HMS Oribi (G66)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Oribi
Ordered	3 September 1939
Builder	Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan, Scotland
Laid down	15 January 1940
Launched	14 January 1941
Commissioned	5 July 1941
Decommissioned	1 January 1946
Fate	Sold to Turkey
Turkey
Name	Gayret
Acquired	1946
Fate	Scrapped 1965
General characteristics
Class and type	O-class destroyer
Displacement	1,540 long tons (1,560 t)
Length	345 ft (105 m) o/a
Beam	35 ft (11 m)
Draught	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion	2 × Pearson geared steam turbines, 40,000 shp (29,828 kW) 2 Admiralty 3-drum boilers 2 shafts
Speed	37 knots (43 mph; 69 km/h)
Range	3,850 nmi (7,130 km) at 20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Complement	175
Armament	4 × single 4.7-inch guns 1 × quad QF 2-pdr "pom-pom" 6 × single 20 mm Oerlikon guns 2 × quad 21 inches (533 mm) torpedo tubes

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 christened HMS Observer, but for unknown reasons she was christened HMS Oribi, after the oribi, a South African antelope.

Second World War service

Oribi was one of the destroyers that supported the March 1941 Lofoten Island Commando raid ("Operation Claymore"), by shelling the islands and attacking German shipping in the sheltered anchorage. She also assisted to bring 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.

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.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Connell, G. G. (1982). Arctic Destroyers: The 17th Flotilla. London: William Kimber. ISBN 0-7183-0428-4.
• 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.
• Lenton, H. T. (1998). British & Empire Warships of the Second World War. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-048-7.
• Raven, Alan; Roberts, John (1978). War Built Destroyers O to Z Classes. London: Bivouac Books. ISBN 0-85680-010-4.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939-1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Third Revised ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.
• Whitley, M. J. (1988). Destroyers of World War 2. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-326-1.
• Ian Kinloch Bryce ( 2005 )author = Shipmates and Mistresses.bye and large. publisher = The Memoir Club ISBN 1-84104-043-6