HMS Evadne

 (FY 009) was a converted yacht, commissioned as a warship by the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She survives today as the yacht "Marala".
Background.
The "Evadne" was a large motor yacht belonging to Richard Fairey, of Fairey Aviation. Hired by the Admiralty in September 1939 she was refitted in England as an anti-submarine vessel.
Service history.
Irish Sea.
Based in Liverpool initially, she carried out patrols and other duties in the Irish Sea. In 1940 she was fitted out as an anti-submarine vessel at the Grayson Rollo shipyard. Subsequently she was employed on examination service duties at Holyhead and escorting convoys in the Irish Sea, from bases at Holyhead, Milford Haven and Liverpool.
Bermuda.
In July 1942 "Evadne" joined the escort group to escort a convoy across the Atlantic before breaking away to Bermuda, where she was employed on anti-submarine duties at the Royal Naval Dockyard.
Gibraltar.
"Evadne" remained in Bermuda until being reallocated to the Commander-in-Chief Mediterranean, arriving on 12 March 1944 in Gibraltar, where she was based until hostilities ended.
On 19 February 1945, she badly damaged German U-boat "U-300" with depth charges in the Strait of Gibraltar, in position . The U-boat was subsequently sunk on 22 February in the North Atlantic west of Cadiz, in position , by gunfire from the British minesweepers and . Nine of the 50 crew were lost.
"Evadne" arrived back in Portsmouth on 6 September 1945 and was paid off the following month.
Current role.
Following the war, "Evadne" returned to civil life as a yacht. She operates today in the Mediterranean, under the name MY "Marala", still with her original engines.
On film.
The "Evadne" (now "Marala") was the setting of the 2001 film "The Cat's Meow", in which she represented William Randolph Hearst's yacht, the "Oneida".