HMS Evadne

HMS Evadne (FY 009) was a converted yacht, commissioned as a warship by the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She survives today as the yacht Marala.

HMS Evadne at Gibraltar
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Evadne
BuilderCamper and Nicholsons Southampton[1]
LaunchedSeptember 1931[2]
ChristenedEvadne
Completed1931
CommissionedSeptember 1939
Identification
FateReturned to civil use as a yacht
General characteristics [3][4][5]
TypeArmed yacht
Displacement581 tons
Length58.83 m (193 ft 0 in)
Beam8.08 m (26 ft 6 in)
Draught3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)
PropulsionTwo 8cyl MAN 750 bhp (560kw) diesel engines
Speed15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph)
Complement45
Armament

Background

The Evadne was a large motor yacht belonging to Richard Fairey, of Fairey Aviation. Hired by the Admiralty in September 1939 she was refitted in England as an anti-submarine vessel.

Service history

Irish Sea

Based in Liverpool initially, she carried out patrols and other duties in the Irish Sea. In 1940 she was fitted out as an anti-submarine vessel at the Grayson Rollo shipyard. Subsequently she was employed on examination service duties at Holyhead and escorting convoys in the Irish Sea, from bases at Holyhead, Milford Haven and Liverpool.[3]

Bermuda

In July 1942 Evadne joined the Highlander escort group to escort a convoy across the Atlantic before breaking away to Bermuda, where she was employed on anti-submarine duties at the Royal Naval Dockyard[3][6] (Evadne operated outside of Bermuda's barrier reef, leaving the enclosed waters to HMS Castle Harbour, then HMS Sumar).[7][8][9]

Gibraltar

Evadne remained in Bermuda until being reallocated to the Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, arriving on 12 March 1944 in Gibraltar, where she was based until hostilities ended.[1]

On 19 February 1945, she badly damaged German U-boat U-300 with depth charges in the Strait of Gibraltar, in position 35°54′N 05°43′W. The U-boat was subsequently sunk on 22 February in the North Atlantic west of Cadiz, in position 36°29′N 08°20′W, by gunfire from the British minesweepers HMS Recruit and HMS Pincher. Nine of the 50 crew were lost.[2][10]

Yacht Marala in Venice in 2012

Evadne arrived back in Portsmouth on 6 September 1945 and was paid off the following month.[1]

Current role

Following the war, Evadne returned to civil life as a yacht. She operates today in the Mediterranean, under the name MY Marala, still with her original engines.[5]

On film

The Evadne (now Marala) was the setting of the 2001 film The Cat's Meow, in which she represented William Randolph Hearst's yacht, the Oneida.

References
  1. Sharp, Nigel (15 October 2015). Troubled Waters: Leisure Boating and the Second World War. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781445651606.
  2. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Armed Yacht HMS Evadne". "Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  3. Taylor, Harold (1984). A Captain's Tale. Lavenham, Suffolk: Terence Dalton Ltd. ISBN 0-86138-031-2.
  4. "Evadne Yacht". SuperYachts.com. Superyachts.com Ltd. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  5. "Classic Cruiser Marala Seeks New Horizons". MegaYacht News. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  6. Yankee R.N., by Commander Alex H. Cherry, OBE, RNVR. Jarrold's Publishers (London) Ltd, Portland Street, London W1
  7. Stranack, Lieutenant Commander Ian (1977). The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795–1975 (first ed.). The City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda): Island Press Ltd.
  8. Stranack, Lieutenant Commander Ian (1 January 1990). The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795–1975 (second ed.). The Keep, Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda, Ireland Island, Sandys (P.O. Box MA 133, Mangrove Bay, Sandys, Bermuda MA BX): The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press (now the National Museum of Bermuda Press). ISBN 9780921560036.CS1 maint: location (link)
  9. Wiberg, Eric (30 November 2014). "USS Gannet sunk by U-653/Feiler N of Bermuda, escort HMS Sumar abandoned her, 62 men rescued by 2 planes and USS Hamilton, taken Bermuda". ericwiberg.com. Eric Wiberg. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  10. Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC/41 boat U-300". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
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