HMAS Stuart during the battle of Matapan. Captained by Hec Waller, Stuart sailed into an action described by one Australian sailor as 'a dog fight on a pitch black night'. During the course of the battle, Stuart's torpedoes struck the Italian destroyer Alfieri and perhaps also the Zara, while her guns were in action against other vessels. For his role in the battle, Captain Waller received a bar to his DSO, but he was killed the following year in the Battle of Sunda Strait, off the coast of Java. (HMAS Stuart in the Battle of Matapan, 1941, by Frank Norton, 1968, oil on canvas, 152.4 x 274.4cm, AWM ART27623)
Source
AWM ART27623
Place made
Perth, Australia
Copyright
Copyright expired - public domain