HMS ''Farnborough'', also known as ''(Q-5)'', was a

Q-ship Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open f ...

of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

that saw service 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 ...

. ''Farnborough'' was a heavily

armed merchant ship The term armed merchant ship may describe a number of similar ship modifications intended for significantly different missions. The term armed merchantman is generally used. * East Indiaman describes late 18th and early 19th-century sailing ships e ...

with concealed weaponry that was designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. ''Farnborough'' sank two submarines in her service in the First World War. The first submarine was SM ''U-68'' which involved the first successful use of

depth charges A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive hydraulic shock. Most depth charges use h ...

. The second submarine was SM ''U-83'', which was sunk on 17 February 1917 in an action for which Captain

Gordon Campbell Gordon Muir Campbell, (born January 12, 1948) is a retired Canadian diplomat and politician who was the 35th mayor of Vancouver from 1986 to 1993 and the 34th premier of British Columbia from 2001 to 2011. He was the leader of the British Co ...

of ''Farnborough'' received the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. HMS ''Farnborough'' was severely damaged in the action and was beached the same day.

Construction and design

''Farnborough'', of 3207-gross registered tons, was originally constructed as a collier in 1904 under the name ''Loderer''. She had no fixed port and as such was often referred to as a

tramp steamer A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes called ...

. The Royal Navy converted her into a

at HMNB Devonport, arming her with five 12-pounder guns, two 6-pounders, and a

Maxim gun The Maxim gun is a recoil-operated machine gun invented in 1884 by Hiram Stevens Maxim. It was the first fully automatic machine gun in the world. The Maxim gun has been called "the weapon most associated with imperial conquest" by historian ...

. Flaps or dummy compartments on the ship concealed the 12-pounder guns. The 6-pounders were hidden at either end of the bridge and the Maxim was in the middle of the ship. She was renamed the ''Farnborough'' en route to her first command.

First World War

SM ''U-68''

''Farnborough'' came into contact with SM ''U-68'' off Britain's west coast on 22 March 1916. At approximately 07:00, ''U-68'' fired a torpedo at ''Farnborough'' that narrowly missed the ship's bow. ''Farnborough'' continued the deception of being a merchant ship and continued at her same speed and course. At 07:20, ''U-68'' surfaced about astern of ''Farnborough'', moved to the ship's port quarter, and fired a shot across the Q-ship's bow.Messimer, pp. 86–87. ''Farnborough'' stopped, blew off steam, and launched a boat to simulate a surrender. As ''U-68'' closed to , ''Farnborough'' raised the British

White ensign The White Ensign, at one time called the St George's Ensign due to the simultaneous existence of a cross-less version of the flag, is an ensign worn on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross ...

, uncovered her guns and opened fire with three of her five 12-pounder guns. The British gunners scored several hits on the U-boat out of 21 rapidly fired rounds. As ''U-68'' began to sink, Campbell steered ''Farnborough'' over ''U-68''s location and dropped a depth charge that blew the bow of the submarine out of the water. This was the first use of the depth charge in action.Tarrant, p.27 As ''U-68'' began going down by the stern, ''Farnborough''s gunners scored another five hits on the U-boat's conning tower. ''U-68'' sank at position off

Dingle Dingle ( Irish: ''An Daingean'' or ''Daingean Uí Chúis'', meaning "fort of Ó Cúis") is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. The only town on the Dingle Peninsula, it sits on the Atlantic coast, about southwest of Tralee and northwest of Kill ...

in southern

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, with the loss of her entire crew of 38 men. Soon after this action ''Farnborough'' received a new executive officer in

Ronald Niel Stuart Ronald Niel Stuart, VC, DSO, RD, RNR (26 August 1886 – 8 February 1954) was a British Merchant Navy commodore and Royal Navy captain who was highly commended following extensive and distinguished service at sea over a period of more than ...

(who would go on to be awarded a Victoria Cross for actions on a separate Q-ship, ). Stuart's experience in merchant shipping proved invaluable to his work and he soon had the crew of ''Farnborough'' disciplined and the ship well maintained and run. The captain, Campbell, declared himself very pleased with his executive officer, declaring him "on the top line".P.141, ''The Naval VCs'', Stephen Snelling The ship did not see any action for almost 11 months after sinking ''U-68''. In February 1917, Campbell decided that in order to properly invite an attack, ''Farnborough'' would have allow herself to be torpedoed and then engage the submarine as the submarine closed to finish the job with shellfire.P.122, ''The Naval VCs'', Stephen Snelling

SM ''U-83''

On 17 February 1917, this theory was proven correct off Southern

when the lone ''Farnborough'' was struck by a torpedo fired at extreme range. Campbell intentionally failed to evade the missile and the ship took the blow in the hold, causing some minor injuries to the crew but serious damage to the ship. The crew were well rehearsed and the "panic party" took to their boats with a great show of alarm and disorder while the gun crews manned positions on their hidden weapons. When four lifeboats had been released and the ship had settled in the water and was clearly sinking, the submarine ''U-83'' pulled up just from the wreck. ''Farnborough''s remaining crew then fired their six-pounder gun and several

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...

s into the stationary submarine. The very first shot decapitated the German captain Bruno Hoppe, and the U-boat was rapidly reduced to a battered wreck. Eight German sailors escaped the submarine before it sank but only two could be pulled from the water, one of whom subsequently died of his wounds.P.123, ''The Naval VCs'', Stephen Snelling ''Farnborough'' was also sinking from her torpedo damage. Realising this, Campbell left the men in the boats, destroyed all confidential papers, and radioed for help. His unorthodox message read: "Q5 slowly sinking respectfully wishes you goodbye".P.124, ''The Naval VCs'', Stephen Snelling This message reached nearby naval shipping, and within an hour the destroyer and the sloop arrived and began to tow the stricken ship back to land. During the night a depth charge accidentally exploded on board ''Farnborough'' and she dropped the tow. Campbell ordered the 12 men remaining aboard into a lifeboat and attempted to take a final survey of his vessel, only to be driven back by another exploding depth charge. On returning to the rail he discovered that Stuart had disobeyed his order and remained on board, to make sure his captain disembarked safely. The tow was later reattached and the battered ''Farnborough'' beached at

Mill Cove Mill Cove () is a cove entered between Cape Anderson and Valette Island on the south coast of Laurie Island, in the South Orkney Islands off Antarctica. It was charted in 1903 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under William Speirs Bru ...

.P.125, ''The Naval VCs'', Stephen Snelling Campbell was awarded the Victoria Cross in recognition of his service in the action and £1,000 of

prize money Prize money refers in particular to naval prize money, usually arising in naval warfare, but also in other circumstances. It was a monetary reward paid in accordance with the prize law of a belligerent state to the crew of a ship belonging to ...

was shared among the crew. Stuart and Engineer-Lieutenant Len Loveless were both presented with the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

. The vast majority of the crew went on to serve on ''Pargust'' where Stuart was to earn his Victoria Cross. The admiralty purchased the vessel on 22 October 1917 and sold her for commercial service in April 1919 as ''Hollypark''. She was scrapped in 1928 at Briton Ferry.

References

Specific

General

* * *

External links

* illustrated account of Gordon Campbell, "the most famous Q-ship officer", including his time with HMS ''Farnborough'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Farnborough Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Colliers Ships built on the River Wear 1903 ships Q-ships of the Royal Navy World War I naval ships of the United Kingdom category:Maritime incidents in 1917