HMS ''Lorna'' was a British

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 ...

which served in 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 ...

. Originally built in 1904 as a luxury steam yacht, she served in both the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

s and destroyed a German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

in 1918. After the war, she became a passenger vessel in Greece, but sank in 1966 and was scrapped two years later.

History

Luxury yacht

The vessel was completed in October 1904 at

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships. History John Scott fo ...

, Greenock on the River Clyde in Scotland and was named ''Beryl''. She had been ordered by Wyndham Francis Cook, the son of

Francis Cook, 1st Viscount of Monserrate Sir Francis Cook, 1st Baronet, 1st Viscount (23 January 1817 – 17 February 1901) was a British merchant and art collector. Early life Cook was born on 23 January 1817 in Clapham, London. He was the son of William Cook and Mary Ann (née Lainson ...

, a wealthy textiles merchant; however, Wyndham died in May 1905. It was purchased in that year by the shipbuilder, John Burns, 1st Baron Inverclyde, and in 1911 to Samuel Morley, 1st Baron Hollenden, a former

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent grooming their successor. The governor of the Ba ...

, who renamed the yacht ''Lorna''.

First World War

At the outbreak of war in August 1914, the yacht was requisitioned and hired by 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, Traf ...

as an armed patrol vessel. Equipped with two

6-pounder gun 6-pounder gun or 6-pdr, usually denotes a gun firing a projectile weighing approximately . Guns of this type include: *QF 6 pounder Hotchkiss, a 57 mm naval gun of the 1880s; a similar weapon was designed by Driggs-Schroeder for the US Navy ...

s and depth charges. ''Lorna'' probably operated as the Group Leader of a unit of the

Auxiliary Patrol The Auxiliary Patrol was an antisubmarine patrols initiative by the British to help combat German submarine operations in the early stages of World War I. It was under the command of the Admiral of Patrols at the Admiralty and was the pioneer of ...

, both in home waters and in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

. On the evening of 26 May 1918, ''Lorna'' was escorting a convoy off Portland Bill at the eastern end of

Lyme Bay Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel off the south coast of England. The south western counties of Devon and Dorset front onto the bay. The exact definitions of the bay vary. The eastern boundary is usually taken to be Portland Bill on the ...

. Sighting a submarine's

periscope A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position. In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...

only thirty yards away, ''Lorna'' was able to approach to ten yards before the U-boat spotted her and began to dive. Passing directly over where the periscope had been, (some accounts state that ''Lorna'' struck the periscope) ''Lorna'' dropped two depth charges resulting in a large patch of turbulence with some debris in it. Returning to recross the area, it was realised that some items in the water were actually four survivors from the U-boat, their calls for help being heard too late to prevent a third charge from being dropped. Three of the men in the water were killed instantly, the fourth was still alive when recovered but died within three hours, although not before revealing that the destroyed submarine had been the . ''Lorna'' was returned to her owner in February 1919, she was then sold on to Walter Preston, an engineer and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Second World War

In September 1939, the yacht was again requisitioned as an armed patrol vessel, equipped with a

12-pounder gun 12-pounder gun or 12-pdr, usually denotes a gun which fired a projectile of approximately 12 pounds. Guns of this type include: *12-pounder long gun, the naval muzzle-loader of the Age of Sail *Canon de 12 de Vallière, French cannon of 1732 * Can ...

. She initially served with the North Atlantic Command at Fort William in Scotland. One of ''Lorna's'' captains was Robert Atkinson, who in 1980 became the chairman of British Shipbuilders. At the end of 1940 she was serving at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

and was later used as an

officers' mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

. She was returned to her owner in 1943.

Post war

In 1947, ''Lorna'' was sold to Kavounides Brothers of

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...

in Greece and converted to carry passengers; she was renamed ''Thessalia''. In 1960, she was reconstructed with a single

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

and renamed ''Glaros'' but sank following a collision at Piraeus on 14 December 1966. The wreck was raised and finally scrapped at Perama in 1968.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorna Patrol vessels of the Royal Navy Steam yachts 1904 ships