HMAS MELBOURNE II ship badge

Date1950-1959

Object number00054677

NameShip badge

MediumWood, paint

DimensionsOverall: 240 × 215 × 25 mm

ClassificationsCommemorative artefacts

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Rhod Cook

Terms

DescriptionShip badge from HMAS MELBOURNE (II) acquired by Captain William Cook, RAN when he served as the vessel's second-in-command during the 1950s. The badge features an embossed kangaroo holding a crown, beneath this is a boomerang, a nulla nulla and stone axe and text reading 'Vires - Acquirit - Eundo' (Strength - acquirer - Go).HistoryThis 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 MELBOURNE (II), a Majestic Class light fleet aircraft carrier built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Melbourne was transferred to the RAN in October 1955. The badge is also directly associated with William Cook, who helped oversee Melbourne's fitting-out, and subsequently served as its second-in-command. Cook assumed command of HMAS NIZAM in February 1945 and become the youngest Australian naval officer to command a destoyer during the Second World War. He also served 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.