HMS Dunraven

{{For|the ship launched in 1873|SS Dunraven}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

{{More citations needed|date=January 2009}}

{{Infobox ship begin}} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Image:HMS Dunraven.jpg |Ship caption= "HMS Dunraven" by Charles Pears }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name= HMS Dunraven |Ship namesake= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder= |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=7 December 1909 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship captured= |Ship fate= Sunk, 10 August 1917 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= Q-ship |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement= {{convert|3100|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}} |Ship length= |Ship beam= |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion= |Ship speed= |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship complement= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*1 × {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}} gun 4 × 12-pounder guns 2 × {{convert|14|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes |Ship armour= |Ship notes= }}

HMS Dunraven was a Q-Ship of the Royal Navy during World War I.

On 8 August 1917,{{cite journal |year=1919 |title=Professional Notes: H.M.S. Dunraven, August 8, 1917 |journal=United States Naval Institute Proceedings |volume=45 |issue=January 1919 |pages=435 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6MgjAQAAIAAJ&q=%22HMS+Dunraven%22&pg=PA435}} 130 miles southwest of Ushant in the Bay of Biscay, disguised as the collier Boverton and commanded by Gordon Campbell, VC, Dunraven spotted {{SMU|UC-71||2}}, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Reinhold Saltzwedel. Saltzwedel believed the disguised ship was a merchant vessel. The U-boat submerged and closed with Dunraven before surfacing astern at 11:43 am and opening fire at long range. Dunraven made smoke and sent off a panic party (a small number of men who "abandon ship" during an attack to continue the impersonation of a merchant).

Shells began hitting Dunraven, detonating her depth charges and setting her stern afire. Her crew remained hidden letting the fires burn. Then a 4-inch (102 mm) gun and crew were blown away revealing Dunraven{{'}}s identity as a warship, and UC-71 submerged. A second "panic party" abandoned ship. Dunraven was hit by a torpedo. A third "panic party" went over the side, leaving only two guns manned. UC-71 surfaced, shelled Dunraven and again submerged. Campbell replied with two torpedoes that missed, and around 3 pm, the undamaged U-boat left that area. Only one of Dunraven{{'}}s crew was killed, but the Q-Ship was sinking.

The British destroyer HMS Christopher picked up Dunraven{{'}}s survivors and took her in tow for Plymouth, but Dunraven sank at 1:30 am early on 10 August 1917 to the north of Ushant.

In recognition, two Victoria Crosses were awarded, one to the ship's First Lieutenant, Lt. Charles George Bonner RNR, and the other, by ballot, to a gunlayer, Petty Officer Ernest Herbert Pitcher.

Captain Campbell later wrote:

:"It had been a fair and honest fight, and I lost it. Referring to my crew, words cannot express what I am feeling. No one let me down. No one could have done better."{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}

Captain Campbell had been previously awarded the Victoria Cross, in February 1917, for the sinking of {{SMU|U-83||2}}.

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