Photos and the story

Vampire

Class	V/W (Scrap Iron Flotilla) class
Type	Destroyer (DD)
Hull	D68
Fate	Sunk. by Japanese aircraft on 9 April 1942, off Ceylon, after HMS Hermes had gone down. Her captain and eight sailors were killed. Not credited to one plane.
Armament (class)	V and W destroyer. Four guns and two funnels.
Command	Moran, William Thomas Alldis Captain from 13 October 1941; In command when she was lost, 9 April 1942

Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.

The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.

HMAS Vampire (D68) was a V-class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy and one of the ships of the Scrap Iron Flotilla.

William Thomas Alldis Moran became her captain on 13 October 1941. He was still in command on the day she was lost.

On 10 December 1941, during the loss of Prince of Wales and Repulse, Vampire picked up survivors from Repulse. She remained afloat through that action.

On 9 April 1942, off Ceylon in the Bay of Bengal, Japanese aircraft struck after HMS Hermes had already gone down. Dive bombers sank Vampire that day.

Moran and eight sailors were killed. No single aircraft is credited with the sinking. A later Royal Australian Navy destroyer also carried the name Vampire.

The pictures on this page are the originals.