The bat is back!
Confused? So were a lot of people years ago in several cases of mistaken identity between two naval icons.
Rumour has it that HMAS Vendetta, a sister Daring class destroyer, once tried to pass herself off as Vampire but diligent stokers on another ship spotted Vampire‘s distinguishing feature – the bat.
In a separate case in 1971, The Royal Australian Navy News illustrated a story about Vendetta with an image of Vampire in action instead. Again, the Vampire bat is clearly visible:
The bat is clearly visible on 'Vendetta' (click on image to enlarge)
The mistake didn’t go unnoticed.
Here’s the apologetic article as it originally appeared in the next issue in September 17, 1971:
Drat that bat! (click on the image to enlarge)
Over time, the iconic bat mysteriously went missing. After serving in the Navy from 1959 to 1986, Vampire eventually came to live at the National Maritime Museum.
It’s 2010, and after a lot of searching by the Fleet Team, the bat is back! It’s been located and placed back where it belongs – on the AFT funnel.
The bat is back!
Thanks to Todd, Christine, Vince, Trevor, Peter and Noel for their hard work.
HMAS Vampire will return to the ANMM on July 15 after an extensive underwater hull survey, restoration works and repairs to key elements of the ship by our Fleet team.