Wargaming has had a renewed focus on the Australian market in recent months, including local servers in World of Tanks, and now the company is bringing an iconic Australian vessel to their World of Warships title – the HMAS Vampire.

The most requested Australian ship by World of Warships players, the HMAS Vampire is one of the Royal Australian Navy’s most famous destroyers. Originally launched by the Royal British Navy in 1917 for World War I, the ship was transferred to the RAN, arriving in Sydney in 1933. In World War II, she served as part of the ‘Scrap Iron Flotilla’, performing essential patrol and escort duties, before rescuing hundreds of lives off the coast of Malaysia in 1941 and eventually being sunk by Japanese Forces off Sri Lanka on 8 April, 1942.

The HMAS Vampire has been recreated in stunning detail by the World of Warships team, and to celebrate the launch players are invited to take part in a ‘Vampire Marathon’ – the ‘Vampire Before Shipsmas’ – running from now until 20 December, during which they can win the virtual version of the ship by participating in just five battles (aside from training mission). After 20 December, the ship will be available for purchase.

“The HMAS Vampire is the number one most requested Australian ship by World of Warships players. It is great to be able to listen and deploy her ahead of Christmas, bringing such an iconic RAN ship back to life 75 years on,” said Travis.

To learn more about the launch, check out World of Warship’s official site.