HMS Evadne

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.

HMS Evadne at Gibraltar
History
United Kingdom
Name
  • 1931-1950 Evadne
  • 1950-1951 Zapala
NamesakeEvadne
Owner
BuilderCamper and Nicholsons, Southampton[1]
Yard number388
LaunchedFebruary 1931
Completed1931
Identification
United Kingdom
NameEvadne
CommissionedSeptember 1939
IdentificationFY 009
FateReturned to civil use as a yacht
Panama
NameMarala
Identification
General characteristics [2][3][4]
TypeArmed yacht
Displacement581 tons
Length58.83 m (193 ft 0 in)
Beam8.08 m (26 ft 6 in)
Draught3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)
PropulsionTwo 8cyl MAN 750 bhp (560kw) diesel engines
Speed15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph)
Complement45
Armament

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.[5] 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.[6] In December 1931 the yacht was sold for £50,000 to Richard Fairey, of Fairey Aviation and later renamed Evadne.[5]

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.[7]

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.[2]

Bermuda

In July 1942 Evadne joined the Highlander 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 Dockyard[2][8] (Evadne operated outside of Bermuda's barrier reef, leaving the enclosed waters to HMS Castle Harbour, then HMS Sumar).[9][10][11]

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.[1]

On 19 February 1945, she badly damaged German U-boat U-300 with depth charges in the Strait of Gibraltar, in position 35°54′N 05°43′W. The U-boat was subsequently sunk on 22 February in the North Atlantic west of Cadiz, in position 36°29′N 08°20′W, by gunfire from the British minesweepers HMS Recruit and HMS Pincher. Nine of the 50 crew were lost.[12][13]

Yacht Marala in Venice in 2012

Evadne arrived back in Portsmouth on 6 September 1945 and was paid off the following month.[1]

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),[14] renamed Zapala for the use of the American businessman R. J. Reynolds Jr., of the eponymous tobacco company, initially for a world cruise.[15] Reynolds owned Sapelo Island on the Atlantic coast of Georgia, known by Spanish colonists as Zapala.[16]

In 1952 she was bought by Arturo López Willshaw[14] who renamed her Gaviota IV. He had her lavishly[17] redecorated by Georges Geffroy.[18] Arturo entertained many famous guests on board, including Salvador Dali. Many of the Geffroy items were sold at auction by Sothebys.[19]

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.[20]

The yacht operates today in the Mediterranean, under the name MY Marala, still with her original engines.[4]

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
  1. Sharp, Nigel (15 October 2015). Troubled Waters: Leisure Boating and the Second World War. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781445651606.
  2. Taylor, Harold (1984). A Captain's Tale. Lavenham, Suffolk: Terence Dalton Ltd. ISBN 0-86138-031-2.
  3. "Evadne Yacht". SuperYachts.com. Superyachts.com Ltd. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  4. "Classic Cruiser Marala Seeks New Horizons". MegaYacht News. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  5. "Maritime Log - Yacht Sold". The Journal of Commerce. No. 32780. Liverpool. 12 December 1931. p. 9. Retrieved 4 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "Motorshipping". The Journal of Commerce. No. 32622. Liverpool. 11 June 1931. p. 19. Retrieved 4 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. "Amelia Earhart and George Palmer Putnam aboard the Evadne". Libraries and School of Information Studies. Purdue University. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  8. Yankee R.N., by Commander Alex H. Cherry, OBE, RNVR. Jarrold's Publishers (London) Ltd, Portland Street, London W1
  9. Stranack, Lieutenant Commander Ian (1977). The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795–1975 (first ed.). The City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda): Island Press Ltd.
  10. Stranack, Lieutenant Commander Ian (1 January 1990). The Andrew And The Onions: The Story Of The Royal Navy In Bermuda, 1795–1975 (second ed.). The Keep, Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda, Ireland Island, Sandys (P.O. Box MA 133, Mangrove Bay, Sandys, Bermuda MA BX): The Bermuda Maritime Museum Press (now the National Museum of Bermuda Press). ISBN 9780921560036.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  11. Wiberg, Eric (30 November 2014). "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". ericwiberg.com. Eric Wiberg. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
  12. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Armed Yacht HMS Evadne". "Allied Warships of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  13. Helgason, Guðmundur. "The Type VIIC/41 boat U-300". German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  14. "Restoration Marala". Camper and Nicholson Yachts. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  15. "Gossip of the Week". Waterford Standard. Vol. 37, no. 85. Waterford, Ireland. 9 September 1950. p. 6. Retrieved 4 February 2022 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  16. Sullivan, Buddy (2 December 2019). "Sapelo Island". New Georgia Encyclopedia. Athens GA: University of Georgia Press. Archived from the original on 30 December 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
  17. Bross, Judy Carmack (20 September 2020). "On the Riviera: The Millionaire, His Wife, and His Lover". Classic Chicago Magazine. Retrieved 8 August 2022. Gaviota IV, the most opulent yacht to sail the seven seas.
  18. "The History of Yacht Marala". Yacht Marala. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  19. "Elegance and Charm Personified Onboard 'La Gaviota IV'". sothebys.com. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  20. Colacello, Bob. "How Suzy Ruled Society Gossip for Five Decades, as Told by Aileen Mehle". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 8 August 2022. 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.
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