HMAS Duchess (D154)

HMAS Duchess was a Daring-class destroyer that served in the Royal Navy as HMS Duchess from 1952 to 1964, and in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1964 to 1980.

Commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1952, Duchess operated with the British Home Fleet and in the Mediterranean, was involved in the 1956 Suez Crisis, and served as part of the Far East Strategic Reserve. Following the Melbourne-Voyager collision, Duchess was loaned to the RAN in 1964 as a temporary replacement for HMAS Voyager. The destroyer was purchased by Australia in 1972, converted into a training ship over the next two years, and continued to operate with the RAN until her paying off in 1977, and her sale for scrap in 1980.

Construction
Duchess was laid down by John I. Thornycroft and Company of Woolston at Southampton on 8 July 1948. She was launched on 9 April 1951 by Countess Edwina Mountbatten, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 23 October 1952.

Royal Navy
Duchess was initially assigned to the British Home Fleet in early 1953. In June 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In September 1954 and July 1955, the destroyer was deployed to the Mediterranean, and near the end of the year escorted the Royal Yacht Britannia during the final leg of Queen Elizabeth's and the Duke of Edinburgh's world tour. Duchess continued to operate in the Mediterranean until July 1955, and was involved in the Suez Crisis in 1956. Sometime between 1956 and 1964, the destroyer operated with the Far East Strategic Reserve.

Transfer
Following the loss of the Daring-class destroyer HMAS Voyager (D04) in a collision with the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) on 10 February 1964, both the United Kingdom and the United States of America offered to loan ships to the RAN as a replacement; the Royal Navy offering Duchess while the United States Navy offered two Fletcher-class destroyers: US Ships USS The Sullivans (DD-537) and USS Twining (DD-540). Duchess was accepted on a four-year loan and modernised, while two modified River-class frigates (HMAS Swan (DE 50) and HMAS Torrens (DE 53)) were constructed as permanent replacements. Duchess was acquired by the RAN on 8 May 1964, and commissioned on the same day.

Royal Australian Navy
During 1965 and 1966, Duchess operated in Malaysian waters during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation. This was later recognised with the battle honour "Malaysia 1965–66".

Although she had been loaned to the RAN for only four years, Duchess remained in RAN service after this time, and was purchased outright by the Australian Government in 1972.

At the start of 1973, Duchess underwent a refit that removed several of her weapons and installed a classroom, for future service as a training ship. Re-entering service in August 1974, the ship performed her first training cruise in early 1975, visiting ports in south-west Australia and New Zealand. Training cruises also occurred in late 1975, 1976, and 1977.

Decommissioning and fate
In September 1977, Duchess was removed from service, and was paid off on 24 October 1977. The ship was sold for breaking up as scrap on 7 May 1980, and departed Sydney under tow for Taiwan on 9 July.