- Source: HMS Oribi (G66)
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.
Notes
References
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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.
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Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.