number of runs to the besieged city of Tobruk. At the end of 1941, Vendetta was docked for refit in Singapore, but after the Japanese invaded, the destroyer had to be towed to Fremantle, then Melbourne. After the refit, which converted the destroyer into a dedicated escort vessel, ended in December 1942, Vendetta spent the rest of World War II operating as a troop and convoy escort around Australia and New Guinea. Vendetta was decommissioned in late 1945, and was scuttled off Sydney Heads in 1948. Design and construction Vendetta was one of 25 V-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during World War I. She had a standard load displacement of 1,090 tons, and a deep displacement of 1,490 tons. The destroyer was in length overall and long between perpendiculars, had a beam of , and a maximum draught of . Propulsion machinery consisted of three Yarrow boilers connected to two Brown-Curtis turbines, which supplied to two propeller shafts. Although designed with a maximum speed of , Vendetta achieved during power trials. The ship's company consisted of 6 officers and 113 sailors. On completion, the ship's main armament consisted of four single QF 4 inch Mk V naval guns. This was supplemented by a quad-barrelled 2-pounder pom-pom, five .303-inch machine guns, and two triple 21-inch torpedo tube sets. Two chutes and four throwers for depth charges were installed later in the ship's career, with a payload of 50 charges carried. When Vendetta was converted into an escort vessel in 1942, her armament was changed to two 4-inch guns, two pom-poms, four 20 mm Oerlikon guns, seven .303-inch guns, and the depth charge equipment. Vendetta was laid down by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, at Govan, Scotland on 25 November 1916. The ship was launched on 3 September 1917. Vendetta was completed on 17 October 1917, and commissioned that day into the Royal Navy. The ship's name came from the concept of vendetta. The original ship's badge depicted a stiletto dagger pointing down at an angle, however,