‘This is where they are’: can Australia get to HMAS Armidale – and its lost sailors – before pirates do?

HMAS Armidale, a Bathurst-class corvette, in Port Moresby harbour, after successfully convoying troop ships and supply vessels from Australia. It was lost on 1 December 1942. Photograph: Australian War Memorial

The HMAS Armidale was sinking fast. It had been hit by torpedoes from Japanese bombers. Ordinary seaman Edward “Teddy” Sheean, 18, was wounded but he strapped himself to his anti-aircraft gun.

Sheean kept shooting, trying to take down the enemy and keep his crew safe, as the ship slipped beneath the water.