hms barham wreck found

The battleship heels over and explodes. This was initially a Fairey IIIF until it was replaced by a Fairey Swordfish in 1938. On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea. On the night of 25 March, Barham and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. However, I can vividly recall the sinking as though it were yesterday. None of the men were ever found alive, and the expedition is considered one of the worst disasters in the history of polar exploration. HMS Barham's magazines blew up in an extremely violent explosion, hereby killing 848 soldiers instantly. Evan-Thomas turned northeast at around 18:06 and then made a slow turn to the southeast once he spotted the Grand Fleet. Hindered by poor visibility, no significant damage was inflicted and Richelieu was not hit before the bombardment was called off after 20 minutes. Barham was able to dodge them, but Resolution was struck by one torpedo amidships that caused a heavy list, and she fell out of line. This Queen Elizabeth-class battleship was sunk by the U-331 on 25 November 1941. It is just over 49 years since H.M.S. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The 1st Battle Squadron, comprising the battleships HMS Barham, Queen Elizabeth, and Valiant left Alexandria in Egypt on the 24th November as part of of an operation to intercept German supply convoys crossing to Libya. 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 ship had been hit amidships by torpedoes on the port side. The HMS Barham was torpedoed by U-331, a German c-class submarine captained by Freiherr Von Tiesenhausen, and sunk in. Late in the afternoon of November 24, 1941 WARSPITE, (C. in C.), BARHAM and VALIANT and a screen of nine destroyers sailed from Alexandria to provide heavy gun cover for the Cruisers. 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. Recently, there was a major problem with the sunken fleet tanker USS Mississinewa - huge amounts of oil were leaking from the wreck and required a major cleanup. 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. [9], The ship was extensively refitted between January 1931 and January 1934 at a cost of 424,000. Our C. in C. (Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham) ordered the 7th and 15th Cruiser Squadrons to sea to attempt to intercept and destroy these convoys. "We were standing by a ladder two decks below on the mess deck when there was a huge explosion," he said. [23] During another training exercise in early December, the ship was accidentally rammed by her sister ship Warspite on 3 December. By the afternoon the submarine and the 1st Battle Squadron were on reciprocal courses and Tiesenhausen ordered his boat to battle stations around 16:00. The Germans opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the British battlecruisers. "It was by an air vent from the engine room that was hit and all this smoke came pouring up. One fragment ricocheted off the upper deck and through the side plating on the opposite side of the ship. 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. 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. [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. [65] Most of the adjacent compartments flooded and the ship took on a 7 degree list that was countered by transferring fuel oil to starboard. [78] The severe damage to Resolution caused Operation Menace to be abandoned and Barham had to tow her to Freetown for temporary repairs, before escorting a convoy to Gibraltar where she arrived on 15 October where her own damage was repaired. The turbines were rated at 75,000 shaft horsepower (56,000kW) and intended to reach a maximum speed of 25 knots (46.3km/h; 28.8mph). 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. LOVE YOU ALL: Yours Aye-Brian CANUCK Murza, W.W.II Naval Researcher-Published Author, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Clinging to a piece of wreckage, Richard was picked up by an Australian destroyer, along with other survivors. The list of men lost is at this link. She became the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet on 9 June until relieved by Warspite on 8 February 1938. Her main guns targeted the port and the battleship Richelieu. The translated detailed report of the attack by U-331 can be found at this link. [35], At 16:30, the light cruiser Southampton, scouting in front of Beatty's ships, spotted the lead elements of the High Seas Fleet coming north at top speed. Before leaving the Bridge to make my attempt to escape, the conning tower of a submarine surfaced about one hundred and fifty yards from the port side, and remained exposed for perhaps half a minute before the U boat dived again. Thanks to the advancements in artificial intellige. [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. "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. Naval Historical Review, Biographies and personal histories, WWII operations Ship sinking, Survivor, HMS Barham, Australian Naval History Podcasts 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. Goebbels has a reputation as a skilful propagandist but on this occasion he was ineffective, at least as far as international opinion was concerned. This required maximum offensive power and a speed several knots faster than any other battleship to allow them to defeat any type of ship. "I didn't know which way was up or down and thought that was it, I'm going to die I had given up and remember thinking, I hope it's quick.". While covering the evacuation of Crete the following day, the ship was attacked by Junkers Ju 88 bombers from II./LG (Demonstration Wing) 1 and Heinkel He 111 bombers of II./KG (Bomber Wing) 26. The 92-year-old, from Leicester, miraculously escaped death when the ship was sunk by a German U-boat torpedo off the coast of Egypt on November 25, 1941. [13] When Barham conducted her sea trials on 20 November 1933, her speed was reduced to 22.5 knots (41.7km/h; 25.9mph) from 65,655shp (48,959kW). [100] The crew are commemorated by a memorial bench, located in Nothe Gardens, Weymouth. [54] Dalglish was relieved in his turn by Captain Percy Noble on 18 October 1922. 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. [24], The Grand Fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February 1916; Jellicoe had intended to use the Harwich Force to sweep the Heligoland Bight, but bad weather prevented operations in the southern North Sea. 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. Prof Richard Toye, the head of history at Exeter University, has written about the Athenia. During the Second World War, a spate of misfortunes had dogged the HMS Barham. 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. As a result, the operation was confined to the northern end of the sea. Read more 2023 BBC. Germany initially denied involvement fearing the US would join the war. Throughout the next day, Jellicoe and Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, commander of the High Seas Fleet, received conflicting intelligence; after reaching the location in the North Sea where they expected to encounter the High Seas Fleet, the British turned north in the erroneous belief that they had entered a minefield. The Queen Elizabeth class warship was the only British battleship to be sunk at sea by a U-boat during the conflict. [67] Barham played no role in the Norwegian Campaign although some of her crew and marines participated. Admiral Angelo Iachino, commander of the Italian fleet, ordered the two other heavy cruisers of the 1st Division to render assistance to Pola in the darkness. The anti-aircraft (AA) armament were composed of two quick-firing (QF) 3-inch (76mm) 20cwt Mk I[Note 1] guns. 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. "We had no idea there were U-boats in the area.". On her arrival at Alexandria shortly afterwards, my Admiral (P-W) and I joined her when she took over from ROYAL SOVEREIGN as flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron. "There was my friend Ted Clow, from Oadby, but he died last December, aged 93.". He eventually lost his life in a confrontation in 1941 when his U-110 boat was forced to the surface after being damaged by depth charges. He went on to serve as a gun range finder aboard HMS Nelson, involved in bombarding German defences in Normandy on D-Day. I was in H.M.S. Hamilton. 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. [75], After a conference aboard Barham later that day, the Allied commanders resolved to continue the attack. "We looked at each other and said, 'right, let's get up top!'. HMS Barham Explodes - Slow MotionOn the afternoon of 25 November 1941, the 1st Battle Squadron, Barham, Queen Elizabeth, and Valiant, with an escort of eight. 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. Most of those who died were in two lifeboats that were smashed just as they were about to be saved. [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. On her return I teamed up with P-W again when he shifted his flag back to the, Battleships. Barham. "It would be at such resolution that anyone could look for shipwrecks like the Athenia from their desk. A member of the Wigston branch of the Royal Naval Association, he is a member of the HMS Barham Association. [54] Willis was relieved by Captain Thomas Walker on 31 January 1939. The battle was known as "Operation Crusader" to the British, the 2nd (British) Offensive to the Italians, and as the 'Winterschlacht' (winter battle) to the Germans. While the exact time when Evan-Thomas ordered his ships to turn to follow Beatty is not known, the consensus is that it was about seven minutes later, which increased his distance from Beatty to nothing less than ten nautical miles (19km; 12mi). [54], On 3 January 1941, the ship, together with Warspite and Valiant, bombarded Bardia as a prelude to the Battle of Bardia. 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. [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. HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. The following morning, they were spotted by an aircraft from the carrier Formidable and the Battle of Cape Matapan began. She was present when the High Seas Fleet surrendered for internment on 21 November. It proved to be worse than expected and Barham had to be repaired at Durban, South Africa, as she was unfit to make the trans-Atlantic crossing for repair in the United States. Beatty then altered course to the east, as he was still too far north to cut Hipper off. Senior figures in the German navy were convicted at Nuremberg for war crimes in relation to the Athenia affair. Casualties were five dead and six wounded. [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. They were designed to reduce the effect of torpedo detonations and improve stability[11] at the cost of widening the ship's beam by almost 14 feet (4.3m) to 104 feet (31.7m),[12] and reduced her draught to 32feet 6inches (9.9m). One 250-kilogram (550lb) bomb struck 'Y' turret and started a fire inside the turret that took 20 minutes to quench. En route, Eagle's aircraft attacked Tripoli on 26 November. [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. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross that day. 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. Shortly after her return to the Mediterranean, Barham again became flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron in September after her sister Warspite had to return home for repairs after running aground. [54] At that time, Captain Norman Wodehouse relieved Scott. Completed in 1915, she was often used as a flagship and participated in the Battle of Jutland during the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet. "It always takes me back to that day in November 1941," he said. Despite the majority of the wreck lying some 75m below the . 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. Quora User We've also got a detailed model of the Athenia. (Lt. Cdr. Produced by the Naval Studies Group in conjunction with the Submarine Institute of Australia, the Australian Naval Institute, Naval Historical Society and the RAN Seapower Centre. [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. 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. [101], Helen Duncan, considered the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act 1735, came to the attention of the authorities after claiming to have contacted the spirit of a sailor of Barham, at the time when the ship's sinking was being hidden from the general public. For Archive Licensing Enquiries Visit: https://goo.gl/W4hZBv Explore Our Online Channel For FULL Documentaries, Fascinating Interviews \u0026 Classic Movies: https://goo.gl/7dVe8r #BritishPath #History #WWII #Navy #RoyalNavySubscribe to the British Path YT Channel: https://goo.gl/hV1nkf Dramatic Newsreel footage captured the sinking of the Queen Elizabeth Battleship. The latter was succeeded by Captain Richard Horne on 1 October. The Donaldson Atlantic Line SS Athenia was built in Glasgow and the city's Riverside Museum of transport has an exhibition dedicated to the vessel and the stories surrounding its sinking. She participated in the Battle of Dakar in mid-1940, where she damaged a Vichy French battleship and was slightly damaged in return. 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 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. Welcome to the HMS Barham Association website On 25th November 1941, 841 men lost their lives when this battleship was sunk during the 2nd world war. The BdU (Commander Submarines) noted in his war diary the rather jubilant: U331 1 battleship torpedoed in the Mediterranean. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); The aim of this blog is to accompany the preparation of a complete history incorporating the Axis and Commonwealth perspectives of the Winterschlacht (Winter Battle) in North Africa, November 1941 to February 1942. Within four minutes, the battleship had listed over to Port and the. Read about our approach to external linking. Completed in 1915, she was often used as a flagship and participated in the Battle of Jutland during the First World War as part of the Grand Fleet. "Can I go into a court of law and say, '100%, that's Athenia?' [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. [102], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}3234N 2624E / 32.567N 26.400E / 32.567; 26.400. Strange, if you think the ship was destroyed in 1941! This archive footage was remarkably captured by Path News cameraman, John Turner, on an adjacent ship. 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. The marine scientist first got involved in the search for the wreck in a commission from the BBC. 1,306 individuals were successfully pulled off the Athenia in deteriorating seas. She helped to sink an Italian heavy cruiser and a destroyer during the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941 and was damaged by German aircraft two months later during the evacuation of Crete. "We climbed over the guard rail and started running down the side of the ship. The video of HMS Barhams loss can seen here, in the context of the overall newsreel. 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. Anniversary Cruise: Sydney under Japanese Attack, Garden Island Northern Hill and Garden Tour, Night of the midget subs Sydney under attack, D-Day commando on Sword Beach by Commander Jim Speed DSC, RAN Part 1, D-Day commando on Sword Beach by Commander Jim Speed DSC, RAN Part 2, D-Day commando on Sword Beach by Commander Jim Speed DSC, RAN Part 3. 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. 862 men went down with her, and her end was filmed by a war correspondent on board one of the escorting On the morning of 25 September, Richelieu was the first ship to open fire at 09:04 at a range of 24,000 yards (22,000m). Last modified on Wed 15 Jun 2022 10.44 EDT. She sailed south through the Suez Canal to Mombasa, Kenya, where her damage was inspected. Everything fits," said Mr Mearns, who sets out the case in his book The Shipwreck Hunter. 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. In addition, she was joined by the battleships HMS Queen . [55] The ship was transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet in November 1929,[54] and, together with Malaya, made a port visit to Trondheim, Norway in mid-1930 where they fired a salute to celebrate the birth of Princess Ragnhild on 9 June. Towards the end of 1941, the Med Fleet was experiencing some ups and downs, as the Luftwaffe became increasingly active and aggressive during the advance of General Rommel (the Desert Fox) and his Afrika Korps across the Western Desert towards Alexandria. The battleship Richelieu boat to Battle stations around 16:00, 'right, let 's get up top! ' Eagle... 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Naval Researcher-Published Author, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada training exercise in early December, aged.! In addition, she was present when the High Seas Fleet surrendered for on. The Athenia affair early 1910s present when the High Seas Fleet surrendered for internment on 21 November recall! Squadron were on reciprocal courses and Tiesenhausen ordered his boat to Battle stations 16:00. Has written about the Athenia Cape Matapan began November 1941 Navy during the early 1910s from their.., involved in bombarding German defences in Normandy on D-Day 67 ] played...

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