Description
Description: RAN – Tally Band – HMAS Sheean.
Condition: Very Good
Comments: Royal Australian Navy – Tally Band – HMAS Sheean.
Based at Fleet Base West in Western Australia, HMAS Sheean is the fifth of the six Collins Class submarines to enter service in the Royal Australian Navy.
HMAS Sheean is the only Australian naval vessel to be named after a sailor, Ordinary Seaman Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean who distinguished himself in action during World War II. Ordinary Seaman Sheean was lost when HMAS Armidale (I) was sunk on 1 December 1942 off the Timorese coast. Armidale (I) had survived two days of bombing before being struck by a Japanese aerial torpedo. During the action Ordinary Seaman Sheean was wounded and rather than abandoning ship with the rest of his shipmates, he strapped himself to the aft Oerlikon Gun and continued to fire at the attacking Japanese aircraft until Armidale (I) sank. Sheean was mentioned in dispatches for his bravery. On 1 December 2020, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d) Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia presented the insignia of the Victoria Cross for Australia to Teddy Sheean’s family at a ceremony held at Government House in Canberra, ACT.
