HMS ''Vittoria'' was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

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 Admiralty V-class. She was converted to a

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

. During

Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War The Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War consisted of a series of multi-national military expeditions that began in 1918. The initial impetus behind the interventions was to secure munitions and supply depots from falling into the German ...

it was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

ed by the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

''Pantera'' off the island of

Seiskari Seskar (; ; ), or Siskar, is an island in the Gulf of Finland, part of the Leningrad Oblast of Russia. Important Bird Area The island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports populations of ...

in the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

on 31 August 1919. The sunken destroyer was given to the state of Finland on 12 December 1919 together with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

; however, when salvaging began in 1925, it was found that both ships were broken in two and impossible to repair. In November 2013, Russian divers rediscovered the wreck at a depth of 30 meters (98 feet), at a location inside what is now Russian territorial waters.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * *

External links

Photograph of HMS ''Vittoria'', circa 1918
1917 ships Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War Maritime incidents in 1919 Ships built by Swan Hunter Ships sunk by Soviet submarines Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland Soviet Union–United Kingdom military relations Ships built on the River Tyne V and W-class destroyers of the Royal Navy World War I destroyers of the United Kingdom {{UK-mil-ship-stub