HMS Orestes (1916)

Laid down on 1 March 1915 by William Doxford & Sons of Sunderland in the River Wear, Orestes was launched on 21 March 1916 and completed during October that year.^[9][3] The destroyer was the sixth Royal Navy ship to be named after Orestes, the son of Clytemnestra, husband of Hermione, and King of Argos in Greek mythology.^[10][11][12] The vessel was deployed as part of the Grand Fleet, joining the Fourteenth Destroyer Flotilla based at Scapa Flow^[13] Orestes was soon in action and, on 10 November 1916, joined sister ship Partridge and light cruiser Caroline in a search for the German merchant ship SS Brandenburg.^[14]

The destroyer was subsequently deployed in anti-submarine warfare based at the naval base in Portsmouth. On 1 February 1917, Orestes started to patrol off the coast of Cornwall in response to a sighting of the submarine SM U-55, which was deemed a threat to shipping. Fifteen days later, the destroyer attacked the submarine UC-65, but the enemy boat escaped unscathed.^[15] Patrols continued in the English Channel into the next month, but no further contact with submarines was made.^[16] On 12 March, the destroyer rescued survivors from Privet after the Q-ship had duelled with U-85 and both had been fatally damaged. The destroyer attempted to tow the stricken ship but was unsuccessful and Privet sank off Plymouth Sound.^[17]

Increasingly, patrols had not provided the security needed to shipping and the Admiralty redeployed the destroyers of the Grand Fleet to focus on the more effective convoy model.^[18] By 29 March, Orestes was one of only three left patrolling the North Sea seeking submarines.^[19] On 15 June, the vessel, along with the rest of the Fourteenth Destroyer Flotilla, was involved in a large sweep of the area west of the Shetland Islands searching for submarines, although Orestes was attached to the Eleventh Destroyer Flotilla. The destroyer did not sight any submarines.^[20] Shortly afterwards, the destroyer was transferred to the Northern Division of the Coast of Ireland Station at Buncrana.^[21] This allowed the destroyer to support the convoys travelling across the Atlantic Ocean from the American industrial complex at Hampton Roads to Britain.^[22] The harsh conditions of wartime operations, particularly the combination of high speed and the poor weather that is typical of the North Sea, exacerbated by the fact that the hull was not galvanised, meant that the destroyer soon worn out from such service.^[23]

After the armistice, the Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of strength and Orestes was declared superfluous to operational requirements. The destroyer was initially transferred back to Portsmouth on 17 October 1919 and placed in reserve.^[24] However, this did not last long as the navy needed to reduce both the number of ships and the amount of staff to save money.^[25] Orestes was decommissioned and, on 30 January 1921, sold to W. & A.T. Burdon to be broken up.^[11]

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• March, Edgar J. (1966). British Destroyers: A History of Development, 1892–1953; Drawn by Admiralty Permission From Official Records & Returns, Ships' Covers & Building Plans. London: Seeley Service. OCLC 164893555.
• McBride, Keith (1991). "British 'M' Class Destroyers of 1913–14". In Gardiner, Robert (ed.). Warship 1991. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 34–49. ISBN 978-0-85177-582-1.
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• Moretz, Joseph (2002). The Royal Navy and the Capital Ship in the Interwar Period. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-71465-196-5.
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• Parkes, Oscar; Prendergast, Maurice (1969). Jane's Fighting Ships 1919. Newton Abbott: David & Charles. OCLC 907574860.
• Preston, Antony (1985). "Great Britain and Empire Forces". In Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 1–104. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.