HMS Evadne
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Evadne at Gibraltar.jpg |Ship caption=HMS Evadne at Gibraltar }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}} |Ship name=*1931-1950 Evadne
|Ship namesake=Evadne |Ship owner=*1931-1950 Richard Fairey
|Ship operator= |Ship builder=Camper and Nicholsons, Southampton{{cite book|last1=Sharp|first1=Nigel|title=Troubled Waters: Leisure Boating and the Second World War|date=15 October 2015|publisher=Amberley Publishing Ltd|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire|isbn=9781445651606}} |Ship yard number=388 |Ship original cost= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=February 1931 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=1931 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship identification=*Callsign: LHPF, (1932) GTXK
|Ship fate= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=Evadne |Ship namesake= |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=September 1939 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship identification=FY 009 |Ship fate=Returned to civil use as a yacht |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Panama |Ship flag={{Shipboxflag|Panama|civil}} |Ship name=Marala |Ship namesake= |Ship owner= |Ship operator= |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|1002603}}
|Ship fate= |Ship status= |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption={{cite book|last1=Taylor|first1=Harold|title=A Captain's Tale|date=1984|publisher=Terence Dalton Ltd|location=Lavenham, Suffolk|isbn=0-86138-031-2}}{{cite web|title=Evadne Yacht|url=http://www.superyachts.com/motor-yacht-3192/marala.htm|website=SuperYachts.com|publisher=Superyachts.com Ltd|accessdate=19 October 2017}}{{cite web|title=Classic Cruiser Marala Seeks New Horizons|url=https://megayachtnews.com/2016/07/classic-cruiser-marala-seeks-new-horizons/|website=MegaYacht News|date=12 July 2016 |accessdate=19 October 2017}} |Ship type=Armed yacht |Ship displacement=581 tons |Ship length={{convert|58.83|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|8.08|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|3.35|m|ftin|0|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=Two 8cyl MAN 750 bhp (560kw) diesel engines |Ship speed={{convert|15.5|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship complement=45 |Ship sensors= |Ship armament=*One 4 inch BL gun
|Ship notes= }} |
{{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.
Yacht ''Evadne''
The Evadne was a large twin-screw motor yacht, built in 1931 by Camper and Nicholsons at Southampton, England as Yard Number 388. She was originally building for the automobile and aircraft engine manufacturer Montague Napier, but he died in January 1931, before she had been named.{{cite news |title=Maritime Log - Yacht Sold |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004036/19311212/166/0009 |access-date=4 February 2022 |work=The Journal of Commerce |issue=32780|date=12 December 1931 |location=Liverpool |page=9|via=British Newspaper Archive}} She was launched in February 1931. Still known as 388, she ran trials in June and was subsequently registered at Southampton with that name, and official number 161735.{{cite news |title=Motorshipping |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0004036/19310611/278/0019 |access-date=4 February 2022 |work=The Journal of Commerce |issue=32622 |date=11 June 1931 |location=Liverpool |page=19|via=British Newspaper Archive}} In December 1931 the yacht was sold for £50,000 to Richard Fairey, of Fairey Aviation and later renamed Evadne.
He lent Evadne to Amelia Earhart in 1932 after weather conditions forced her to end her Transatlantic Solo Flight in Ireland rather than Paris, so she could meet her fans at Cherbourg.{{cite web |title=Amelia Earhart and George Palmer Putnam aboard the Evadne |url=https://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/digital/collection/earhart/id/84 |website=Libraries and School of Information Studies |publisher=Purdue University |access-date=6 August 2022}}
Naval service
Hired by the Admiralty in September 1939, she was refitted in England as an anti-submarine vessel and commissioned as HMS Evadne.
= 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 {{HMS|Highlander|H44|2}} escort group to escort a convoy across the Atlantic before breaking away to the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, where she was employed on anti-submarine duties at the Royal Naval DockyardYankee R.N., by Commander Alex H. Cherry, OBE, RNVR. Jarrold's Publishers (London) Ltd, Portland Street, London W1 (Evadne operated outside of Bermuda's barrier reef, leaving the enclosed waters to HMS Castle Harbour, then HMS Sumar).{{cite book |last=Stranack |first=Lieutenant Commander Ian |author-link= |date=1977 |title=The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795–1975 |url=http://islandpress.bm/ |location=The City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda) |publisher=Island Press Ltd |page= |isbn= |edition=first }}{{cite book |last=Stranack |first=Lieutenant Commander Ian |author-link= |date=1 January 1990 |title=The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795–1975 |url=https://nmb.bm/ |location=The Keep, Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda, Ireland Island, Sandys (P.O. Box MA 133, Mangrove Bay, Sandys, Bermuda MA BX) |publisher=The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press (now the National Museum of Bermuda Press) |page= |isbn=9780921560036|edition=second }}{{cite web |url=https://ericwiberg.com/2014/11/uss-gannet-sunk-by-u-653feiler-n-of-bermuda-escort-hms-sumar-abandoned-her-62-men-rescued-by-2-planes-and-uss-hamilton-taken-bermuda |title=USS Gannet sunk by U-653/Feiler N of Bermuda, escort HMS Sumar abandoned her, 62 men rescued by 2 planes and USS Hamilton, taken Bermuda |last=Wiberg |first=Eric |date=30 November 2014 |website=ericwiberg.com |publisher=Eric Wiberg |access-date=2021-05-24 |quote=}}
= 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 {{coord|35|54|N|05|43|W|display=inline}}. The U-boat was subsequently sunk on 22 February in the North Atlantic west of Cadiz, in position {{coord|36|29|N|08|20|W|display=inline}}, by gunfire from the British minesweepers {{HMS|Recruit|J298|6}} and {{HMS|Pincher|J294|6}}. Nine of the 50 crew were lost.{{cite web|last1=Helgason|first1=Guðmundur|title=Armed Yacht HMS Evadne|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/13673.html|website="Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net|accessdate=19 September 2017}}{{cite web|last1=Helgason|first1=Guðmundur|title=The Type VIIC/41 boat U-300|url=http://uboat.net/boats/u300.htm|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net|accessdate=19 September 2017}}
File:Marala (7248212232).jpg in 2012]]
Evadne arrived back in Portsmouth on 6 September 1945 and was paid off the following month.
Return to yachting
Following the war, Evadne returned to civil life as a yacht. By September 1950 she had been sold to a private British company (Zapla Ltd),{{cite web |title=Restoration Marala |url=https://www.cnyachting.com/news/cn-under-restoration/marala/ |website=Camper and Nicholson Yachts |access-date=8 August 2022}} renamed Zapala for the use of the American businessman R. J. Reynolds Jr., of the eponymous tobacco company, initially for a world cruise.{{cite news |title=Gossip of the Week |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001678/19500909/044/0006 |access-date=4 February 2022 |work=Waterford Standard |issue=85 |date=9 September 1950 |volume=37 |location=Waterford, Ireland |page=6|via=British Newspaper Archive}} Reynolds owned Sapelo Island on the Atlantic coast of Georgia, known by Spanish colonists as Zapala.{{cite web |last1=Sullivan |first1=Buddy |title=Sapelo Island |url=https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/geography-environment/sapelo-island/ |website=New Georgia Encyclopedia |publisher=University of Georgia Press |date=2 December 2019|access-date=4 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230164353/https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/geography-environment/sapelo-island/ |archive-date=30 December 2021 |location=Athens GA}}
In 1952 she was bought by Arturo López Willshaw who renamed her Gaviota IV. He had her lavishly{{cite web |last1=Bross |first1=Judy Carmack |title=On the Riviera: The Millionaire, His Wife, and His Lover |url=https://classicchicagomagazine.com/on-the-riviera-the-millionaire-his-wife-and-his-lover/ |website=Classic Chicago Magazine |date=20 September 2020 |access-date=8 August 2022 |quote=Gaviota IV, the most opulent yacht to sail the seven seas.}} redecorated by Georges Geffroy.{{cite web |title=The History of Yacht Marala |url=https://yachtmarala.com/history/ |website=Yacht Marala |access-date=8 August 2022}} Arturo entertained many famous guests on board, including Salvador Dali. Many of the Geffroy items were sold at auction by Sothebys.{{cite web |title=Elegance and Charm Personified Onboard 'La Gaviota IV' |url=https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/elegance-and-charm-personified-onboard-la-gaviota-iv |website=sothebys.com |access-date=8 August 2022}}
Following the death of André François-Poncet in 1962 she was bought by Robert Zellinger de Balkany, a French retail property magnate, who renamed her Marala, a portmanteau of the names of his first two daughters, Alexandra and Maria. He owned her until his death in 2015. During this period notable users included Frank Sinatra, who hired her for the month of June 1970, and hosted Grace Kelly and Princess Alexandra of Kent, among others.{{cite magazine |last1=Colacello |first1=Bob |title=How Suzy Ruled Society Gossip for Five Decades, as Told by Aileen Mehle |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2017/01/suzy-society-gossip-aileen-mehle |magazine=Vanity Fair |access-date=8 August 2022 |quote=Frank Sinatra has chartered the yacht Marala for the month of June and will cruise the Mediterranean and whatever else they have to offer over there. The Marala belongs to Robert de Balkany, who made a killing in France in real estate and married Princess Maria Gabriella of Italy along with it.}}
The yacht 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.
References
External links
- {{cite web |title=The History of Yacht Marala |url=https://yachtmarala.com/history/ |publisher=Yacht Marala |access-date=5 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205025618/https://yachtmarala.com/history/ |archive-date=5 February 2022}}