HMS Oribi (G66)

History
United Kingdom
Name	Oribi
Ordered	3 September 1939
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan
Laid down	15 January 1940
Launched	14 January 1941
Commissioned	5 July 1941
Decommissioned	1 January 1946
Honours and awards	Norway 1941, Malta convoys 1941, North Africa 1942, Arctic convoys 1942-44, Atlantic 1943-44, Normandy 1944
Fate	Sold to Turkey
Turkey
Name	Gayret
Acquired	1946
Fate	Scrapped 1965
General characteristics
Class and type	O-class destroyer
Displacement	1,610 long tons (1,640 t) (standard)
Length	345 ft (105.2 m) (o/a)
Beam	35 ft (10.7 m)
Draught	13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
Installed power	2 × Admiralty 3-drum boilers 40,000 shp (29,828 kW)
Propulsion	2 × shafts; 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed	37 knots (69 km/h; 43 mph)
Range	3,850 nmi (7,130 km; 4,430 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	176+
Armament	4 × single QF 4.7 in (120 mm) guns 1 × single QF 4 in (102 mm) AA gun 1 × quad 2 pdr (40 mm (1.6 in)) AA gun 4 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns 1 × quadruple 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 4 × throwers and 2 × racks for 70 depth charges

HMS Oribi (G66) was an O-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Following the style of her sister ships, she was named with a word beginning with O. Originally, she was to have been named HMS Observer; however, because her building was sponsored by the South African government, she was christened HMS Oribi, after the oribi, a South African antelope. In 1942, after a successful warship week, the ship was "adopted" by Havant, Hampshire.

Second World War service

On 4 August 1941 Oribi carried British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and senior officers from Scrabster to Scapa Flow, where the group embarked on HMS Prince of Wales for passage to Newfoundland and the highly secret meeting with US President Franklin D Roosevelt at which the Atlantic Charter was signed.

Oribi was one of the destroyers that supported Operation Archery, the November 1941 commando raid on Norway, by shelling the islands and attacking German shipping in the sheltered anchorage. She also assisted in bringing Norwegian nationals home after the raid to escape the German occupation.

She saw extensive action during the Arctic and North Atlantic convoys of the Second World War. These included Convoy ONS 5 in May 1943, regarded as the turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic. At 03:00 on 6 May 1943 U-125 was located by radar in thick fog, rammed by HMS Oribi and disabled, she was unable to dive. At 03:54 the U-boat was sighted by the Flower-class corvettes Snowflake and Sunflower, and as Snowflake manoeuvred to attack, closing to 100 yards, the crew of U-125, realising their indefensible position, scuttled the boat. The captain of Snowflake signalled the Senior Officer Escort, Lieutenant Commander Robert Sherwood, proposing to pick them up, and received the response: "Not approved to pick up survivors." Snowflake and Sunflower thereupon resumed their positions around the convoy, while the crew of U-125 died in the Atlantic over the next few hours.

Postwar service

Oribi was transferred to the Turkish Navy in 1946 and renamed Gayret, to replace a previous ship of that name requisitioned by the Royal Navy during the Second World War and lost during hostilities. She received the new pennant number D15 and was used as a headquarters ship.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Connell, G. G. (1982). Arctic Destroyers: The 17th Flotilla. London: William Kimber. ISBN 0-7183-0428-4.
• English, John (2001). Obdurate to Daring: British Fleet Destroyers 1941–45. Windsor, UK: World Ship Society. ISBN 978-0-9560769-0-8.
• Friedman, Norman (2006). British Destroyers & Frigates: The Second World War and After. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-86176-137-6.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.