>ON this day in 1942 Japanese aircraft sank HMAS Vampire (pictured) and the RN light carrier HMS Hermes. Hermes was torpedoed sank with the loss of 300 men. Bombs broke Vampire’s back when they struck amidships.
Commander William Moran and 7 of his sailors were lost with the ship. The rest of the crew were rescued with Hermes’ survivors by a hospital ship Vita and taken to Trincomalee.
Vampire had survived the Mediterranean campaign as one of the Scrap Iron Flotilla. She had rescued 225 British sailors when HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse were sunk in December 1941.
Vampire was awarded five battle honours for her wartime service: “Calabria 1940”, “Libya 1940–41”, “Greece 1941”, “Crete 1941”, and “Indian Ocean 1941–42”.
