She reached Alexandria later that day, but she was too large for the floating dock there and had to be sent elsewhere for repairs. 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. [46], Following Jutland, Barham was under repair until 5 July 1916. [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. In addition, she was joined by the battleships HMS Queen . 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. 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. 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. 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. Her complete service history can be found. 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. 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. 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. Required fields are marked *. last updated: andrew gillespie On her return I teamed up with P-W again when he shifted his flag back to the, Battleships. [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. 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. [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. [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. Beatty then ordered Evan-Thomas to turn his ships in succession to follow the battlecruisers three minutes later. [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. [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. Most of those who died were in two lifeboats that were smashed just as they were about to be saved. [56], Between January 1931 and January 1934, Barham underwent a major refit. Producers had wanted to stage a live, underwater broadcast from the sunken remains of a famous ship. On December 12 1939, she collided with a destroyer, the HMS Duchess, sinking her in the mishap. On 26 March, the Italian fleet sortied in an attempt to intercept British convoys to Greece. !, YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN, Casualties of MEN/HEROES-SERVING IN H.M.S. Shipwreck H.M.S. How surprising were the M3 Grant tanks to the Germans? A very detailed account by a surviving officer of her loss is at this link. [73], After the expiration of an ultimatum to surrender the following morning, the battleships engaged the port's 24-centimetre (9.4in) coast-defence guns and Richelieu at 09:30. The rescue effort by six other ships was nothing short of heroic, according to testimony. 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. 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. She became a private ship in January of that year and was refitted at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in FebruaryJuly. Barham was then transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she covered multiple Malta convoys. None of the men were ever found alive, and the expedition is considered one of the worst disasters in the history of polar exploration. Huge palls of smoke rising from the stricken ship. 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. This sent splinters in every direction and started a small fire, but otherwise did no significant damage. [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. Last modified on Wed 15 Jun 2022 10.44 EDT. [54] Captain James Somerville relieved Monroe on 1 December and he was relieved in his turn on 16 March 1929 by Captain John C. [45], Barham fired 337 fifteen-inch shells and 25 six-inch shells during the battle. In addition, a pair of quadruple mounts for Vickers 0.5in (12.7mm) AA machine guns were added abreast the conning tower. Website with searchable ship database about warships, passenger liners, merchant ships, photo galleries, technical details, stories, news and much more. "We climbed over the guard rail and started running down the side of the ship. Despite the majority of the wreck lying some 75m below the . The ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from 1 to 3 inches (25 to 76mm) in thickness. In addition the torpedo-control tower aft was replaced by an air-defence position during that same refit. Read more 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. British Path was at the forefront of cinematic journalism, blending information with entertainment to popular effect. The torpedo from U-30 struck the Athenia at 7:38 that evening. David Mearns: "My research rules out all other shipwrecks in this area". Guy Morris), S.O.O./S.N.O. [67] Barham played no role in the Norwegian Campaign although some of her crew and marines participated. She was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 1941. [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). "I dived in headfirst, but as I did, the ship rolled again and I smashed my head on the hull and was knocked unconscious.". [53] She retained her position when the 1st and 2nd Battle Squadrons were merged in May 1921. This Queen Elizabeth-class battleship was sunk by the U-331 on 25 November 1941. The 92-year-old, from Leicester, miraculously escaped death when the ship was sunk by a. 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. 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. 598 x 440. VideoAt the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece, China and Belarus call for peace in Ukraine, Sake brewers toast big rise in global sales, The Indian-American CEO who wants to be US president, How 10% of Nigerian registered voters delivered victory, Blackpink lead top stars back on the road in Asia, Exploring the rigging claims in Nigeria's elections, 'Wales is in England' gaffe sparks TikToker's trip. Within four minutes, the battleship had listed over to Port and the. 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. Actually, my last time in Pearl (around 1994) I saw petrol bubbles coming from the wreck. Multiple air strikes by Formidable's Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers damaged the battleship Vittorio Veneto and crippled the heavy cruiser Pola later that evening. The German submarine U-331 sunk the Barham off the coast of Egypt in November 1941 causing the loss of two-thirds of her crew of 862 men. [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. After Free French emissaries were either captured or driven off by the Vichy French, Cunningham ordered his ships to open fire. More Disasters Caught on Camera: https://goo.gl/hYJzzNBRITISH PATH'S STORY Before television, people came to movie theatres to watch the news. HMS Barham, on which Richard was serving as an able seaman, was covering an attack on an Italian convoy supplying Rommel's Afrika Korps, when it was attacked by U-331. 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 HMS Barham was torpedoed by U-331, a German c-class submarine captained by Freiherr Von Tiesenhausen, and sunk in. LOVE YOU ALL: Yours Aye-Brian CANUCK Murza, W.W.II Naval Researcher-Published Author, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. 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. Second World War (1939-1945) Sidi Barrani. The battleship and the other ships of Force F were tasked to ferry troops to Malta, before continuing on to Alexandria. 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). 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. In addition, the rear of the six-inch gun casemates was enclosed by a 1.5-inch (38mm) bulkhead. He went on to serve as a gun range finder aboard HMS Nelson, involved in bombarding German defences in Normandy on D-Day. 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. "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 damage allowed over 1,000 long tons (1,016t) of water to flood the stern and nearly knocked out the ship's steering gear. She became a private ship on 1 December and departed Alexandria to join the Home Fleet that same day. 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. [54] On 14 October 1925, Captain Francis Marten relieved Hill, but he retained command only until 9 March 1926 when Captain Joseph Henley assumed command. [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. This is the only British battleship sunk by the U-boat during this war. By this time the 5th Battle Squadron was about seven point five nautical miles (13.9km; 8.6mi) northwest of Beatty. Print This Page. En route, Eagle's aircraft attacked Tripoli on 26 November. [85] They opened fire at point-blank range, Barham crippling the destroyer Alfredo Oriani and then joining Warspite and Valiant in crippling Zara. "It was the strangest thing. Prof Richard Toye, the head of history at Exeter University, has written about the Athenia. This required maximum offensive power and a speed several knots faster than any other battleship to allow them to defeat any type of ship. 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. The destroyer Hotspur rescued 337 survivors, including Vice-Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell and the pair who later died of their wounds, while the Australian destroyer Nizam reportedly rescued 150 men. The fore funnel was trunked into the aft funnel to reduce smoke in the spotting top. Nov 24, 2021. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. 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). Shortly after 4.00 pm I was on the Admirals Bridge. The resulting shockwave pushed the bulge inwards for a length of 7 feet (2.1m) and it started to slowly flood. The . The terrifying explosion was caught on film by Path cameraman John Turner who was on an adjacent ship. IWM FL1472. Jones refers to the 861 men listed in the casualty list published by, Burt 2012a, p. 85; Raven & Roberts, pp. These two hits were ultimately responsible for the massive flooding that nearly sank the ship after the battle. [100] The crew are commemorated by a memorial bench, located in Nothe Gardens, Weymouth. 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