HMAS VENDETTA I ship badge

Date1939-1945

Object number00054681

NameShip badge

MediumBronze, wood

DimensionsOverall: 200 × 155 × 25 mm

ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Rhod Cook

Terms

DescriptionShip badge from HMAS Vendetta (I) acquired by Captain William Cook, RAN when he served as the vessel's commander during the Second World War. This object is one of a large collection of documents, photographs, uniforms, ship badges and ephemera associated with the Royal Australian Navy service of brothers William Cook and Frederick Cook. Both men entered service prior to the Second World War, were seconded to the Royal Navy, and underwent training at Greenwich and Portsmouth. Frederick Cook later gained fame as the only Australian survivor of HMS Royal Oak, torpedoed by a German U-boat in October 1939. William Cook was the youngest commander of an Australian destroyer during the Second World War, and was First Lieutenant of HMAS Wyatt Earp, the primary research vessel for the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition in 1947-48.SignificanceThis badge is associated with HMAS Vendetta (I), a V&W Class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Vendetta was transferred to the RAN in the 1930s and later served with distinction during the Second World War. The badge is also directly associated with William Cook, who served as Vendetta's commander in 1944 during the Pacific Campaign. Cook would later assume command of HMAS Nizam in February 1945 and become the youngest Australian naval officer to command a destoyer during the Second World War. He would also serve as First Lieutenant aboard HMAS Wyatt Earp, the first Australian naval vessel to participate in an Antarctic research expedition (the Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition) in the immediate post-war period.