HMY ''Kethailes'' was a steam yacht that was launched in 1903 as a private pleasure craft and commissioned into 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 ...

in 1914. She was sunk in a collision in 1917 with the loss of 17 of her crew.

Private yacht

St Clare John Byrne St Clare John Byrne (1831-1915) was a British naval architect, who specialized in the design of luxury yachts during the late Victorian and early Edwardian period. Family background His father, Charles Holtzendorf Byrne (1781-1853), was an Irish s ...

designed the yacht for William Johnston of Liverpool. Richardson, Duck and Company built her at

Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in t ...

, County Durham, England. She was launched on 11 April 1903. Johnston invented her name by concatenating letters from the names of his four daughters: Kathleen, Ethel, Aileen and Estele.

Naval service

When

World War I 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 ...

began in 1914 the Royal Navy needed more ships. On 24 September 1914 Johnston voluntarily handed over the yacht (later receiving financial compensation) to the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

, for use as an Armed Naval Auxiliary. She was commissioned as

Armed Yacht An armed yacht was a yacht that was armed with weapons and was typically in the service of a navy. The word "yacht" ("hunter"; Dutch "jacht"; German "jagd", literally meaning "to hunt") was originally applied to small, fast and agile naval vessels ...

No. 118032 in the Yacht Patrol. She patrolled 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 ...

, then was transferred to the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

. On the 28th September 1917 ''Kethailes'' was first-on-scene and assisted the

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

''William Middleton'', which had hit a mine laid by . Two ratings were killed. The Commanding Officer, Lt Comdr Lane RNR and his crew were commended for preventing ''William Middleton'' from sinking.

Loss

On 11 October 1917 the

troop ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

'' accidentally rammed ''Kethailes'' in the Irish Sea near the Blackwater Lightship, which marks the Blackwater Bank off the east coast of

County Wexford County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinns ...

in Ireland. 17 of ''Kethailes''s crew were killed. ''Leicestershire'' and the ''P.44'' rescued survivors, including her commander, and they were landed at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. The dead were lost at sea. Several bodies were subsequently washed ashore on the Welsh coast and were buried in local churchyards. In July 2022 CWGC accepted identification research of Able Seaman Frederick Dyer, previously buried as an unknown sailor in a communal grave in the Churchyard of St Matthew Borth, Dyfed .

References

1903 ships Individual yachts Maritime incidents in 1917 Shipwrecks of Ireland Ships built on the River Tees Steamships of the United Kingdom World War I naval ships of the United Kingdom World War I shipwrecks in the Irish Sea 1917 disasters in the United Kingdom {{UK-aux-ship-stub