HMS ''Marne'' was an M-class

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

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 ...

commissioned on 2 December 1941. She was built by

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

at High Walker Yard,

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, England, and saw service in the Atlantic theatre of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Service history

Royal Navy

''Marne'' was part of Convoy PQ 15 and along with , helped to rescue 169 survivors from after she was sunk in a collision with the battleship . The destroyer depot ships and with the escort ships and ''Marne'', were part of a convoy as part of

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

west of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. On 12 November 1942 the German submarine torpedoed and sunk ''Hecla'', and minutes later fired two more torpedoes and badly damaged ''Marne'', blowing off her stern.

Michael Flanders Michael Henry Flanders (1 March 1922 – 14 April 1975) was an English actor, broadcaster, writer and performer of comic songs. He is best known for his stage partnership with Donald Swann. As a young man Flanders seemed to be heading for a ...

, who was to become a famous actor and writer, was serving on board as part of the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

Turkish Navy

Following the Second World War ''Marne'', along with three other ships of the same class, was transferred to the

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

Navy as part of an agreement signed at Ankara on 16 August 1957. They underwent a refit which involved the removal of the after set of torpedo tubes and some secondary armament. They received a new deckhouse and Squid anti-submarine weapons system. On 29 June 1959 they were handed over at Portsmouth. ''Marne'' was renamed ''Mareşal Fevzi Çakmak'', after

Fevzi Çakmak Mustafa Fevzi Çakmak (12 January 1876 – 10 April 1950) was a Turkish field marshal (''Mareşal (Turkey), Mareşal'') and politician. He served as the Chief of General Staff from 1918 and 1919 and later the Imperial Government (Ottoman Empire ...

(1876–1950), the Turkish Mareşal (

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

) and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces.Blackman, Raymond V B, Jane's Fighting Ships 1963-4, Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd, London, p248 The ship remained in service with the

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

until 1970, when she was discarded and scrapped.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * L and M-class destroyers of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Tyne 1940 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Ships built by Vickers Armstrong {{UK-mil-ship-stub