Website with searchable ship database about warships, passenger liners, merchant ships, photo galleries, technical details, stories, news and much more. The British captured the submarine and took possession of its Enigma cipher machine. Shipwreck-hunter David Mearns says sonar data shows the transatlantic passenger liner Athenia to be lying 200m down on Rockall Bank, off Ireland. And now within range of the battleships of the 3rd Squadron which opened fire on the 5th Battle Squadron as they made their turn. [9], The ship was extensively refitted between January 1931 and January 1934 at a cost of 424,000. In addition, a pair of quadruple mounts for Vickers 0.5in (12.7mm) AA machine guns were added abreast the conning tower. Clinging to a piece of wreckage, Richard was picked up by an Australian destroyer, along with other survivors. 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). [48], She was refitted at Cromarty between February and March 1917[47] and King George V inspected the ship on 22 June at Invergordon. 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. Barham. He first spotted the battleship Marlborough, flagship of the 6th Division of the 1st Battle Squadron and thought she was leading the Grand Fleet as it deployed from cruising formation into line ahead. 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. Pridham-Wippell), and Squadron Signal Officer of the 1st Battle Squadron. She was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 1941. [18][19][Note 2] Barham cost a total of 2,470,113. More Disasters Caught on Camera: https://goo.gl/hYJzzNBRITISH PATH'S STORY Before television, people came to movie theatres to watch the news. Together they had two children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren. 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. Something went wrong, please try again later. The German objective was to bombard Sunderland on 19 August, based on extensive reconnaissance conducted by Zeppelins and submarines. [27] Barham slipped her mooring at 22:08 and was followed by the rest of Beatty's ships. 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. Tiesenhausen was not certain of the results of his attack and radioed that he had hit a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship with one torpedo. [23] During another training exercise in early December, the ship was accidentally rammed by her sister ship Warspite on 3 December. Her complete service history can be found. 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. During the next eighteen months or so, the 1st B.S. Mediterranean. 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. Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1939, Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1941. A High-Angle Control System (HACS) Mk I director were added to the roof of the spotting top and the mainmast was reconstructed as a tripod to support the weight of a second HACS director. [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. BARHAM, serving as Flag lieutenant to the 2nd in command of the Mediterranean Fleet (Vice Admiral Sir H.D. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. This Queen Elizabeth-class battleship was sunk by the U-331 on 25 November 1941. [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. 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. 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. The anti-torpedo bulge was essentially destroyed adjacent to the strike, with four men killed and two wounded. "I was disorientated but reached out and felt the ship. Lilly died in 2007, aged 86. The loss of the crew was sensational news in the mid-19th . 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. The anti-aircraft (AA) armament were composed of two quick-firing (QF) 3-inch (76mm) 20cwt Mk I[Note 1] guns. Shortly before the turn, one of his escorting light cruisers, Galatea spotted smoke on the horizon and continued on her course to investigate. 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. [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. "I dived in headfirst, but as I did, the ship rolled again and I smashed my head on the hull and was knocked unconscious.". 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. 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). 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. 219220; Raven & Roberts, p. 359; Shores, Cull & Malizia, pp. It is just over 49 years since H.M.S. David Mearns, who has found some two dozen major wrecks for insurers and TV companies, says the Athenia's hull is visible in sonar data acquired by the Geological Survey of Ireland. We had found the remains of a cabin desk and a BARHAM lifebelt from one of the sea boats to help us keep afloat and, using these, started to dog paddle in the direction where we could see a destroyer. That's the ultimate goal, anyway," said Mr Mearns. [56], Between January 1931 and January 1934, Barham underwent a major refit. BARHAM was an old timer of the QUEEN ELIZABETH class, and a veteran of the Battle of Jutland. 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[54] Captain James Somerville relieved Monroe on 1 December and he was relieved in his turn on 16 March 1929 by Captain John C. . This archive footage was remarkably captured by Path News cameraman, John Turner, on an adjacent ship. After Free French emissaries were either captured or driven off by the Vichy French, Cunningham ordered his ships to open fire. [43], Beatty in the meantime had turned further west to open up the range between his battered battlecruisers and the Germans. Naval Historical Review, Biographies and personal histories, WWII operations Ship sinking, Survivor, HMS Barham, Australian Naval History Podcasts She became a private ship in January of that year and was refitted at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in FebruaryJuly. Last modified on Wed 15 Jun 2022 10.44 EDT. It is just over 49 years since H.M.S. On 612 May, she covered the Alexandria-Malta convoy of Operation Tiger. "I saw one of my shipmates in the water and asked him, 'where's the ship?' Guy Morris), S.O.O./S.N.O. 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. "We were standing by a ladder two decks below on the mess deck when there was a huge explosion," he said. All footage can be viewed on the British Path website. Casualties: 861. Quora User 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. David Mearns: "My research rules out all other shipwrecks in this area". Barham was sunk off the Egyptian coast the following November by the German submarineU-331 with the loss of 862 crewmen, approximately two thirds of her crew. The last shell passed all the way through the ship without detonating; it struck and dislodged a 100-millimetre (3.9in) armour plate on the waterline on the other side of the ship that caused also some flooding. 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. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared war on 3 September, 1939. (Lt. Cdr. Chamberlain's famous "this country is at war with Germany" broadcast was delivered shortly after 11 in the morning. 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. `` We were standing by a ladder two decks below on the deck... An old timer of the 1st B.S 2 ] Barham cost a total of 2,470,113 further west open! 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