01 Dec 1942
Teddy Sheean VC
4 rounds – 19min 42sec Time Cap
Dumbbells required 22.5kg x 2 M / 15kg x 2 F
Buy in: 240m run = 1 rep.
12 Dumbbell Devils Press
18 Dumbbell Shoulder to Overhead
20 Dumbbell Squats.
– Time expired score is total amount of reps.
– If you achieve any spare time, complete AMRepAP double-unders until time cap 19:42.
Your final score is 201 plus the number of double unders completed.
Writer: Sarah Fryer.
This HERO WOD honours the sacrifice of Teddy Sheean, VC, with a focus on upper body strength, in honour of Teddy’s sacrifice. Each part of the work out symbolises part of Teddy’s sacrifice.
19min 42sec WOD – the year in which Teddy died
240m sprint – the hull number of the ship he served on (240)
12 dual BD devil press – Teddy died in the 12th month
18 DB shoulder to overhead – Teddy was 18 when he died
20 DB squats – for the 20mm cannon he was strapped to when he went down with the ship
Shortly before 1400 on 1 December 1942, HMAS Armidale I, was attacked by no less than thirteen aircraft. The corvette manoeuvred frantically. At 1515 a torpedo struck her port side and another hit the engineering spaces; finally a bomb struck aft. As the vessel listed heavily to port, the order was given to abandon ship. The survivors leapt into the sea and were machine-gunned by the Japanese aircraft. Once he had helped to free a life raft, Ordinary Seaman Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean scrambled back to his gun on the sinking ship. Although wounded in the chest and back, the 18-year-old sailor shot down one bomber and kept other aircraft away from his comrades in the water. He was seen still firing his gun as Armidale slipped below the waves. Only 49 of the 149 men who had been on board survived the sinking and the ensuing days in life rafts. Source: Royal Australian Navy Biography Page (Ordinary Seaman Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean VC | Royal Australian Navy).
Recognition
Sheean was mentioned in dispatches for his bravery and in 1999 HMAS Sheean, a Collins Class submarine, was named after him – the only ship in the RAN to bear the name of a junior sailor.
In 2020, following a sustained public campaign to have Ordinary Seaman Sheean’s selfless actions appropriately recognised, an expert panel recommended to the Australian Government that he be considered for the award of a Victoria Cross.
On 12 August 2020 His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d) Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had approved a posthumous award of the Victoria Cross to Ordinary Seaman Sheean.
In doing so, Ordinary Seaman Sheean became the first member of the Royal Australian Navy to be awarded Australia’s highest honour for valour.
On 1 December 2020, 78 years to the day since the death of Ordinary Seaman Sheean and the loss of HMAS Armidale I, the Governor-General presented the insignia of the Victoria Cross for Australia to Teddy Sheean’s family at a ceremony held at Government House in Canberra, ACT.
AHG received approvals from nephew Garry Ivory (Sep 2021) and the Director Navy Honours & Awards (Aug 2021).
