The HMAS Armidale was under attack off Timor from no less than 13 Japanese fighter planes on the afternoon of December 1,1942.

Two torpedoes and a bomb struck the vessel,and as it listed heavily to port,the crew was ordered to abandon ship.

But as survivors were machine-gunned in the sea,Sheean stayed aboard and helped free a life raft before scrambling back to his gun and strapping himself to it.

Wounded in the chest and back,he shot down one bomber and maintained fire that kept other aircraft away from his mates in the water. He was seen still firing his gun as Armidale slipped below the sea. Forty-nine of the 149 men who had been aboard survived.

In 1999,a Collins Class submarine was named HMAS Sheean:the only ship in the RAN to bear the name of a sailor.

Sheean's family and supporters,who believed Sheean's absence from the list of Australians awarded the Victoria Cross was a mean oversight,never gave up their campaign.

Early this year,anexpert panel recommended to the Australian government that Teddy Sheean be considered for the award.

The Prime Minister agreed,and members of the long-dead seaman's family were there on Monday to receive the award reserved for those few"who in the presence of the enemy,perform acts of the most conspicuous gallantry,or daring,or pre-eminent acts of valour or self-sacrifice or display extreme devotion to duty".

And finally,Teddy Sheean,who would have turned 97 later this month,caused a prime minister to hold out his life as an exemplar of the highest but forever mysterious virtues:sacrifice and stoicism,courage and abiding inner strength.

"Whatever it was that caused Teddy Sheean to act so decisively and determinedly on that afternoon of blue skies and calm seas,we find ourselves being inextricably drawn to it,prompting us to ask ourselves,how can we lead lives as meaningful,as selfless,as courageous as the young life of Teddy Sheean and the generation he more broadly embodies,"Mr Morrison said.