H.M.S. Sardonyx (1919)

H.M.S. Sardonyx (1919)
Pendant Number:	F.34 (Jun 1919)^[1]
Builder:	Alexander Stephen & Sons^[2]
Ordered:	Jun, 1917 (2nd Order)^[3]
Launched:	27 May, 1919^[4]
Completed:	12 Jul, 1919^[5]
Sold:	1945

H.M.S. Sardonyx was one of sixty-seven "S" class destroyers built for the Royal Navy as the Great War was ending.

Service

Sardonyx arrived at Harwich in company with the paddle minesweeper Lanark on 30 January, 1920^[6] and reduced to a C. & M. party at Devonport on 3 March, 1920.^[7]

She paid off into Maintenance Reserve on 17 November, 1927.^[8]

The ship was reduced to Reserve on 31 March, 1931.^[9] She was commissioned at Portsmouth on 6 August, 1931.^[10]

In 1934, her bell was offered for sale to naval officers and others who might be interested, at the price of £5 or perhaps £1. Interested parties were to write the Director of Stores and were urged to include any special information which might convey the importance they attach to the bell, in light of the Admiralty's understanding that such items carry great sentimental value.^[11]

By mid-1937, she was operating with the Portsmouth Local Destroyer Flotilla.^[12]

Captains

Dates of appointment are provided when known.

Lieutenant-Commander Cuthbert P. Blake, 1 October, 1919^[13] – 3 March, 1920^[14]
Lieutenant James C. N. MacMillan, 27 October, 1920^[15]
Commander Douglas Faviell, 10 July, 1924^[16] – c. 20 August, 1924^[Inference] (temporary, for Reserve Fleet Exercises)
Lieutenant-Commander William B. Walker, 10 May, 1931^[17]
Lieutenant-Commander Hugh N. Sheffield, 14 November, 1932^[18]
Lieutenant-Commander Harry R. Graham, 12 October, 1933^[19]
Lieutenant-Commander Colin D. Maud, 24 July, 1935^[20]
Lieutenant-Commander Aubrey St. Clair-Ford, 20 August, 1936^[21]

Footnotes

↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 74.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 85.
↑ Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. p. 85.
↑ Dittmar; Colledge. British Warships 1914–1919. p. 74.
↑ Friedman. British Destroyers. p. 311.
↑ "Movements of Ships." The Times (London, England), Monday, Feb 02, 1920; pg. 23; Issue 42323.
↑ The Navy List. (April, 1925). p. 268.
↑ The Navy List. (February, 1929). p. 267.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1931). p. 268.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1934). p. 273.
↑ "Ships' Bells for Sale." The Times (London, England), Wednesday, Apr 18, 1934; pg. 4; Issue 46731.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1937). p. 273.
↑ Blake Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/6. f. 173.
↑ Blake Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/50/6. f. 173.
↑ The Navy List. (December, 1920). p. 861.
↑ "Naval Appointments." The Times (London, England), Friday, Jun 20, 1924; pg. 5; Issue 43683.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1931). p. 268.
↑ The Navy List. (January, 1933). p. 271.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1934). p. 273.
↑ The Navy List. (October, 1935). p. 273.
↑ The Navy List. (July, 1937). p. 273.