While making the turn,[40] Barham was struck by two 30.5-centimetre shells beginning at 16:58, probably from the battlecruiser SMSDerfflinger. During the next eighteen months or so, the 1st B.S. This required maximum offensive power and a speed several knots faster than any other battleship to allow them to defeat any type of ship. The impact was right on the joints between several armour plates and drove them inwards and destroyed part of the hull behind them. Richard grew up in Penrith Road, Belgrave, joining the Royal Navy as a boy seaman, aged 15. Her crew numbered 1,016 officers and ratings in 1916. One fragment ricocheted off the upper deck and through the side plating on the opposite side of the ship. She reached Alexandria later that day, but she was too large for the floating dock there and had to be sent elsewhere for repairs. 340, 346, 349, 354355, 358, Jones, pp. Casualties were five dead and six wounded. 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. 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. 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. 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 main conning tower was protected by 13 inches (330mm) of armour. Once the news had come through around 1630 hours that Force K out of Malta had sunk these, the battleships turned for Alexandria. At 14:32, Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in response to the spot report. The following morning, they were spotted by an aircraft from the carrier Formidable and the Battle of Cape Matapan began. Shortly afterwards, she was deployed to Gibraltar for several months after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in July. 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!! [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. Beatty continued south for another two minutes to confirm the sighting before ordering his force to turn north, towards the Grand Fleet in what came to be known as the "Run to the North". Evan-Thomas turned northeast at around 18:06 and then made a slow turn to the southeast once he spotted the Grand Fleet. David Mearns: "My research rules out all other shipwrecks in this area". [93][Note 6] Captain Geoffrey Cooke went down with his ship. 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. In 19211922, 30-foot (9.1m) rangefinders replaced the smaller ones in 'B' and 'X' turrets. Pridham-Wippell), and Squadron Signal Officer of the 1st Battle Squadron. [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. Now considered to be the finest newsreel archive in the world, British Path is a treasure trove of 85,000 films unrivalled in their historical and cultural significance.British Path also represents the Reuters historical collection, which includes more than 136,000 items from the news agencies Gaumont Graphic (1910-1932), Empire News Bulletin (1926-1930), British Paramount (1931-1957), and Gaumont British (1934-1959), as well as Visnews content from 1957 to the end of 1984. 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. Nov 24, 2021. The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. Richard Laland is one of only two survivors from the doomed battleship HMS Barham still alive today. [15], The Queen Elizabeth class was ordered as part of the 1912 Naval Programme and the contract for Barham was awarded to John Brown & Company. A salvo of torpedoes from a German submarine struck from close range on HMS Barham on November 25, 1941 in the Mediterranean. This meant that they were some 4,000 yards (3,700m) closer to the rapidly advancing High Sea Fleet. Read about our approach to external linking. [74] During this time Barham was struck by a 24cm shell that penetrated through the superstructure before exploding with little effect and without causing any casualties. BARHAM's explosion after being torpedoed. Mediterranean. During this time BARHAM was bombed and severely damaged by the Luftwaffe and had to go to Capetown for extensive repairs. Her main guns targeted the port and the battleship Richelieu. "It was a shocking event," said Riverside curator Emily Malcolm. On December 12 1939, she collided with a destroyer, the HMS Duchess, sinking her in the mishap. Our own inner-world is largely unexplored," Mr Mearns told BBC News. Earlier in the day there had been a couple of Air Raid warnings, and reports of enemy aircraft Shadowers, but nothing of particular consequence. 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. [44], Hipper turned his ships southward around 18:05 to fall back upon Scheer's advancing battleships and then reversed course five minutes later. 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. [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. [57] Now under the command of Captain Richard Scott,[53] Barham was assigned to the Home Fleet as the flagship of the 2nd Battle Squadron,[54] and deployed to the West Indies in JanuaryFebruary 1935 for training. These two hits were ultimately responsible for the massive flooding that nearly sank the ship after the battle. VALIANT and WARSPITE in background. 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. 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. 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. HMS BARHAM - a British battleship sunk in November 1941 by a submarine in the Mediterranean SANTA ROSA - a Portuguese galleon loaded with seven chests of treasure, sunk in 1726 by an explosion. [54] Willis was relieved by Captain Thomas Walker on 31 January 1939. 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. 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 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. She was slow to go down, disappearing beneath the waves, stern first, at 11 the next morning. [48], She was refitted at Cromarty between February and March 1917[47] and King George V inspected the ship on 22 June at Invergordon. The reaction to the loss had echoes in the debates we have today about the reporting of news events, he told BBC News. [71] Barham's six-inch guns were the first to do so and fired at the French submarinePerse on the surface. 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 Italian ships and the British arrived almost simultaneously at Pola's location, but the Italians had almost no clue that the British were nearby. The battleship heels over and explodes. Required fields are marked *. [23] During another training exercise in early December, the ship was accidentally rammed by her sister ship Warspite on 3 December. Duchess capsized and sank, with the loss of 124 of her crew. Last modified on Wed 15 Jun 2022 10.44 EDT. 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. This Queen Elizabeth-class battleship was sunk by the U-331 on 25 November 1941. Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1939, Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1941. She participated in the Battle of Dakar in mid-1940, where she damaged a Vichy French battleship and was slightly damaged in return. 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. A new beautiful success. BARHAM was torpedoed by U.331 and lost off the Western Desert of Egypt - off Sollum and Sidi Barrani. (1966). 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. The secondary armament was primarily controlled by directors mounted on each side of the compass platform on the foremast once they were fitted in July 1917. She was powered by two sets of Brown-Curtis steam turbines, each driving two shafts using steam from 24 Yarrow boilers. 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. "The Moon and Mars are mapped to a greater degree of accuracy than our seabed. A salvo of torpedoes from a German submarine struck from close range on HMS Barham on November 25, 1941 in the Mediterranean. The British had recently broken the Italian codes and sailed after dark on the 27th to intercept the Italians. [22], Barham joined the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow the next day and participated in a fleet training operation west of Orkney during 25 November. petrol. It is just over 49 years since H.M.S. [46], Following Jutland, Barham was under repair until 5 July 1916. 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. 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. Another sweep began on 6 March, but had to be abandoned the following day as the weather grew too severe for the escorting destroyers. The Queen Elizabeth class warship was the only British battleship to be sunk at sea by a U-boat during the conflict. [18][19][Note 2] Barham cost a total of 2,470,113. Contents 1 Service 1.1 First World War In the end, the TV idea was dropped, but Mr Mearns still hopes an expedition can be mounted by someone. Chamberlain's famous "this country is at war with Germany" broadcast was delivered shortly after 11 in the morning. [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. 203, 205, Jellicoe, pp. 713 x 435. HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. Kapitaenleutnant Freiherr von Tiesenhausen, who did a radio broadcast on this attack in December 1941. Shortly before the turn, one of his escorting light cruisers, Galatea spotted smoke on the horizon and continued on her course to investigate. The main armament could be controlled by 'B' turret as well. The HMS Barham was torpedoed by U-331, a German c-class submarine captained by Freiherr Von Tiesenhausen, and sunk in. [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. But barring a photograph I can say in my expert opinion there's a very, very high probability that that's Athenia. This podcast series examines Australias Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere. No. 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. It was something Donaldson had made when the ship was built," she told BBC News. [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. You can see all the lifeboats. The following day, 1 October, Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas, commander of the 5th Battle Squadron, hoisted his flag aboard his new flagship. A very detailed account by a surviving officer of her loss is at this link. Craske), the Admiral and S.W.O. The ship was not hit, but was forced to return to port under the cover of a heavy smoke screen. Of the 1,184 officers and men on board, 841 were killed. [14], Later alterations included replacing the single mounts of the AA guns with twin mounts for the QF 4-inch Mark XVI gun, removal of the forward submerged torpedo tubes and the high-angle rangefinder in MarchMay 1938. 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. 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