HMS ''Ibis'',

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

U99, was a sloop of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, named after the

Ibis The ibis () (collective plural ibises; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...

. She was built by Furness Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.,

Haverton Hill-on-Tees Haverton Hill is an area within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees (borough), Stockton-on-Tees and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. Once considered a part of Billingham, Haverton Hill was once a thriving industrial community which has s ...

, Co. Durham, was laid down on 22 September 1939, launched on 28 November 1940, and completed 30 August 1941. She was adopted by the civil community of

Stoke Newington Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...

in London as part of the

Warship Week Warship Weeks were British National savings campaigns during the Second World War, with the aim of a Royal Navy warship being adopted by a civil community. During the early parts of the war, the Royal Navy not only had lost many capital ships but ...

savings campaign in 1942. ''Ibis'' was sunk by an airborne torpedo from an Italian aircraft in the Western

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, north of Algiers,

French Algeria French Algeria ( until 1839, then afterwards; unofficially ; ), also known as Colonial Algeria, was the period of History of Algeria, Algerian history when the country was a colony and later an integral part of France. French rule lasted until ...

, on 10 November 1942. The Scottish comedian

Rikki Fulton Robert Kerr "Rikki" Fulton (15 April 1924 – 27 January 2004) was a Scottish comedian and actor best remembered for writing and performing in the long-running BBC Scotland sketch show, ''Scotch and Wry''. He was also known for his appearances ...

was a member of her crew.

Notes

Publications

* * *Hughes, Robert (1975). ''Flagship to Murmansk''. London, England: Future Publications. ISBN 0860072665. Pages 83–6 give an account of the sinking of the ''Ibis'' and the rescue of survivors as seen by HMS ''Scylla''. Ships built on the River Tees Black Swan-class sloops World War II sloops of the United Kingdom Sloops of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Ships sunk by Italian aircraft 1940 ships Maritime incidents in November 1942 {{UK-mil-ship-stub