HMAS Duchess decommissioned, one day after the 25th anniversary of her original Royal Navy commissioning. DUCHESS had been loaned to the RAN in 1964, as a replacement for the destroyer HMAS VOYAGER. This loan was later extended, and she was purchased outright by the RAN in 1972. In 1973 she commenced an 18-month conversion to a training ship, but saw only three years service before being paid off. For a number of years Duchess languished at Bradley’s Dolphins until she was sold on 7 May 1980 and towed from Sydney Harbour on 9 July bound for Taiwan. There she was broken up by the Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corporation