"On 29 May 1954, who sent a message to the aircraft carrier HMS Vengeance, saying ""Thank you for the original forgery""?"
HMS Vengeance (R71) with escorting the royal yacht through Australian waters during the Royal Visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Australia. On 9 March 1954, while in Port Philip Bay, a whaler transporting 30 sailors to the carrier hit a series of freak waves and capsized. Two sailors were killed. Navy divers were involved in rescuing the survivors, with one earning the British Empire Medal for his efforts. On 3 April, while escorting "Gothic" to the Cocos Islands with the destroyers and accompanying, "Vengeance"s ship's company assembled on the flight deck and positioned themselves to form the Queen's signature. After later seeing an
HMS Vengeance (R71) aerial photograph of this, Queen Elizabeth had a message sent to the carrier, saying "Thank you for the original forgery." On 5 April, after arriving at the Cocos Islands, "Vengeance" was involved in a collision with "Bataan" while the destroyer attempted to refuel from the carrier. "Bataan"s bow made contact with "Venegance"s side, but the damage was minor, and both ships returned to Sydney in May without assistance, after visiting Manus Island and Rabaul. In June 1954, "Vengeance" was removed from active service and reclassified as the RAN's primary training ship. The previous training ship, the cruiser , had been