SYDNEY, Australia – An Australian parish priest has been looking for the crest of an American destroyer to display in a church honoring the friendship between Americans and Australians. Father Paul Hilder of Regina Coeli Memorial Church in the Sydney suburb of Beverly Hills would like to add the crest of the USS Patterson to the church’s memorabilia commemorating the ship, which saved 627 Australians of the HMAS Canberra during a World War II battle. The church’s founder and first pastor, Father William Evans, was one of those saved during the Battle of Savo Island off the Solomon Islands in August 1942. However, Father Hilder said he has been unable to make contact with any crew members of the ship, which was decommissioned in 1945 and later was sold for scrap.




