HMS Marmion (1915)

HMS "Marmion" was a which served with the Royal Navy during World War I. Launched in May 1915, the ship served as part of the Grand Fleet on exercises and escort duty. For much of the war, it was commanded by William Leveson-Gower, the future uncle to Elizabeth II. While involved in convoy escort duty off the Shetland Islands on 21 October 1917, the vessel was accidentally struck by in bad weather and sank. There were no survivors.
Design.
"Marmion" was one of sixteen destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in September 1914 as part of the First War Construction Programme. The M-class was an improved version of the earlier "Laforey" class destroyers, required to reach the higher speed of in order to counter rumoured German fast destroyers.
The destroyer was long overall, with a beam of and a draught of . displacement was normal and full load. Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding two Parsons steam turbines rated at and driving two shafts, to give a design speed of . Two funnels were fitted, two boilers exhausting through the forward funnel. of oil were carried, giving a design range of at .
Armament consisted of three Mk IV QF guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised platform and one between the funnels. A single 2-pounder (40 mm) pom-pom anti-aircraft gun was carried, while torpedo armament consisted of two twin mounts for torpedoes. The ship had a complement of 77 officers and ratings.
Construction.
Construction by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson was started when the ship's hull was laid down on 28 October 1914 at Wallsend and the ship was launched on 28 May the following year. Initially allocated the pennant number H.C2, the ship became G04 in January 1917.
Service.
Commissioned on 3 September 1915, "Marmion" joined the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla of the Grand Fleet. Within a month, William Leveson-Gower, who would become uncle to the future Elizabeth II, was appointed as commander. He remained in charge of the vessel until 25 May 1917.
The vessel was initially deployed as part of the Grand Fleet. On 21 December 1916, while undertaking exercises, the flotilla leader collided with the destroyer . "Marmion" quickly pulled alongside the stricken destroyer to tow it to safety but when it was only away, "Negro" sunk beneath the waves. Five officers and forty-five ratings lost their lives. The ship then took "Hoste" in tow, along with fellow M-class destroyer , but that vessel too had to be abandoned once the crew had been evacuated.
"Marmion" also undertook escort duties. On 14 April 1917, the destroyer formed part of the escort for , which transported Arthur Balfour on a mission to the US to procure additional destroyers for the fleet. The mission encountered heavy seas that caused substantial damage, but was a success.
Sinking.
In October 1917, "Marmion" was one of eight destroyers that were escorting convoys between Shetland and Norway. On 20 October, the vessel was sent to escort an outbound convoy heading for Bergen to replace which was returning for repairs. Another convoy under escort was heading from Bergen at the same time, escorted by the destroyers and . At 1:30AM on 21 October, "Marmion" encountered this second convoy rather than the one it was expecting to see, which was at the time some miles north. The ships were passing when "Tirade" collided with "Marmion". The bow of the former vessel was raised by a particularly high swell and sliced "Marmion" in half. The ship swiftly sank with all hands. Only ten bodies were recovered.