HMAS Sydney
Sydney gained fame early in the War for her exploits while operating as part of the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean fleet. On 19 July 1940, against superior odds, Sydney engaged and destroyed the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni and damaged another, the Giovanni Delle Bande Nere.
The Sea Power Centre website describes how she was later lost in action in the Indian Ocean.
- About d’Arcy W Doyle
d’Acry Doyle was born 1932 in Ipswich. From an early age he took a keen interest in drawing. As there were few opportunities for artists in Ipswich, he studied and copied the work of local sign writers. He was completely self-taught as an artist.
Aged 18 years, Doyle joined the Royal Australian Navy with some friends and served for seven years, seeing active service in the Korean War.
After finishing in the navy, Doyle worked as a painter and sign writer. Doyle worked in Sydney during the 1960s. His career progressed when the Belmore Returned Services Club of Sydney commissioned him to paint a mural on the club walls. This was so popular that he received many similar commissions from other clubs. In 1961, he found the confidence to become an artist on a full-time basis. He was a painter of Australian landscapes and historical scenes.
d'Arcy and his family returned to Mudgeeraba on the Gold Coast, Queensland in 1973. He lived and worked until his death at home on 28 August 2001 having battled bone cancer for a decade.
- About HMAS Sydney (ll)
Sydney was a Modified Leander Class, Light Cruiser built in Tyne, England. On 11 August, Sydney made her long-awaited entry through Sydney Heads and into Port Jackson where, just as with Sydney, her arrival was viewed from the shore by thousands of citizens who had turned out to see her.
In addition to her naval complement, Sydney carried six members of the Royal Australian Air Force who manned and maintained her embarked Seagull V amphibian aircraft.
More reading
- Additional resources for d’Arcy W Doyle
- Additional resources for HMAS Sydney (ll)
