Australia Service Medal : Shipwright 3rd Class R B Hopcraft RAN

Australia Service Medal. Impressed around edge with recipient's details.

Associated with the service of 21030 Shipwright 3rd Class Robert Beauchamp Hopcraft, RAN, of Sydney, NSW. Hopcraft enlisted on 2 March 1936 and served aboard HMAS Sydney (II). He was killed in action, aged 27 years, when HMAS Sydney (II) was sunk in the Indian Ocean on 19 November 1941 while battling the German Raider HSK Kormoran.

The Kormoran was converted from a freighter and was well armed with guns, torpedoes and mines. However, this armament was carefully disguised and she posed as a merchant ship. The two ships engaged in battle off the coast of Western Australia in the afternoon of 19 November 1941.

The Kormoran's disguise as a merchant ship was enough to entice the Sydney into close range, where the Kormoran overwhelmed her with gunfire and torpedoes. The Sydney was mortally hit, however she fought back and ensured the Kormoran's destruction.