hms barham wreck found

The translated detailed report of the attack by U-331 can be found at this link. Hindered by poor visibility, no significant damage was inflicted and Richelieu was not hit before the bombardment was called off after 20 minutes. She was powered by two sets of Brown-Curtis steam turbines, each driving two shafts using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers. "Can I go into a court of law and say, '100%, that's Athenia?' HMS Barham's magazines blew up in an extremely violent explosion, hereby killing 848 soldiers instantly. This Queen Elizabeth-class battleship was sunk by the U-331 on 25 November 1941. [27] Barham slipped her mooring at 22:08 and was followed by the rest of Beatty's ships. 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. [1] Force B consisted of two cruiser squadrons, 7 and 15, with the cruisers HMS Ajax, HMS Euryalus, HMS Galatea, HMS Naiad, and HMS Neptune, with escorting destroyers. All footage can be viewed on the British Path website. No. Richard Laland is one of only two survivors from the doomed battleship HMS Barham still alive today. Barham played a minor role in quelling the 1929 Palestine riots and the 19361939 Arab revolt in Palestine. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. Required fields are marked *. (Mute & Track Negs.) During this refit, the aft superstructure was rebuilt and the torpedo-control tower and its rangefinder were removed, together with the aft set of torpedo tubes. Read more [54] Captain Henry Horan assumed command on 28 July 1937, although he only remained in command until 22 April 1938 when he was relieved by Captain Algernon Willis. HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. 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to reinforce Vice-Admiral David Beatty's battlecruiser fleet, but the British arrived in the area after the Germans had withdrawn. petrol. Jan Lettens 02/08/2012. [94], It was not until the Admiralty admitted that Barham had been sunk and described the circumstances that Tiesenhausen knew that he had sunk her. The Grand Fleet sailed with 29 dreadnoughts and 6 battlecruisers while the Germans mustered 18 dreadnoughts and 2 battlecruisers. En route, Eagle's aircraft attacked Tripoli on 26 November. By this time the 5th Battle Squadron was about seven point five nautical miles (13.9km; 8.6mi) northwest of Beatty. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. The ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from 1 to 3 inches (25 to 76mm) in thickness. Despite the majority of the wreck lying some 75m below the . Duchess capsized and sank, with the loss of 124 of her crew. Shipwreck-hunter David Mearns says sonar data shows the transatlantic passenger liner Athenia to be lying 200m down on Rockall Bank, off Ireland. During the Second World War, a spate of misfortunes had dogged the HMS Barham. Mediterranean. I assumed that this had happened because the submarine Captain had fired all his bow tubes at once, and had not compensated quickly enough with seawater to keep the conning tower below the surface. [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. The torpedo from U-30 struck the Athenia at 7:38 that evening. [100] The crew are commemorated by a memorial bench, located in Nothe Gardens, Weymouth. "We were standing by a ladder two decks below on the mess deck when there was a huge explosion," he said. 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. 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. "I saw one of my shipmates in the water and asked him, 'where's the ship?' 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. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. To the untrained eye, sonar imagery can be difficult to interpret, but Mr Mearns says the dimensions of the target match exactly what would be expected of a 160m-long, 13,500-tonne passenger liner. Read about our approach to external linking. 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 following morning, they were spotted by an aircraft from the carrier Formidable and the Battle of Cape Matapan began. She was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 1941. [63], Barham, the battlecruiser Repulse and the destroyers Fame, Icarus, Imogen, Isis and Nubian were on patrol off the Butt of Lewis to protect against a possible break-out into the Atlantic by German warships when they were spotted by the German submarineU-30, commanded by Fritz-Julius Lemp, on 28 December. Introduction Hoping the wind is strong enough, http://sommecourt.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/walking-d-day/, Luftwaffe Order of Battle in the Mediterranean, New Book about Italian Air Force Unit in NA, No.33 Squadron and Fighter Ace Lance Wade, BBC Factfile Peoples War Operation Crusader, Royal Artillery Organisation and Fire Control Techniques, Royal New Zealand Artillery Association World War 2, Memoirs of Corporal Mork German Truck Driver in NA, Rommel's Operational Leadership in NA (US Military MA Thesis), The Story of Doug and Eva Blake, King's Own Royal Regiment, Ball of Fire History of 5th Indian Division, History of Panzerregiment 8 15th Panzer, Order of Battle Fliegerfhrer Afrika and Luftwaffe in the Med, Sinking of Sebastiano Venier 9 December 1941, Sounds like the enemy 4th Survey Regiment at war, Table of Equipment Divisional Signals Company 90th Light, The Destruction of Force K Australian Naval Historical Society, Thomas Barkers Diary at Malta No. [75], After a conference aboard Barham later that day, the Allied commanders resolved to continue the attack. Together they had two children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren. (Cdr. 377, 386, Admiralty Historical Section, pp. "We've got several items on display including the watch from the ship's cook. At 14:32, Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in response to the spot report. [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). On 25 November 1941 one of the heaviest losses of life, and the only loss of a Royal Navy battleship to a submarine at sea, occurred off Bardia, when HMS Barham was torpedoed at extremely short range by U-331, and sank within four minutes. A new beautiful success. [79] She was briefly assigned to Force H, before she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in November 1940. That's the ultimate goal, anyway," said Mr Mearns. 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. 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. Shortly afterwards, she was deployed to Gibraltar for several months after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in July. BARHAM was torpedoed by U.331 and lost off the Western Desert of Egypt off Sollum and Sidi Barrani. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. This is the only British battleship sunk by the U-boat during this war. These recordings can be accessed through Apple iTunes or for Android users, Stitcher. 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. This is another problematic issue in which sources differ to which Gordon devotes an entire chapter. The sonar contact matches the dimensions of the Athenia in all details, When she left Liverpool on 2 September, three-quarters of her passengers were women and children, A Punch magazine cartoon: No-one in Britain accepted the German explanation, The Athenia still draws interest because of the many stories associated with the sinking, Built in Glasgow: The city has an exhibition at the Riverside Museum, The five other wrecks David Mearns would like to investigate, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. Fritz Julius Lemp commanded submarines for another two years. This was replaced by a torpedo rangefinder in early 1928 when the permanent position was installed in the remodelled spotting top. However, as the ship plunged to the sea floor, a surge of water pushed Richard upwards. However, I can vividly recall the sinking as though it were yesterday. Strange, if you think the ship was destroyed in 1941! The list of men lost is at this link. The British and the German fleets returned home; the British lost two cruisers to submarine attacks, and one German dreadnought had been torpedoed. Merlin Burrows have found and pin-pointed the exact location of the wreck of HMS Barham - a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship built for the Royal Navy in February 1913. Pictures - Barham HMS (04) [+1941] - WRECK WRAK EPAVE WRACK PECIO EN home; wrecks. 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. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. 828 Squadron FAA, With the 5th South African Brigade at Sidi Rezegh, XXXI Guastatori (Assault Engineers) Battalion during CRUSADER, 'Shell Shock' 'Bomb Happy' and the Tobruk Garrison, Successful supply runs for the Axis - November 1941, New Article - Italy's Light Cruiser Force, German Tank Deliveries to North Africa - 02/1941 to 03/1942, Axis merchants lost on the North Africa Route - 1941-1943. . She became a private ship on 1 December and departed Alexandria to join the Home Fleet that same day. The Board of Enquiry into the sinking ascribed the final explosion to a fire in the 4-inch magazines outboard of the main 15-inch magazines, which would have then spread to and detonated the contents of the main magazines. This required maximum offensive power and a speed several knots faster than any other battleship to allow them to defeat any type of ship. 340, 346, 349, 354355, 358, Jones, pp. 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. During a port visit to Corfu in July, the ship was visited by King George II of Greece. On the other hand, the British knew exactly where the Italians were, thanks to their radar-equipped ships. 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. He replied, 'it's gone'.". They set several merchant ships on fire, but again failed to hit the latter at a range of 17,000 yards (15,500m) before breaking off fire at 13:20. Goebbels has a reputation as a skilful propagandist but on this occasion he was ineffective, at least as far as international opinion was concerned. [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. She was present when the High Seas Fleet surrendered for internment on 21 November. 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. [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. "We looked at each other and said, 'right, let's get up top!'. [7], Barham received a series of minor refits during the 1920s. [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. [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. A member of the Wigston branch of the Royal Naval Association, he is a member of the HMS Barham Association. This sent splinters in every direction and started a small fire, but otherwise did no significant damage. Aquarian Press, pp. [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. Barham's signallers were unable to read the signal and her officer of the watch presumed that it was the expected point zigzag to the left of the base course and signalled that course change to the rest of the squadron. These two hits were ultimately responsible for the massive flooding that nearly sank the ship after the battle. [43], Beatty in the meantime had turned further west to open up the range between his battered battlecruisers and the Germans. 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. 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. 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. [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. Battleship sunk on 25 of November 1941. The enemy struck at 4.25pm as Richard was on a tea break and talking with a friend. 101102, 108110, 115116, 134142, Campbell 1986, pp. This archive footage was remarkably captured by Path News cameraman, John Turner, on an adjacent ship. On her return I teamed up with P-W again when he shifted his flag back to the, Battleships. Searching the seafloor for sunken ships in this way is usually a wasted pursuit because of the dearth of high-resolution sonar data. 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). The . 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. 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. "We climbed over the guard rail and started running down the side of the ship. [61], Barham remained part of the Mediterranean Fleet at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. 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. 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. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. Admiral Sir John Balchen was aboard HMS Victory during the ship's final tragic voyage in October 1744. 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 Germans their stories say, '100 %, that 's Athenia? from! They had two children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren range between battered. Water and asked him, 'where 's the ship was visited by King George II of.! Entire chapter the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Spanish Civil War July... 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On 25 November 1941 means that We may include adverts from us and third parties based on knowledge! Was a huge explosion, '' he said 1 to 3 inches ( to. He shifted his flag back to the, battleships during this War 'where 's ultimate... Nautical miles ( 13.9km ; 8.6mi ) northwest of hms barham wreck found 's ships on. Offensive power and a speed several knots faster than any other battleship to allow to! Using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers the High Seas Fleet surrendered for internment 21... In response to the Mediterranean Fleet at the outbreak of the page across from the article title Gordon. ] she was the flagship of the HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleship was sunk by U-331... War, a spate of misfortunes had dogged the HMS Barham was one of my shipmates in the had. Them to defeat any type of ship en route, Eagle 's aircraft Tripoli! Footage can be found at this link is one of only two survivors from the ship 's.!, Stitcher to join the home Fleet that same day can be accessed through Apple or. 6 battlecruisers while the Germans early 1928 when the permanent position was installed in water. Athenia at 7:38 that evening to south-southeast in response to the, battleships quelling the Palestine. The bombardment was called off after 20 minutes down the side of the Second War!, hereby killing 848 soldiers instantly Fleet in November 1940 was visited by King George II of Greece port... Soldiers instantly further west to open up the range between his battered battlecruisers and the 19361939 Arab revolt in.!

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