On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. https://www.britishpathe.com/ She reached Alexandria later that day, but she was too large for the floating dock there and had to be sent elsewhere for repairs. On 612 May, she covered the Alexandria-Malta convoy of Operation Tiger. search wreck . petrol. 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. A new beautiful success. U-331 thus passed through the screen and was in a position to fire her torpedoes after the leading ship, Queen Elizabeth, had passed her by and the second ship, Barham, was closing rapidly. The BdU (Commander Submarines) noted in his war diary the rather jubilant: U331 1 battleship torpedoed in the Mediterranean. 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. [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. Your email address will not be published. 377, 386, Admiralty Historical Section, pp. This meant that they were some 4,000 yards (3,700m) closer to the rapidly advancing High Sea Fleet. On 26 March, the Italian fleet sortied in an attempt to intercept British convoys to Greece. The ship was not hit, but was forced to return to port under the cover of a heavy smoke screen. The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before proceeding south in response to intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch a raid on Lowestoft. Between them, Barham and Valiant hit Moltke four times from 16:16 to 16:26, but only one of those hits can be attributed to Valiant. Huge palls of smoke rising from the stricken ship. 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. Casualties were five dead and six wounded. All interested parties are warmly in. Clinging to a piece of wreckage, Richard was picked up by an Australian destroyer, along with other survivors. [16] The ship, named after Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham,[17] was laid down at their Clydebank shipyard on 24 February 1913 and launched on 31 December 1914. 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. The rescue effort by six other ships was nothing short of heroic, according to testimony. En route, Eagle's aircraft attacked Tripoli on 26 November. This was initially a Fairey IIIF until it was replaced by a Fairey Swordfish in 1938. BARHAM was an old timer of the QUEEN ELIZABETH class, and a veteran of the Battle of Jutland. Neilson Larry 05/01/2011. Print This Page. Other fragments from the second hit caused damage that allowed the water to spread even further. 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. 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. Contents 1 Service 1.1 First World War [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. [93][Note 6] Captain Geoffrey Cooke went down with his ship. On her return I teamed up with P-W again when he shifted his flag back to the, Battleships. HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth -class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. The Grand Fleet sailed with 29 dreadnoughts and 6 battlecruisers while the Germans mustered 18 dreadnoughts and 2 battlecruisers. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. Ltzow was only slightly damaged by these hits, which essentially only knocked out the primary and back-up wireless rooms while the shells that hit Derfflinger hit the side of the ship's bow, knocking off several armour plates, while fragments opened holes that ultimately allowed roughly 2,000 tonnes (1,968 long tons) of water to enter the bow. [46], Following Jutland, Barham was under repair until 5 July 1916. These two hits were ultimately responsible for the massive flooding that nearly sank the ship after the battle. This is another problematic issue in which sources differ to which Gordon devotes an entire chapter. [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. The remains of the first British ship to be sunk in WW2 appear to have been identified on the Atlantic seabed. Ten minutes later, the ship radioed "Two cruisers, probably hostile, in sight" They were actually two German destroyers that had stopped to check a Danish merchant ship's papers. Copyright 2023. [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. [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. He is now involved in efforts to change this. The third shell detonated on the face of the starboard wing turret, although some fragments entered the turret and caused minor damage. 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. The resulting shockwave pushed the bulge inwards for a length of 7 feet (2.1m) and it started to slowly flood. While sailing eastwards, the aircraft carrier Illustrious was detached from the main body to attack Taranto on the night of 11/12 November, damaging three Italian battleships. The ship had been hit amidships by torpedoes on the port side. Second World War (1939-1945) Sidi Barrani. [51], Barham became flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet in April 1919, and made a port visit to Cherbourg, France that month together with the rest of the squadron. [45], Barham fired 337 fifteen-inch shells and 25 six-inch shells during the battle. HMS Barham was a 35,000-ton battleship built for World War I but had had an extensive refit in the 1930s. [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. The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. He replied, 'it's gone'.". "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. . [54], Captain Geoffrey Cooke assumed command on 25 March[53] and the Navy took the opportunity to augment her light anti-aircraft armament and upgrade its directors. Your email address will not be published. [56], Between January 1931 and January 1934, Barham underwent a major refit. Shortly afterwards, she was deployed to Gibraltar for several months after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in July. 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). [18][19][Note 2] Barham cost a total of 2,470,113. 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. Shipwreck-hunter David Mearns says sonar data shows the transatlantic passenger liner Athenia to be lying 200m down on Rockall Bank, off Ireland. The fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and torpedo boats. "It was the strangest thing. "I shot to the surface," he said. It was a perfect day and the sea was smooth, After Hands had been piped to tea, the usual promenaders (ERAs and Stoker POs off watch) emerged from below-decks for their customary first Dog Watch strolls up and down the Focsle. [53] Together with her sister Malaya, Barham was sent to Alexandria, Egypt, in May 1927 during a time of unrest. [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. Lilly died in 2007, aged 86. [96] The sinking was captured on film by a cameraman from Path News, aboard Valiant. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. In addition, a pair of quadruple mounts for Vickers 0.5in (12.7mm) AA machine guns were added abreast the conning tower. [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. [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 ship had a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,260km; 5,754mi) at a cruising speed of 12 knots (22.2km/h; 13.8mph). One of these hits also started several major fires inside the hull. 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. [61], Barham remained part of the Mediterranean Fleet at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. last updated: andrew gillespie [83] As part of Operation Collar in late November, Barham, Malaya and the carrier HMSEagle covered the forces rendezvousing with a convoy coming from Gibraltar. 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. The torpedo from U-30 struck the Athenia at 7:38 that evening. 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. Duchess capsized and sank, with the loss of 124 of her crew. The battleship and the other ships of Force F were tasked to ferry troops to Malta, before continuing on to Alexandria. A salvo of torpedoes from a German submarine struck from close range on HMS Barham on November 25, 1941 in the Mediterranean. Shipwreck H.M.S. Evan-Thomas turned northeast at around 18:06 and then made a slow turn to the southeast once he spotted the Grand Fleet. [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. 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. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. At 14:32, Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in response to the spot report. 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. The Queen Elizabeth class warship was the only British battleship to be sunk at sea by a U-boat during the conflict. [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. The 5th Battle Squadron concentrated their fire on the German battleships after losing sight of the battlecruisers, with Barham opening fire at 18:14. On the other hand, the British knew exactly where the Italians were, thanks to their radar-equipped ships. 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. By this time the 5th Battle Squadron was about seven point five nautical miles (13.9km; 8.6mi) northwest of Beatty. [53] Barham participated in the Fleet review on 26 July 1924 at Spithead. 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. The battleships were providing distant cover to the light cruisers of Force B[1], engaged in searching for the German merchantsMaritzaandProcida (see also this link and this link). 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. "I saw one of my shipmates in the water and asked him, 'where's the ship?' HMS Barham floating on side at sea. 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. 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. 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. Twelve of the fourteen BL 6-inch (152mm) Mk XII guns were mounted in casemates along the broadside of the vessel amidships; the remaining pair were mounted on the forecastle deck near the aft funnel and were protected by gun shields. [54] Willis was relieved by Captain Thomas Walker on 31 January 1939. 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. However, I can vividly recall the sinking as though it were yesterday. [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. [70], Force M departed Freetown for Dakar on 21 September and had arrived Dakar before dawn two days later. 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. Underwater protection was improved by the addition of torpedo bulges. "We looked at each other and said, 'right, let's get up top!'. [84] Barham became the flagship of the 1st BS in December. [44], Hipper turned his ships southward around 18:05 to fall back upon Scheer's advancing battleships and then reversed course five minutes later. Within four minutes, the battleship had listed over to Port and the. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. Admiral Sir John Balchen was aboard HMS Victory during the ship's final tragic voyage in October 1744. That's the ultimate goal, anyway," said Mr Mearns. 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. The video of HMS Barhams loss can seen here, in the context of the overall newsreel. 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 17:45 he turned eastwards to take his position in front of the Grand Fleet and re-engage Hipper's ships. Last modified on Wed 15 Jun 2022 10.44 EDT. It was steaming at about twenty knots at the time, and immediately began to list to port at an alarming rate. 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. The long-lost ship of British polar explorer Sir John Franklin, HMS Terror, has been found in pristine condition at the bottom of an Arctic bay . 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. [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. One was mounted above the conning tower, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting top above the tripod mast. Sinking of Royal Navy Battleship HMS Barham.A legendary battleship with a history at Jutland, during World War 2 HMS Barham was stationed with the Royal Navy's Eastern Mediterranean fleet in Egypt.. On the afternoon of the 24th November of 1941, HMS Barham, sailed to provide cover for the 7th and 15th Royal Navy Cruiser Squadrons. Together they had two children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren. An ASDIC operator aboard one of the leading destroyers, Jervis, detected the submarine at 16:18 at an estimated range of 9001,100 yards (8201,010m), but the contact was disregarded as it subtended an angle between 40 and 60 degrees wide, far larger than a submarine. 1,306 individuals were successfully pulled off the Athenia in deteriorating seas. [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. When Richard came round, he was underwater. Read more She was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 1941. [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 wreck of a Royal Navy warship which sank in 1682 while carrying the future king James Stuart has been identified off the coast of Norfolk. The translated detailed report of the attack by U-331 can be found at this link. [53] The ship was relieved as flagship by Revenge in June[54] and she was ordered to Palestine in August where her crew helped to suppress rioting in Haifa and also operated the Haifa-Jerusalem railroad. [54] Captain James Somerville relieved Monroe on 1 December and he was relieved in his turn on 16 March 1929 by Captain John C. The impacts drove in the plates and fragments caused much flooding by damaging the surrounding structure. 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. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross that day. Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. Pictures - Barham HMS (04) [+1941] - WRECK WRAK EPAVE WRACK PECIO EN home; wrecks. BARHAM's explosion after being torpedoed. It is just over 49 years since H.M.S. Pridham-Wippell), and Squadron Signal Officer of the 1st Battle Squadron. In 19211922, 30-foot (9.1m) rangefinders replaced the smaller ones in 'B' and 'X' turrets. "Can I go into a court of law and say, '100%, that's Athenia?' The battleship heels over and explodes. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared war on 3 September, 1939. copyrights: Unknown. The British battleships then switched targets to bombard the harbour and Richelieu. First published on Mon 12 Sep 2016 11.41 EDT. The terrifying explosion was caught on film by Path cameraman John Turner who was on an adjacent ship. 101102, 108110, 115116, 134142, Campbell 1986, pp. Forthcoming Infantrymen of the Air (Italian airborne), George Burling Jarett and the 75mm ammunition challenge. The hits on Seydlitz mostly opened up more holes that facilitated the flooding. Beatty then ordered Evan-Thomas to turn his ships in succession to follow the battlecruisers three minutes later. She was powered by two sets of Brown-Curtis steam turbines, each driving two shafts using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers. 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). After some time we came to a Carley float, to which about six of our shipmates were clinging. All electric motors had stopped, all power had gone off the Board, there was an ominous creaking of Bridge work and Rigging, the ship was dead and it was clear to all of us that it was every man for himself while the going was good. [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. 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. During her abbreviated sea trials on 6 July 1916, Barham only reached a mean top speed of 23.91 knots (44.28km/h; 27.52mph). (Cdr. 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. While the other four ships of the Queen Elizabeth class were given a second, more extensive refit in the mid-to-late 1930s (which for Warspite, Valiant and Queen Elizabeth amounted to a complete reconstruction with new machinery and superstructures), changes to Barham were relatively minor. 1. Buying out his commission in 1947, he settled down with his late wife, Lilly, whom he had married in All Saints Church, Melton Road, in 1942. Thanks to the advancements in artificial intellige. 598 x 440. 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. "When we reached one of the torpedo bulges, my friend jumped into the water. 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. 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. "It was by an air vent from the engine room that was hit and all this smoke came pouring up. Of the 1,184 officers and men on board, 841 were killed. A member of the Wigston branch of the Royal Naval Association, he is a member of the HMS Barham Association. A fortnight later, she was attacked by the U-30 which put her out of commission for six months with a single torpedo hit. The ship participated in the Silver Jubilee Fleet Review for George V on 16 July at Spithead[58] and was then transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet at the end of August. These recordings can be accessed through Apple iTunes or for Android users, Stitcher. During the 1920s and 1930s, the ship was assigned to the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Home Fleets. "I remember so many faces of my friends and shipmates who weren't as fortunate as me.". Two of the others detonated upon striking the waterline armour, but failed to penetrate. 2023 BBC. 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. 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. Shortly before the turn, one of his escorting light cruisers, Galatea spotted smoke on the horizon and continued on her course to investigate. [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. On 3 September, 1939. copyrights: Unknown bulge inwards for a length 7! To which about six of our shipmates were clinging and sank, with Barham opening fire at 18:14 12 2016. 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