The destroyer was built by Williamstown Naval Dockyard and entered service in During her early career, Vendetta was deployed to the Far East Strategic Reserve on multiple occasions. In and , the destroyer undertook deterrence patrols during the Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation. Along with several runs escorting the troop transport HMAS Sydney to South Vietnam , from late to early Vendetta was assigned to combat operations and became the only Australian-built warship to serve in a shore bombardment role during the Vietnam War.
Several more deployments were made to the Far East, up until Vendetta was sold for ship breaking in January The ships were modified during construction: most changes were made to improve habitability, including the installation of air-conditioning.
The Daring s had a standard displacement of 2, tons, which increased to 3, tons at full load. Vendetta ' s main armament consisted of six 4. Vendetta was commissioned on 26 November Vendetta and Duchess' returned to Australia in March. Atlas , and spent the next two days searching for survivors and bodies. In , it was realised that the combination of maintenance requirements and other operational deployments meant that none of the RAN's three US-built Perth -class destroyers would be available to serve in the Vietnam War once HMAS Brisbane completed her deployment in late Vendetta sailed for a gunline assignment at Danang on 30 September.
On 17 January, Vendetta was forced to sail to Hong Kong for boiler repairs. The destroyer was the only Australian-built warship to serve as a combatant in Vietnam, [ 31 ] and the only Daring -class destroyer to be operationally deployed in the shore bombardment role. Most of was spent undergoing maintenance at Williamstown.
Vendetta paid off on 9 October Following an overhaul of the RAN battle honours system, completed in March , Vendetta ' s service was recognised with the honours "Malaysia β66" and "Vietnam β70".
