HMAS Vendetta (D08) - Design and Construction

Design and Construction

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. 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 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. Vendetta 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.

Vendetta's main armament consisted of six 4.5-inch guns mounted in three twin turrets, two forward and one aft. 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 at Melbourne, Victoria 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 HMAS Vendetta) 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. Vendetta's bow breached the caisson, and threatened to flood the dock with HMAS Quickmatch 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, Voyager, Vendetta, and Vampire, 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".