Sardonyx took part in radar trials in 1939, and was updated shortly after the start of the Second World War with greater anti-aircraft and anti-submarine capabilities. Depth charge throwers replaced the torpedo tubes and all the main armament but the forecastle gun was removed. A Type 286M radar was also fitted, although successive antennas proved vulnerable to storms and were lost. Throughout 1940, Sardonyx provided escort to convoys in the western approaches. The vessel was also called upon to support single ships, like the damaged linerRMS Empress of Britain, although in this case the destroyer's presence was insufficient to deter the German submarine U-32 from sinking the liner.
In 1941, the ship joined the Fifth Escort Group, which destroyed the German submarines U-99 and U-100, although Sardonyx did not claim any hits. Increasingly, the destroyer was able to escort convoys without losing a merchant ship to submarine attack, a distinction that continued into the following year. At the same time, increasing availability of more modern escorts meant that there was less need for older vessels and Sardonyx dropped from covering twenty convoys in 1942 to nine in 1943. At the same time, the harsh conditions of service meant that the destroyer was increasingly spending time in repair rather than operations. After being involved in escorting the landing parties for the Normandy landings in 1944, the vessel was briefly allocated to training before being retired and sold to be broken up in 1945.
Sardonyx was one of thirty-three Admiralty S class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty during the First World War in June 1917 as part of the Twelfth War Construction Programme. The design was a development of the R class introduced at the same time as, and as a cheaper and faster alternative to, the V and W class.[1] They were to serve as general purpose ships in the Harwich Force while the more powerful V and W class would be deployed to support the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow.[2] Differences with the R class were minor, such as having the searchlight moved aft and the ability to mount an additional pair of torpedo tubes.[3] The destroyers were known as the Modified Trenchard or S class, as the majority were named starting with the letter S.[4]
Laid down on 25 March 1918 shortly before the end of the First World War by Alexander Stephen and Sons at their dockyard in Linthouse, Glasgow, Sardonyx was launched on 27 May the following year and completed on 12 July.[6] The vessel was the first that served in the Royal Navy to bear the name of the semi-precious stone.[11] With the end of the war, the Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of strength and both the number of ships and personnel needed to be reduced to save money.[12] Even after withdrawing all its pre-war destroyers, the Royal Navy still found there were more ships available than it needed for active service.[13]Sardonyx was commissioned into the Reserve Fleet.[14]
Interwar service
Although the war on the western front had finished with the signing of the Armistice, the escalating civil war in Russia continued and there was unrest in the Baltic Sea. This reached a peak when the people of Latvia declared independence which, after a war of independence, they achieved on 14 November 1919.[15]Sardonyx was one of the Royal Navy vessels sent to monitor the situation during the following month.[16] The ship returned to the United Kingdom and was reduced to Reserve on 3 March 1920.[17] In November 1925, Sardonyx was briefly taken out of reserve to took part in search operations to find the missing submarine M1.[18]M1 had been sunk with all hands in a collision on 12 November, but the submarine's wreck was not found until 1967.[19]
On 6 August 1931, Sardonyx was recommissioned at Portsmouth.[20] On 27 January 1932, Sardonyx and sister shipSabre took part in the search for the missing submarine M2.[21]M2 had sunk the day before.[22] On 17 September 1935, as severe gales struck British waters, the steamerBrompton Manor sent out a distress signal while off the Owers lightvessel, near Selsey Bill. Sardonyx was ordered from Portsmouth to search for the steamer, which was successfully found later that day. Brompton Manor's captain had been washed overboard by heavy seas, and the ship's cargo shifted, giving a 30 degree list. Sardonyx stood by Brompton Manor until a tug could tow the steamer into Southampton.[23][24]Sardonyx ran aground off Southsea on 31 January 1938, but was soon refloated, and sustained no damage.[25]
In 1939, Sardonyx joined a project to use radar to detect ships. In the initial trials, the destroyer was chosen as one of the targets.[26] These were sufficiently successful for Sardonyx to be equipped with an experimental radar set, a 50 cm (20 in) L band radar named the Combined Wireless Rangefinder and Lookout Set, in June 1939.[27] The trials were also a success, with ships identified at 5 miles (8.0 km) and low-flying aircraft at 25 miles (40 km).[28] After the trial, it was envisaged that the destroyer would join sister ships SaladinScout, Stronghold, Sturdy, Thanet and Thracian at the China Station to form the Singapore and Hong Kong Local Defence Flotilla. However, by the end of the trial, the Second World War had started and the Royal Navy decided to retain the destroyer in British waters.[29]Sardonyx joined the Local Defence Flotilla at Portsmouth.[30]
Second World War
At the start of the war, the Royal Navy had an immediate requirement for escorts to combat the German submarine threat.[31] This required a rethink of the role of the destroyer, which hitherto had been envisaged by the navy as a member of a flotilla supporting the battleships of the fleet. Along with others, the destroyer was taken out of service and refitted for the anti-submarine escort role.[32] The torpedo tubes were removed, the space allowing for additional depth charges, and two depth charge throwers were fitted alongside new racks aft. Initially 30 charges were now carried, although this increased as the war progressed.[9] The midship and aft gun were removed and anti-aircraft defence improved with a high-angle QF 12-pounder gun fitted on a bandstand abaft the middle funnel and two quadruple Vickers .50 machine guns mounted on the superstructure for close-in defence.[33] The destroyer reentered service but, on 31 May 1940, hit and sank the trawler St Apollo off the Hebrides.[34] Soon afterwards, in June, a Type 286M radar was fitted in Londonderry. The antenna proved too heavy for the mast and was lost in a gale, as was the replacement within two months.[35]
For the majority of the war, Sardonyx acted as a convoy escort. When Convoy HX 79 was attacked by the U-47, which subsequently called a wolfpack of four other boats on 19 October 1940, Sardonyx was one of those sent to protect the convoy.[36][37] Despite ten Royal Navy warships rushing to the scene, 12 ships in the convoy were sunk. This was the first success for the wolfpacks.[38] On 27 October, the destroyer was sent to escort the stricken linerRMS Empress of Britain, which had been attacked by a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condormaritime patrol aircraft. Despite taking evasive manoeuvres, the liner was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarineU-32.[39] During the next five months, the destroyer was busy helping 16 convoys in the Atlantic Ocean, OB 236, HX 82, OB 239, HX 86, OB 245, HX 99, OB 256, SL/MKS 58, OB 262, HX 106, OB 269, SC 19, OB 278, SL/MKS 62, OB 283 and SC 69, rarely staying more than one or two days covering the western approaches.[40]
The long-term solution was to form Escort Groups with multiple warships. Sardonyx joined the Fifth Escort Group which was formed in March 1941. On 15 March, the Group, led by CommanderDonald Macintyre, joined Convoy HX 112 as an escort. The convoy had been travelling from Halifax, Nova Scotia, since 1 March.[41] As evening fell, the convoy was attacked by a wolfpack including the submarines U-99, U-100 and U-110.[42] Despite losing six merchant ships, the Group successfully destroyed U-99 and U-100 although Sardonyx did not claim any hits.[43] Subsequent operations were more successful. On 16 August, Sardonyx was part of the 8th Escort Group that formed the eastern ocean escort for convoy HX 143.[44] On 4 October, the Group again safely accompanied ON(S) 23 safely across to rendezvous with escorts from the Royal Canadian Navy.[45] On 1 November the Group escorted the 42 ships of ON 30 until handing them to destroyers from the US Navy.[46] The role was reciprocated on 15 November when the Group received HX 160 from a US Navy escort. No merchant ship was lost in any of these operations.[47] In all, the destroyer escorted 21 convoys during 1941.[40]
The following year saw a similar pattern. Between 14 and 16 February, Sardonyx formed part of the Second Escort Group that accompanied Convoy ON 66 on the first stage of its journey. Once again, no ships were lost.[48] The destroyer subsequently escorted five UR convoys travelling between Loch Ewe and Reykjavík, six RU convoys travelling back, WS 19W, WS 21S, WS 24, and MKS 3Y sailing from the south, and TA 21, AT 22, TA 22 and HX 206 crossing between Britain and North America.[40] During this time, the destroyer was upgraded again with four single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon replacing the Vickers machine guns and allocated, along with five remaining sister ships, to the 21st Escort Group. It was hoped that keeping the warships together would help them operationally.[49][50]
Like all the remaining S class, Sardonyx was beginning to show the strains of age, exacerbated by the demands of service in the North Atlantic and the impact of a relatively large armament on a small hull. After each deployment, when the ship returned to harbour, it was rare that there was not some damage from bad weather which meant that the destroyer spent an increasingly large amount of time in repair rather than service. As a consequence, the vessel was one of the popular with serving sailors as they were able to spend more time off-duty ashore.[50][51] Amongst the crew at the time was the future Admiral of the FleetHenry Leach, who served as a midshipman before being promoted to sub-lieutenant on 1 October 1942.[52] Another crew member was an American volunteer, Derek Lee, who served as a deck officer with the collateral job of security officer. His role included censoring photographs, for example of the survivors of the merchant ship SS Yorktown that had been sunk by U-619 on 28 September 1942, taken as they climbed aboard the destroyer.[53][54]
The start of 1943 saw more dedicated escorts enter service and older vessels like Sardonyx were able to be moved to less demanding roles.[55] Between 21 and 23 January, the vessel, along with sister ship Scimitar took the merchant ship Leinster to Iceland, returning two days later.[56][57] The same pattern repeated three more times over the next seven months. The last convoy of more than one merchant ship that Sardonyx supported was WS 30, which saw the destroyer for only the first two days of its journey to Freetown on 19 and 20 May.[40] Alongside Sabre, Saladin and Scimitar, the destroyer took part in Operation Rosegarden in June 1943, an attempt to strike at German submarines transiting the gap between Iceland and Scotland.[58] The operation was unsuccessful as the aging destroyers were unable to sustain speed in the severe weather, and a similar deployment the following summer was cancelled.[50] On 8 June 1944, the destroyer escorted ships carrying the troops that participated in the Normandy landings, but took no part in the landings themselves.[59] In October, the ship was withdrawn from operational service and allocated to training at Preston.[60] The destroyer joined sister ship Shikari, attached to the Third Submarine Flotilla to train submarine crews.[50] Following the end of the war in Europe, Sardonyx was retired and, on 23 June 1945, handed over to be broken up by Thos. W. Ward at Inverkeithing.[61]
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