HMS ''Opal'' was an

Admiralty M-class destroyer The M class, more properly known as the Admiralty M class, were a class of 85 destroyers built for the Royal Navy of United Kingdom that saw service during World War I. All ships were built to an identical – Admiralty – design, hence the cla ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. She served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

following her construction at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in 1915. Attached to the

12th Destroyer Flotilla The British 12th Destroyer Flotilla, or Twelfth Destroyer Flotilla, was a naval formation of the Royal Navy from November 1915 to March 1919 and again from September 1939 to 2 July 1943. History World War One The flotilla was first formed in Nov ...

based with the Grand Fleet at

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...

, ''Opal'' had an eventful short life, which ended in shipwreck after two and a half years of service.

Construction and design

''Opal'' was one of 25 destroyers (consisting of 22 M-class destroyers and three s) ordered in late November 1914 as part of the Third War Programme.Friedman 2009, p. 156. The M class was the latest class of destroyers ordered for the Royal Navy before the outbreak of the First World War, and this order was one of a series of large orders for destroyers of this class placed in the early months of the war which resulted in 90 ships being ordered by May 1915 in addition to ships ordered prior to the outbreak of the war.Friedman 2009, pp. 155–156.Gardiner and Gray 1985, p. 80. ''Opal'' was laid down at

William Doxford & Sons William Doxford & Sons Ltd, often referred to simply as Doxford, was a British shipbuilding and marine engineering company. History William Doxford founded the company in 1840. From 1870 it was based in Pallion, Sunderland, on the River Wea ...

shipyard in

on 1 February 1915, and was launched on 11 September 1915.Friedman 2009, p. 309. The ship reached a speed of during sea trials early in 1916,Burt 1986, p. 49. and commissioned in April 1916.

Service

On commissioning, ''Opal'' joined the 12th Destroyer Flotilla, based at

as part of the Grand Fleet. ''Opal'' took part in the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

where the Twelfth Flotilla supported the Grand Fleet,Campbell 1998, pp. 14, 24. and both attacked and was attacked during the general action. She also participated in other major fleet sorties during the next two years as well as pursuing her regular duties of minesweeping, convoy protection and

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

patrols in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

. On 24 July 1917, ''Opal'' and the destroyer were escorting an east-bound convoy on the Scandinavian (

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

–Norway) route, when the convoy came under attack by the German submarine , which fired two torpedoes from distance at the convoy, one of which hit and sank the Swedish merchant ship . In response, ''Opal'' followed back the track of the torpedo and dropped a depth charge on the estimated location of the submarine, but ''U-67'' escaped unharmed. On 12 January 1918, ''Opal'' joined her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

and the light cruiser in a night patrol to hunt German auxiliary warships suspected to be laying mines on the Scottish coast. By 17:30, the weather had deteriorated to such an extreme degree that the destroyers were in danger of swamping and foundering and visibility was near zero. Fearing that her companions might sink, ''Boadicea'' ordered ''Opal'' and ''Narborough'' back to

while she continued alone. For the next four hours, ''Opal'' regularly sent reports indicating her course and intention to return, but at 21:27, a garbled message stating ''have run aground'' was received, followed by silence. The weather was so atrocious that no vessels could be despatched until the following morning, and it was two days before ''Opal'' was found, battered, broken and empty on the Clett of Crura off the east coast of

South Ronaldsay South Ronaldsay (, also , sco, Sooth Ronalshee) is one of the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. It is linked to the Orkney Mainland by the Churchill Barriers, running via Burray, Glimps Holm and Lamb Holm. Name Along with North R ...

. ''Narborough'' was found in a similar position nearby. One survivor — William Sissons — was later located on a small islet, and he related that the ships had been sailing a regular slow course making frequent soundings and radio reports, but had suddenly crashed headlong into the rocks, probably due to a navigation error by ''Opal''s

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. Both wrecks were abandoned and broken up by the sea over the next few weeks taking the bodies of both crews, bar the single survivor, with them.

Pennant numbers

Notes

References

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External links

Kieran Brady's website dedicated to the sinking of HMS Opal & HMS NarboroughBBC Article on the discovery of a long-lost ring from HMS Opal

Photo of HMS OpalAnother photoBattle of Jutland Crew Lists Project - HMS Opal Crew List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Opal 1915 Admiralty M-class destroyers Ships built on the River Wear 1915 ships World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea Maritime incidents in 1918 1918 disasters in the United Kingdom