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36 australian maritime issues 2009: spc-a annual
Many Navy people risked their lives battling flames at HMAS Albatross
on 5 December 1976 (RAN)
In wartime operations around the globe Australian sailors have performed many equally
courageous deeds, but some deserve to stand out; none more so than the actions of
Seaman Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean on 1 December 1942. Attacked by more than a dozen
Japanese aircraft, Sheean’s ship, the corvette HMAS Armidale (I), fought back desperately
until two torpedoes and a bomb hit sealed her fate. Many survivors leapt into the sea
when the order to abandon ship was passed, only to find themselves the targets of
Japanese strafing. Sheean, badly wounded in the chest and back, helped to free one of
Armidale’s boats before returning to his 20-mm gun and continuing to engage the enemy.
He shot down a bomber and held off several others, thereby protecting his shipmates
already in the water. Even as Armidale slipped below the waves Sheean was still firing.
His courage is commemorated in the naming of the submarine HMAS Sheean, the only
Australian junior sailor to be so honoured.
Sheean’s decision to return and then remain at his post stands as an example of selfless
courage in the face of death, but consideration for the welfare of others has often required
courageous actions by naval men and women. On 19 June 1951 while conducting bomb
disposal in the Solomon Islands, Able Seaman Vic Turner was standing near a stack
of ammunition with six local labourers, when part of the stack exploded. Dazed and
suffering numerous shrapnel wounds, Turner managed to assist a wounded Islander to
safety and then returned in an attempt to save another before the entire stack burst into
flame. Turner received the British Empire Medal. More recently, Lieutenant Commander