HMS Fairy (1897)

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HMS Fairy was a "C" rated Gypsy class destroyer which served with the Royal Navy before and during the Great War. She was built by Fairfield and launched in 1897. On the last day of May in 1918 she was escorting an East Coast convoy off Flamborough Head when the merchant steamer Blaydonian sighted and rammed the German U boat UC.75. The stricken U-boat surfaced only to be rammed more twice by the gallant Fairy. The submarine sank after the second impact, holed between her gun and conning tower. Two of the German crew escaped drowning by leaping onto the destroyers forecastle. The collision had taken its toll on the destroyer as well and she foundered.