HMS Pheasant 1917: book available now

HMS Pheasant 1917: Who were the lost men and boys?

HMS Pheasant 1917: Who were the lost men and boys? by Fiona Grahame is available to order now from all good book sellers. It tells the stories of the crewmen who were lost aboard the Royal Navy M-Class destroyer HMS Pheasant whilst on patrol off the coast of Rora Head, Hoy, Orkney, during World War One. The ship struck a mine, resulting in the loss of all hands.

Scapa Flow is a large natural harbour in a strategically important location, so Orkney was to play an important part in both World Wars. There was a large military presence in the isles at the time, and the surrounding waters were more dangerous than usual. Also lost off the coast of Orkney was HMS Hampshire, carrying Lord Kitchener on his way to Russia to meet with Emperor Nicholas II.

Little remains of HMS Pheasant on the sea-bed, and the story of its crew has been untold until now. Fiona’s book is a social history which provides a window into British society at the time. She has undertaken years of research to bring these personal stories to light, with the kind permission and contributions from the families of the crewmen.

The book includes photographs by Fiona Grahame and Martin Laird, who provided the design and layout, as well as archival photos courtesy of Orkney Library and Archive and many portraits of the crewmen provided by their families. Leslie Norquoy’s scale model of the similar M-Class Destroyer HMS Opal is also included.

There are (to the best of our knowledge) no photographs of HMS Pheasant itself. In 2019 Martin created an artists impression of the ship on patrol off the coast of Hoy using photographs of other M-Class destroyers for reference. This mixed media artwork was created to accompany an article by Fiona Grahame in the early stages of her research, when it was hoped that funding could be secured to film a dramatisation of some of the men’s stories.