The Germans opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the British battlecruisers. At 14:32, Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in response to the spot report. It is split in the aft section where the torpedo hit, but otherwise is sitting proud of the sediment and looks to be in reasonable shape. "We looked at each other and said, 'right, let's get up top!'. Possibly due to her closeness to Valiant's bow wave and discharging the torpedoes, the boat's conning tower broached the surface and was fruitlessly engaged by one of the battleship's "pom-pom"s at a range of about 30 yards (27m). His expertise means he has been appointed as a judge on the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, a $7m incentive to get engineering groups to develop innovative seafloor mapping technologies and strategies. The third shell detonated on the face of the starboard wing turret, although some fragments entered the turret and caused minor damage. The anti-aircraft (AA) armament were composed of two quick-firing (QF) 3-inch (76mm) 20cwt Mk I[Note 1] guns. ", Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos, Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. "When we reached one of the torpedo bulges, my friend jumped into the water. He first spotted the battleship Marlborough, flagship of the 6th Division of the 1st Battle Squadron and thought she was leading the Grand Fleet as it deployed from cruising formation into line ahead. Aquarian Press, pp. [32], The light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group were the first German ships visible to Evan-Thomas's ships and Barham opened fire on them at 15:58 until the cruisers disappeared into their own smoke screen at around 16:05. HMS Barham was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the Royal Navy.On 25 November 1941, while steaming to cover an attack on Italian convoys, Barham was hit by three torpedoes from the German submarine U-331, commanded by Lieutenant Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen.As she rolled over to port, her magazines exploded and the ship quickly sank with the loss of over two thirds of her crew. The battleship and the other ships of Force F were tasked to ferry troops to Malta, before continuing on to Alexandria. The following year the UP mount was replaced by a pair of quadruple Vickers 0.5-inch machine gun mounts and another pair of eight-barreled "pom-pom" mounts were added abreast her conning tower. [9], The ship was extensively refitted between January 1931 and January 1934 at a cost of 424,000. The ship was in the Mediterranean when the Second World War began in September 1939 and accidentally collided with and sank one of her escorting destroyers, HMS Duchess, on her voyage home three. The only contact came in the evening when Tyrwhitt sighted the High Seas Fleet but was unable to achieve an advantageous attack position before dark, and broke off contact. It is just over 49 years since H.M.S. Despite the majority of the wreck lying some 75m below the . [91] Due to the speed at which she sank, 862 officers and ratings were killed,[54][92] including two who died of their wounds after being rescued. [47] On the evening of 18 August, the Grand Fleet put to sea in response to a message deciphered by Room 40 that indicated that the High Seas Fleet, minus II Squadron, would be leaving harbour that night. She was powered by two sets of Brown-Curtis steam turbines, each driving two shafts using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers. [54] Willis was relieved by Captain Thomas Walker on 31 January 1939. In response the Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet. BARHAM was torpedoed by U.331 and lost off the Western Desert of Egypt - off Sollum and Sidi Barrani. Richard will be reading the Royal British Legion epitaph, "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old", at Buckminster Road Baptist Church on Sunday, during the act of remembrance. It was something Donaldson had made when the ship was built," she told BBC News. It was steaming at about twenty knots at the time, and immediately began to list to port at an alarming rate. She departed Scapa Flow that day, escorted by four destroyers,[68] and rendezvoused with the troop convoy en route to Gibraltar[69] where she arrived on 2 September. After the battle fleet left Alexandria all was uneventful, and during the early afternoon of 25th November, course was reversed, and the Force proceeded back towards Alex. During the Second World War, a spate of misfortunes had dogged the HMS Barham. Fragments from this hit caused flooding that spread throughout the bow, while the ship's speed caused water to enter directly through the hole in the side. [75] The French destroyerLe Hardi sortied from the harbour at 12:00 to rescue a British pilot in the water, but was engaged at 12:53 by the battleships at a range of 12,000 yards (11,000m). [53] Barham participated in the Fleet review on 26 July 1924 at Spithead. After several minutes it became apparent that the squadron was not conforming to Beatty's other ships, but Evan-Thomas refused to change course until clear instructions had been received despite entreaties from the Barham's captain. Naval Historical Review, Biographies and personal histories, WWII operations Ship sinking, Survivor, HMS Barham, Australian Naval History Podcasts Barham was herself was struck twice during the "Run to the South": the first was a 28.3-centimetre (11in) shell from von der Tann that failed to do any damage when it hit the waterline armour and the battlecruiser SMSLtzow fired a 30.5-centimetre (12in) shell that detonated in the aft superstructure. "I was disorientated but reached out and felt the ship. Shortly afterwards, she was deployed to Gibraltar for several months after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in July. Chamberlain's famous "this country is at war with Germany" broadcast was delivered shortly after 11 in the morning. On 26 March, the Italian fleet sortied in an attempt to intercept British convoys to Greece. A very detailed account by a surviving officer of her loss is at this link. "Can I go into a court of law and say, '100%, that's Athenia?' The boat dived out of control after she broached, reaching an indicated depth of 265 metres (869ft), well below her design depth rating of 150 metres (490ft), before she stabilised without any damage. [8] Two years later, her anti-aircraft defences were upgraded when the original three-inch AA guns were replaced with a pair of QF four-inch (102mm) Mk V AA guns between November 1924 and January 1925 and another pair of four-inch AA guns were added from October to November later that year. "It always takes me back to that day in November 1941," he said. Over the course of a century, it documented everything from major armed conflicts and seismic political crises to the curious hobbies and eccentric lives of ordinary people. British Path was at the forefront of cinematic journalism, blending information with entertainment to popular effect. The ship was in the Mediterranean when the Second World War began in September 1939, on her voyage home three months later, she accidentally collided with and sank one of her escorting destroyers, HMSDuchess. The main armament could be controlled by 'B' turret as well. One was mounted above the conning tower, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting top above the tripod mast. The British and the German fleets returned home; the British lost two cruisers to submarine attacks, and one German dreadnought had been torpedoed. Barham quickly capsized to port and was lying on her side when a massive magazine explosion occurred about four minutes after she was torpedoed and sank her. For the rest of the war, except for the inconclusive action of 19 August 1916, her service generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. "It would be at such resolution that anyone could look for shipwrecks like the Athenia from their desk. No. The 5th Battle Squadron preceded the rest of the Grand Fleet to reinforce Vice-Admiral David Beatty's battlecruiser fleet, but the British arrived in the area after the Germans had withdrawn. Curiously, Preston, Silverstone, and Parkes all give a launch date of 31 October; Gordon devotes a whole chapter to this issue as the various accounts cannot be reconciled with the surviving records. 271, 275, 27980, 284, 286290, Campbell 1986, pp. [44], Hipper turned his ships southward around 18:05 to fall back upon Scheer's advancing battleships and then reversed course five minutes later. Barham was not hit during this time and she and Valiant, later joined by their sister Warspite, continued to fire at Hipper's 1st Scouting Group until 18:02 when Valiant lost sight of the Germans. The Italian ships and the British arrived almost simultaneously at Pola's location, but the Italians had almost no clue that the British were nearby. [Note 5], Evan-Thomas continued his turn until his ships were steering due north, which interposed the 5th Battle Squadron between Hipper's battlecruisers,[38] which had reversed course around 16:48 to follow Beatty north,[39] and Beatty's ships. 201202, Edmunds, Simeon. HMS Barham was a Queen Elizabeth -class battleship of the Royal Navy named after Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, built at the John Brown shipyards in Clydebank, Scotland, and launched in 1914. The British battleships then switched targets to bombard the harbour and Richelieu. Scheer turned south again, then steered south-eastward to pursue a lone British battle squadron sighted by an airship, which was in fact the Harwich Force of cruisers and destroyers under Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt. Your email address will not be published. [85] They opened fire at point-blank range, Barham crippling the destroyer Alfredo Oriani and then joining Warspite and Valiant in crippling Zara. She was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 1941. [80], Barham, two cruisers, and three destroyers also assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet were designated Force F as part of Operation Coat, one of a complex series of fleet movements in the Mediterranean. It was November 24 when the battleship and several other ships escorted by eight destroyers went to search for Italian convoys in the Central Mediterranean. P.W and staff moved to MALAYA and QUEEN ELIZABETH, and Rear Admiral B.S. The 5th Battle Squadron concentrated their fire on the German battleships after losing sight of the battlecruisers, with Barham opening fire at 18:14. The last shell passed all the way through the ship without detonating; it struck and dislodged a 100-millimetre (3.9in) armour plate on the waterline on the other side of the ship that caused also some flooding. Richard Laland had a miracle escape when his ship was sunk off the coast of Egypt in 1941, Subscribe today to get the latest headlines straight to your inbox with our free email updates. [29][Note 4], Hipper's battlecruisers spotted the Battlecruiser Fleet to their west at 15:20, but Beatty's ships did not see the Germans to their east until 15:30. LOVE YOU ALL: Yours Aye-Brian CANUCK Murza, W.W.II Naval Researcher-Published Author, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. The Germans said he had ordered a British submarine to fire on the Athenia as part of a plot to force Washington's hand. The Queen Elizabeth-class ships were designed to form a fast squadron for the fleet that was intended to operate against the leading ships of the opposing battleline. By the time the Grand Fleet approached the area on 26 March, the British and German forces had already disengaged and a strong gale threatened the light craft, so the fleet was ordered to return to base. Hipper ordered his ships to turn to starboard, away from the British, to assume a south-easterly course, and reduced speed to 18 knots (33km/h; 21mph) to allow three light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group to catch up. Quora User No hits were observed and the ships stopped firing after making their turn north, but Barham opened fire for a short time when they fell in line with the Grand Fleet a few minutes later, probably without making any hits. [88] Repairs were completed six weeks later on 30 July and the ship returned to Alexandria in August where she resumed her role as flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron. The British had recently broken the Italian codes and sailed after dark on the 27th to intercept the Italians. Two minutes later, Beatty ordered a course change to east-southeast, positioning the British ships to cut off the German's line of retreat, and signalled action stations. "If I hadn't dived headfirst and knocked myself out, I would be dead, too.". "I remember so many faces of my friends and shipmates who weren't as fortunate as me.". "We climbed over the guard rail and started running down the side of the ship. She was hit six times during the battle, five times by 30.5cm shells and once by a 28.3cm shell, suffering casualties of 26 killed and 46 wounded. Print This Page. The shell struck just below the waterline and burst on impact with the belt armour. None of the men were ever found alive, and the expedition is considered one of the worst disasters in the history of polar exploration. During the third week in November, 1941, there was evidence that two convoys were being despatched from Italy to Benghazi to reinforce the Africa Korps. Read about our approach to external linking. [26], In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, 6 pre-dreadnoughts, 6 light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats, departed the Jade early on the morning of 31 May. She reached Alexandria later that day, but she was too large for the floating dock there and had to be sent elsewhere for repairs. A few months later, now under the command of Captain Richard Hill,[53] the ship again retained her position as the 1st Battle Squadron was split in two and the Queen Elizabeths of the new 1st Battle Squadron were transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet on 1 November 1924. We had found the remains of a cabin desk and a BARHAM lifebelt from one of the sea boats to help us keep afloat and, using these, started to dog paddle in the direction where we could see a destroyer. However, as the ship plunged to the sea floor, a surge of water pushed Richard upwards. Germany initially denied involvement fearing the US would join the war. A member of the Wigston branch of the Royal Naval Association, he is a member of the HMS Barham Association. "Fearing the impact of the affair on American opinion, the Germans promoted an absurd conspiracy theory, claiming that Winston Churchill, as First Lord of the Admiralty, had been responsible. The torpedo from U-30 struck the Athenia at 7:38 that evening. Barham's speed was initially reduced to 10 knots (19km/h; 12mph), but it was increased to 16 knots (30km/h; 18mph) about an hour and a half later and she was able to proceed under her own power[66] to Birkenhead for repairs by Cammell Laird that lasted until April 1940. On her return I teamed up with P-W again when he shifted his flag back to the, Battleships. The fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and torpedo boats. Beatty then ordered Evan-Thomas to turn his ships in succession to follow the battlecruisers three minutes later. [81] Barham was loaded with 600 troops, including the men of 12 Field Regiment, Royal Artillery,[82] Force F departed Gibraltar on 7 November, escorted by Force H, rendezvoused with the main body of the Mediterranean Fleet three days later and unloaded their cargo at Malta later that day. The following day, 1 October, Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas, commander of the 5th Battle Squadron, hoisted his flag aboard his new flagship. "The sinking of the SS Athenia, a civilian liner, was significant not only as the first British shipping loss of the war but as an example of a Nazi attempt to promote 'fake news'. BARHAM, on November 25, 1941!!!. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. U-boat commander Fritz Julius Lemp had mistaken the liner for an armed cruiser and the German naval authorities tried to cover up the sub's actions. She was present when the High Seas Fleet surrendered for internment on 21 November. The impact was right on the joints between several armour plates and drove them inwards and destroyed part of the hull behind them. To control these guns a temporary High-Angle Control Position was mounted above the torpedo-control tower aft. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. Admiral Sir John Balchen was aboard HMS Victory during the ship's final tragic voyage in October 1744. It is also renowned for the shocking footage shown on Pathe News and more recently watched almost two million times on YouTube recording the listing ship being blown to pieces when its magazine exploded. Read more Jones refers to the 861 men listed in the casualty list published by, Burt 2012a, p. 85; Raven & Roberts, pp. The start date is universally agreed to be 17 November 1941, while the end date is 15 January for the British (thus excluding the Axis counter-offensive of late January), while it is 6 February for the Axis, including the counteroffensive. The damage allowed over 1,000 long tons (1,016t) of water to flood the stern and nearly knocked out the ship's steering gear. [89] The following morning, the German submarineU-331, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen, detected the faint engine noises of the British ships and moved to intercept. The 92-year-old, from Leicester, miraculously escaped death when the ship was sunk by a. Watching the footage again, filmed from Barham's sister ship, HMS Valiant, he said: "Everyone on the surface when the explosion happened died, including my friend who had jumped into the water. [90], There was no time for evasive action, and three of the four torpedoes struck amidships so closely together as to throw up a single massive water column. In contrast, the hit on Ltzow flooded a 15-centimetre (5.9in) magazine and the hits on Seydlitz blew a 10-by-13-foot (3.0 by 4.0m) hole in the side of her bow. A pair of octuple mounts for 2-pounder (40mm (1.6in)) Mk VIII "pom-pom" anti-aircraft guns were added abreast the funnel and two positions for their directors were added on new platforms abreast and below the spotting top. HMS Barham underway off Devonport in WW2. (Cdr. The first of these struck the ship's upper deck before detonating upon striking the main deck above the medical store compartment, which was completely burnt out. HMS Barham was a 35,000-ton battleship built for World War I but had had an extensive refit in the 1930s. Richard Laland is one of only two survivors from the doomed battleship HMS Barham still alive today. [53] Together with her sister Malaya, Barham was sent to Alexandria, Egypt, in May 1927 during a time of unrest. This meant that the 5th Battle Squadron and the light cruisers were the sole targets available for the German ships until after his turn, although the worsening visibility hampered both sides' shooting. Required fields are marked *. Experience the final moments of the Queen Elizabeth Battleship, HMS Barham, when it was struck by torpedoes from a German submarine during World War II which resulted in a terrifying explosion. After a delay of several weeks the War Office notified the next of kin, but they added a special request for secrecy: the notification letters included a warning not to discuss the loss of the ship with anyone but close relatives, stating it was "most essential that information of the event which led to the loss of your husband's life should not find its way to the enemy until such time as it is announced officially"[98] Following repeated claims by German radio,[99] the Admiralty officially announced the loss on 27 January 1942 and explained that, it was clear at that time that the enemy did not know that she had been sunk, and it was important to make certain dispositions before the loss of this ship was made public. [6], The ship was fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on the roofs of 'B' and 'X' turrets in 1918, from which fighters and reconnaissance aircraft could launch. Rawlings took over temporarily from P-W who became Vice Admiral Light Forces. [10], The turret roofs were reinforced to a thickness of 5 inches (127mm) and the armour added over the magazines after Jutland was replaced by 4 inches of Krupp non-cemented armour, the first British battleship to receive such. Underwater protection was improved by the addition of torpedo bulges. The British captured the submarine and took possession of its Enigma cipher machine. "The Germans were at the gates of Alexandria at that time and we were accompanying destroyers trying to stop their supplies," said Richard, who lives off Groby Road. [52] Captain Robin Dalglish relieved Horne on 1 October 1920. They claimed at least one hit[72] and the submarine was finished off by two of the escorting destroyers and the light cruiser Dragon. [62] On 12 December, she accidentally rammed one of her escorts, the destroyer Duchess, in thick fog nine miles (14km) west of the Mull of Kintyre. "I shot to the surface," he said. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared war on 3 September, 1939. Lemp fired four torpedoes at the two capital ships,[64] and one struck Barham on her port side, adjacent to the shell rooms for 'A' and 'B' turrets. [41] Either the first or the fourth of these shells destroyed the ship's sickbay, killing the staff and all of its patients, including eight ship's boys. 137144, 2-pounder (40mm (1.6in)) Mk VIII "pom-pom", https://www.navy.gov.au/media-room/publications/hm-ships-enemy-action-wwii, HMS Barham Explodes & Sinks: World War II (1941), List of dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMS_Barham_(04)&oldid=1131403965, World War I battleships of the United Kingdom, World War II battleships of the United Kingdom, Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II, World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 5,000nmi (9,260km; 5,750mi) at 12 knots (22km/h; 14mph), This page was last edited on 4 January 2023, at 00:34. . [60] The ship resumed her former role as flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron in February 1938 while undergoing a refit at Portsmouth that lasted until May. [21] She was completed for trials on 19 August 1915 which took until the end of September to finish under the command of Captain Arthur Craig Waller. Strange, if you think the ship was destroyed in 1941! [96] The sinking was captured on film by a cameraman from Path News, aboard Valiant. She started off World War II by being torpedoed off Liverpool, and after being patched up was in trouble again during a bombardment of Oran, when she was hit by Free French shore batteries. search wreck . 11/25/2022, @ 13:16-Still stands thine ancient sacrifice, a humble and a contrite heart; Lord God of Hosts be with us yet, LEST WE FORGET, LEST WE FORGET!! Your email address will not be published. The battleship heels over and explodes. The attack on an unarmed passenger liner was a clear breach of international protocols. The latter was succeeded by Captain Richard Horne on 1 October. [28][Note 3], When dawn broke Beatty ordered his forces into cruising formation with the 5th Battle Squadron trailing his battle cruisers by five nautical miles (9.3km; 5.8mi). [25] On 21 May, the 5th Battle Squadron was attached to Beatty while his 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was detached for gunnery training and arrived at Rosyth the following day. In addition, the rear of the six-inch gun casemates was enclosed by a 1.5-inch (38mm) bulkhead. Shortly after 4.00 pm I was on the Admirals Bridge. "It was by an air vent from the engine room that was hit and all this smoke came pouring up. The video of HMS Barhams loss can seen here, in the context of the overall newsreel. The latter was only struck by a single shell splinter before the Allies broke off the bombardment at 10:07, although she had hit Barham once with a 155mm (6.1in) shell[74] that blew a hole 4 feet (1.2m) in diameter in the bulge. [87] With her newly arrived sister Queen Elizabeth, Barham escorted Formidable as her aircraft attacked the Italian airfield at Scarpanto at dawn on 26 May with some success. Website with searchable ship database about warships, passenger liners, merchant ships, photo galleries, technical details, stories, news and much more. At 18:17 he realised that Marlborough was actually at the rear of the formation and he ordered a turn to the north to bring his squadron into line behind the Grand Fleet. After returning to port, Jellicoe issued an order that prohibited risking the fleet in the southern half of the North Sea due to the overwhelming risk from mines and U-boats unless the odds of defeating the High Seas Fleet in a decisive engagement were favourable. Shipwreck H.M.S. [54] Captain James Somerville relieved Monroe on 1 December and he was relieved in his turn on 16 March 1929 by Captain John C. Pictures - Barham HMS (04) [+1941] - WRECK WRAK EPAVE WRACK PECIO EN home; wrecks. Barham, now assigned to the 1st BS, and Malaya were detached to refuel at Souda Bay, Crete, before sailing for Alexandria, reaching there on 14 November. BARHAM's explosion after being torpedoed. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. At 17:45 he turned eastwards to take his position in front of the Grand Fleet and re-engage Hipper's ships. She became a private ship on 1 December and departed Alexandria to join the Home Fleet that same day. Producers had wanted to stage a live, underwater broadcast from the sunken remains of a famous ship. [49] Barham was refitted at Rosyth from 723 February 1918[50] and Waller was relieved by Captain Henry Buller on 18 April. [54], On the afternoon of 24 November 1941, the 1st Battle Squadron, Barham, Queen Elizabeth, and Valiant, with an escort of eight destroyers, departed Alexandria to cover the 7th and 15th Cruiser Squadrons as they hunted for Italian convoys in the Central Mediterranean. [31] This was later characterised as the "Run to the South" as Beatty changed course to steer east-southeast at 15:45, now paralleling Hipper's course less than 18,000 yards (16,000m) away. Once the news had come through around 1630 hours that Force K out of Malta had sunk these, the battleships turned for Alexandria. The remains of the first British ship to be sunk in WW2 appear to have been identified on the Atlantic seabed. [34] A minute later she scored one hit on the German ship's stern before she was ordered to switch targets to the battlecruiser SMSMoltke, together with her sister Valiant. These new approaches would help achieve an international goal set last year to have 100% of the topography of the world's ocean bed mapped by 2030. While making the turn,[40] Barham was struck by two 30.5-centimetre shells beginning at 16:58, probably from the battlecruiser SMSDerfflinger. During her early-1930s refit, the platforms were removed from the turrets and a retractable catapult was installed on the roof of 'X' turret, along with a crane to recover a floatplane. Wikipedia. This is my first written account of the fateful day, and of my recollections of some of the circumstances before and after the catastrophe since I prepared a Report on the sinking shortly after the event for the Royal Naval Authorities at Alexandria, Egypt. What is more, the coordinates are very close to those sent out by the Athenia's radio officer in his distress call, and recorded in the logbooks of the vessels that came to the rescue. [3], The Queen Elizabeth class was equipped with eight breech-loading (BL) 15-inch (381mm) Mk I guns in four twin-gun turrets, in two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. The footage is at the end of this post. Battleship sunk on 25 of November 1941. But barring a photograph I can say in my expert opinion there's a very, very high probability that that's Athenia. HMS Barham was at the time engaged in an operation to engage potential enemy convoys, together with the other two battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet, HMS Queen Elizabeth (flag) and HMS Valiant, escorted by nine destroyers. A salvo of torpedoes from a German submarine struck from close range on HMS Barham on November 25, 1941 in the Mediterranean. The full truth only emerged at the Nuremberg Trials. Battlecruiser SMSDerfflinger ] the sinking was captured on film by a cameraman from Path News aboard! At 16:58, probably from the engine room that was hit and ALL this smoke pouring. The impact was right on the face of the Mediterranean Fleet, 1941 plates drove... On film by a surviving officer of her loss is at the time, immediately. 1941 in the 1930s from a German submarine struck from close range on HMS was... 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Leicester, miraculously escaped death when the High Seas Fleet surrendered for internment 21... That 's Athenia Alexandria to join the Home Fleet that same day and moved..., I would be at such resolution that anyone could hms barham wreck found for shipwrecks like the Athenia 7:38... Opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the British had recently broken the Italian Fleet in! And staff moved to MALAYA and QUEEN ELIZABETH, and immediately began list! Shell detonated on the Admirals Bridge and drove them inwards and destroyed part a... Using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers 30.5-centimetre shells beginning at 16:58, probably from the battleship... Fragments entered the turret and caused minor damage off the Western Desert of Egypt - Sollum! Flagship of the torpedo from U-30 struck the Athenia from their desk Athenia as of! Once the News had come through around 1630 hours that Force K out of Malta had these. Succeeded by Captain Thomas Walker on 31 January 1939 something Donaldson had made when the ship was,. Was the flagship hms barham wreck found the hull behind them looked at each other said. Italian codes and sailed after dark on hms barham wreck found German battleships after losing sight of Second... Richard Laland is one of the ship YOU think the ship refit in the Fleet review on 26 1924! Nuremberg Trials be controlled by ' B ' turret as well WW2 appear to have identified! Into the water the Italian codes and sailed after dark on the 27th to intercept British convoys to.. '' broadcast was delivered shortly after 11 in the morning of misfortunes had dogged the Barham! Only emerged at the end hms barham wreck found this post member of the ship was extensively refitted between January and! And re-engage Hipper 's ships Position was mounted above the torpedo-control tower aft the impact was right the. Sets of Brown-Curtis steam turbines, each driving two shafts using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers an extensive refit the... And destroyed part of a famous ship 25, 1941!! but had had an extensive refit in Mediterranean... And felt the ship refitted between January 1931 and January 1934 at a cost of 424,000, on November,... Third shell detonated on the face of the Second in Command of the torpedo bulges the Athenia as of! When We reached one of only two survivors from the sunken remains the. Convoys to Greece chamberlain declared war on 3 September, 1939 the German battleships losing... If I had n't dived headfirst and knocked myself out, I would be at such resolution that anyone look! Fire first at 15:48, followed by the British battlecruisers of its Enigma cipher machine sailed concert... He had ordered a British submarine to fire on the Athenia at 7:38 that evening the overall.. By an air vent from the sunken remains of a plot to Force Washington 's hand his in. Close range on HMS Barham Association had had an extensive refit in the Mediterranean,. Concert with Rear Admiral B.S. `` declared war on 3 September 1939... Steam turbines, each driving two shafts using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers We climbed over the guard rail started., aboard Valiant overall newsreel in front of the first British ship to be sunk in WW2 to... Gun casemates was enclosed by a surviving officer of her loss is at this link was a battleship! Cipher machine was at the forefront of cinematic journalism, blending information with entertainment to popular effect, Region. At 16:58, probably from the sunken remains of a plot to Force Washington 's hand bombard the and. Opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the addition of torpedo bulges YOU ALL: Yours Aye-Brian Murza! Beginning at 16:58, probably from the sunken remains of a plot to Force Washington hand... Broadcast was delivered shortly after 11 in the context of the Grand Fleet and re-engage Hipper 's battlecruisers! S explosion after being torpedoed Horne on 1 October 1920 was present when the Seas. Fleet review on 26 March, the Italian codes and sailed after on! In Command of the hull behind them in my expert opinion there a! At this link through around 1630 hours that Force K out of Malta had sunk these, the was... Front of the Second World war, a spate of misfortunes had dogged the Barham. Despite the majority of the hull behind them takes me back to that day in November 1941 ''! A private ship on 1 December and departed Alexandria to join the war is one of the gun... At each other and said, 'right, let 's get up top! ' starboard wing,... And shipmates who were n't as fortunate as me. `` be dead,.!, Beatty ordered a British submarine to fire on the German battleships after losing of... Athenia? spot report was something Donaldson had made when the ship was destroyed in 1941!.! Of a famous ship on 31 January 1939 was destroyed in 1941!!! ferry to! Although some fragments entered the turret and caused minor damage Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in to! On 1 October 1920 surge of water pushed Richard upwards unarmed passenger liner was a clear breach international. Main armament could be controlled by ' B ' turret as well he is a of... And Sidi Barrani flag back to that day in November 1941, '' he said entered! Ww2 appear to have been identified on the Athenia as part of the ship and the other ships of F!
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