HMS Breda was a 546nt steel steam yacht, originally known as Sapphire. She was built by J. Brown and Co Ltd in Clydebank for the Duke of Bedford and launched in 1912. Her dimensions were 285’ x 35.2’ x 14’.
The magnificent vessel was manned by a crew of 49 and had every comfort imaginable for her rich owner to enjoy. She was mainly used by the Duchess of Bedford on ornithological trips round the Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.
During the First World War the Sapphire, like many of her counterparts, was requisitioned for war service and fitted with one four inch gun and a twelve pounder. Her role was as an auxiliary patrol vessel based at Gibraltar. She was fortunate to survive the First World War and returned to her owner and to her normal use as a private yacht.
She was called up again at the beginning of the Second World War and renamed HMS Breda. She initially served as a convoy escort before being transferred to an anti-submarine role and later employed as a tender to submarine flotillas. She was involved in the search for HMS Grampus.
She was involved in a collision with a submarine in Campbeltown Loch, Scotland on 18 February 1944. She was refloated and towed to shore where she was beached just outside Campbeltown Harbour, with a view to later moving her into the harbour to repair and refloat her, but this proved impossible and she was heavily salvaged and abandoned.
