Quora User On the night of 25 March, Barham and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. Producers had wanted to stage a live, underwater broadcast from the sunken remains of a famous ship. 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. 201202, Edmunds, Simeon. 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. [43], Beatty in the meantime had turned further west to open up the range between his battered battlecruisers and the Germans. During the next eighteen months or so, the 1st B.S. This sent splinters in every direction and started a small fire, but otherwise did no significant damage. [44], Hipper turned his ships southward around 18:05 to fall back upon Scheer's advancing battleships and then reversed course five minutes later. Her main guns targeted the port and the battleship Richelieu. Underwater protection was improved by the addition of torpedo bulges. Lilly died in 2007, aged 86. A salvo of torpedoes from a German submarine struck from close range on HMS Barham on November 25, 1941 in the Mediterranean. petrol. 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. Print This Page. If it happened, British Path filmed it. 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). 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. 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. 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. [7], Barham received a series of minor refits during the 1920s. Barham was able to dodge them, but Resolution was struck by one torpedo amidships that caused a heavy list, and she fell out of line. 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. In addition, the rear of the six-inch gun casemates was enclosed by a 1.5-inch (38mm) bulkhead. 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. 1,306 individuals were successfully pulled off the Athenia in deteriorating seas. Full title reads: "HMS BARHAM 1914 - 1941". The hits on Seydlitz mostly opened up more holes that facilitated the flooding. In 19211922, 30-foot (9.1m) rangefinders replaced the smaller ones in 'B' and 'X' turrets. 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. Her complete service history can be found. It was steaming at about twenty knots at the time, and immediately began to list to port at an alarming rate. A German submarine torpedoed the ship hours after Britain declared war on Hitler in 1939 - more than 100 people, including many Americans, were killed. [52] Captain Robin Dalglish relieved Horne on 1 October 1920. However, I can vividly recall the sinking as though it were yesterday. [60] The ship resumed her former role as flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron in February 1938 while undergoing a refit at Portsmouth that lasted until May. Website with searchable ship database about warships, passenger liners, merchant ships, photo galleries, technical details, stories, news and much more. Read about our approach to external linking. Everything fits," said Mr Mearns, who sets out the case in his book The Shipwreck Hunter. 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. [102], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}3234N 2624E / 32.567N 26.400E / 32.567; 26.400. [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. [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. [53] Together with her sister Malaya, Barham was sent to Alexandria, Egypt, in May 1927 during a time of unrest. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared war on 3 September, 1939. The British battleships then switched targets to bombard the harbour and Richelieu. 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. Your email address will not be published. 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. Shortly afterwards, she was deployed to Gibraltar for several months after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in July. Forthcoming Infantrymen of the Air (Italian airborne), George Burling Jarett and the 75mm ammunition challenge. [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. Spiritualism: A Critical Survey. The main conning tower was protected by 13 inches (330mm) of armour. HMS Barham (04) [+1941] Details general nationality: british purpose: war type: battleship subtype/class: Queen Elisabeth class battleship class propulsion: steam turbine date built: 1913 status: dead (not found) . Another sweep began on 6 March, but had to be abandoned the following day as the weather grew too severe for the escorting destroyers. 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. Something went wrong, please try again later. 271, 275, 27980, 284, 286290, Campbell 1986, pp. Three minutes later another shell hit the aft superstructure, severing the antenna cables of the main wireless station. 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. Goebbels has a reputation as a skilful propagandist but on this occasion he was ineffective, at least as far as international opinion was concerned. Casualties were five dead and six wounded. He went on to serve as a gun range finder aboard HMS Nelson, involved in bombarding German defences in Normandy on D-Day. 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. [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. It is split in the aft section where the torpedo hit, but otherwise is sitting proud of the sediment and looks to be in reasonable shape. Admiral Angelo Iachino, commander of the Italian fleet, ordered the two other heavy cruisers of the 1st Division to render assistance to Pola in the darkness. 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. She was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 1941. On the other hand, the British knew exactly where the Italians were, thanks to their radar-equipped ships. She sailed south through the Suez Canal to Mombasa, Kenya, where her damage was inspected. [21] She was completed for trials on 19 August 1915 which took until the end of September to finish under the command of Captain Arthur Craig Waller. Jan Lettens 02/08/2012. [3], The Queen Elizabeth class was equipped with eight breech-loading (BL) 15-inch (381mm) Mk I guns in four twin-gun turrets, in two superfiring pairs fore and aft of the superstructure, designated 'A', 'B', 'X', and 'Y' from front to rear. 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. The Germans said he had ordered a British submarine to fire on the Athenia as part of a plot to force Washington's hand. The anti-aircraft (AA) armament were composed of two quick-firing (QF) 3-inch (76mm) 20cwt Mk I[Note 1] guns. 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 wrecks sites upside down on the sea floor. [67] Barham played no role in the Norwegian Campaign although some of her crew and marines participated. The gun turrets were protected by 11 to 13 inches (279 to 330mm) of KC armour and were supported by barbettes 710 inches (178254mm) thick. "I shot to the surface," he said. [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 torpedo from U-30 struck the Athenia at 7:38 that evening. flag changed on a number of occasions. One was mounted above the conning tower, protected by an armoured hood, and the other was in the spotting top above the tripod mast. She was briefly deployed to Haifa in May 1936 at the beginning of the Arab revolt in Palestine. [75], After a conference aboard Barham later that day, the Allied commanders resolved to continue the attack. Her complete service history can be found at this link. "The Moon and Mars are mapped to a greater degree of accuracy than our seabed. How surprising were the M3 Grant tanks to the Germans? Strange, if you think the ship was destroyed in 1941! 219220; Raven & Roberts, p. 359; Shores, Cull & Malizia, pp. 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. This took some time and his ships had to slow down to 1218 knots (2233km/h; 1421mph) to avoid overrunning the 6th Division and blocking its fire. Nov 24, 2021. 713 x 435. Aquarian Press, pp. [54] Reinforced by the battleship Resolution and the aircraft carrier Ark Royal from Force H, Barham departed Gibraltar for Freetown, Sierra Leone, four days later. HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. The battleship and the other ships of Force F were tasked to ferry troops to Malta, before continuing on to Alexandria. [54] Willis was relieved by Captain Thomas Walker on 31 January 1939. More Disasters Caught on Camera: https://goo.gl/hYJzzNBRITISH PATH'S STORY Before television, people came to movie theatres to watch the news. [1][2], Barham had a length overall of 643feet 9inches (196.2m), a beam of 90feet 7inches (27.6m) and a deep draught of 33 feet (10.1m). On her return I teamed up with P-W again when he shifted his flag back to the, Battleships. The . (Mute & Track Negs.) [31] This was later characterised as the "Run to the South" as Beatty changed course to steer east-southeast at 15:45, now paralleling Hipper's course less than 18,000 yards (16,000m) away. Craske), the Admiral and S.W.O. HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth -class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. [59], Barham served as the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron from November 1936 to May 1937 and participated in the Coronation Fleet Review for King George VI on 19 May at Spithead. The German objective was to bombard Sunderland on 19 August, based on extensive reconnaissance conducted by Zeppelins and submarines. [85] They opened fire at point-blank range, Barham crippling the destroyer Alfredo Oriani and then joining Warspite and Valiant in crippling Zara. It is just over 49 years since H.M.S. Richard Laland is one of only two survivors from the doomed battleship HMS Barham still alive today. [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. We've also got a detailed model of the Athenia. She started off World War II by being torpedoed off Liverpool, and after being patched up was in trouble again during a bombardment of Oran, when she was hit by Free French shore batteries. Searching the seafloor for sunken ships in this way is usually a wasted pursuit because of the dearth of high-resolution sonar data. [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. 2. Realising their mistake, the Germans changed course for home. "We looked at each other and said, 'right, let's get up top!'. Hamilton. 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". The 92-year-old, from Leicester, miraculously escaped death when the ship was sunk by a. "I dived in headfirst, but as I did, the ship rolled again and I smashed my head on the hull and was knocked unconscious.". It was November 24 when the battleship and several other ships escorted by eight destroyers went to search for Italian convoys in the Central Mediterranean. They even attempted to blame the sinking on Winston Churchill, who on that very day - 3 September, 1939 - was appointed First Lord of the Admiralty. ", Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos, Human error to blame for train crash - Greek PM, At the crash site of 'no hope' - BBC reporter in Greece. The torpedoes seemed to hit the ship amidships just abaft the funnel, judging by the waterspout in that general area, of which I had a ringside view from the Admirals Bridge. 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. 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. But barring a photograph I can say in my expert opinion there's a very, very high probability that that's Athenia. One fragment ricocheted off the upper deck and through the side plating on the opposite side of the ship. 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. Required fields are marked *. Richard Laland is one of only two survivors from the doomed battleship HMS Barham still alive today. 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. The loss of HMS Barham contributed to the very high number of losses at sea suffered by the Royal Navy in the period of Operation CRUSADER, about which I have written at this link. Mediterranean. 1. Your email address will not be published. That's the ultimate goal, anyway," said Mr Mearns. None of the men were ever found alive, and the expedition is considered one of the worst disasters in the history of polar exploration. 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. [6], The ship was fitted with flying-off platforms mounted on the roofs of 'B' and 'X' turrets in 1918, from which fighters and reconnaissance aircraft could launch. 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. HMS Barham underway off Devonport in WW2. Tiesenhausen was not certain of the results of his attack and radioed that he had hit a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship with one torpedo. [79] She was briefly assigned to Force H, before she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in November 1940. The Queen Elizabeth class warship was the only British battleship to be sunk at sea by a U-boat during the conflict. 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. Evan-Thomas turned northeast at around 18:06 and then made a slow turn to the southeast once he spotted the Grand Fleet. [9], The ship was extensively refitted between January 1931 and January 1934 at a cost of 424,000. [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. [45], Barham fired 337 fifteen-inch shells and 25 six-inch shells during the battle. After Free French emissaries were either captured or driven off by the Vichy French, Cunningham ordered his ships to open fire. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. U.331 was under the command of Freiherr Diedrich von Tiesenhausen who was a lieutenant of 26 years of age. [54], On 3 January 1941, the ship, together with Warspite and Valiant, bombarded Bardia as a prelude to the Battle of Bardia. In addition, she was joined by the battleships HMS Queen . Within four minutes, the battleship had listed over to Port and the. 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 British and the German fleets returned home; the British lost two cruisers to submarine attacks, and one German dreadnought had been torpedoed. [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. In preparation for Operation Menace, a British naval attack on Dakar, Senegal, prior to a planned landing by the Free French, the ship was detached from the Home Fleet on 28 August and was assigned to Force M, the Royal Navy component of the operation. While under repair in December1939 March1940, a 20-barrel Unrotated projectile (UP) rocket launcher was installed on the roof of 'B' turret and her HACS Mk I directors were replaced with Mk III models. 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. [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. search wreck . 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. Three minutes later, she sighted the topmasts of Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer's battleships, but did not report this for another five minutes. 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. To control these guns a temporary High-Angle Control Position was mounted above the torpedo-control tower aft. [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. Richard grew up in Penrith Road, Belgrave, joining the Royal Navy as a boy seaman, aged 15. Battleship sunk on 25 of November 1941. [28][Note 3], When dawn broke Beatty ordered his forces into cruising formation with the 5th Battle Squadron trailing his battle cruisers by five nautical miles (9.3km; 5.8mi). [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. 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. [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 was disorientated but reached out and felt the ship. Last modified on Wed 15 Jun 2022 10.44 EDT. Senior figures in the German navy were convicted at Nuremberg for war crimes in relation to the Athenia affair. [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. [46], Following Jutland, Barham was under repair until 5 July 1916. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. A near miss ruptured her portside bulge over an area 20 by 16 feet (6.1 by 4.9m) and caused a 1.5 degree list that was easily corrected by pumping oil. 101102, 108110, 115116, 134142, Campbell 1986, pp. [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). 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. They and the sacrifice they made will never be forgotten. 2 six-inch gun. 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. 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. [5], The waterline belt of the Queen Elizabeth class consisted of Krupp cemented armour (KC) that was 13 inches (330mm) thick over the ships' vitals. Guy Morris), S.O.O./S.N.O. Life on the Line Podcasts Barham was not hit during this time and she and Valiant, later joined by their sister Warspite, continued to fire at Hipper's 1st Scouting Group until 18:02 when Valiant lost sight of the Germans. [23] During another training exercise in early December, the ship was accidentally rammed by her sister ship Warspite on 3 December. (Cdr. "It always takes me back to that day in November 1941," he said. She later became the flagship of Force M's commander, Vice-Admiral John Cunningham. Germany initially denied involvement fearing the US would join the war. Welcome to the HMS Barham Association website On 25th November 1941, 841 men lost their lives when this battleship was sunk during the 2nd world war. This podcast series examines Australias Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere. Reblogged this on battleoftheatlantic19391945 and commented: The fleet sailed in concert with Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and torpedo boats. I was trying to push myself away when I got blown away by this massive explosion as the magazine went up. [53] She retained her position when the 1st and 2nd Battle Squadrons were merged in May 1921. "It was a shocking event," said Riverside curator Emily Malcolm. Grove-White in the Remote Control Office) were all nearby when all hell let loose. 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). ! Poem by Rudyard Kipling. "The sinking of the SS Athenia, a civilian liner, was significant not only as the first British shipping loss of the war but as an example of a Nazi attempt to promote 'fake news'. 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. [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. 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. [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 impacts drove in the plates and fragments caused much flooding by damaging the surrounding structure. She reached Alexandria later that day, but she was too large for the floating dock there and had to be sent elsewhere for repairs. [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. By this time the 5th Battle Squadron was about seven point five nautical miles (13.9km; 8.6mi) northwest of Beatty. 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. The attack on an unarmed passenger liner was a clear breach of international protocols. 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. [86], In mid-April she escorted the fast transport MVBreconshire, together with Warspite and Valiant, from Alexandria to Malta before the battleships bombarded Tripoli on the evening of 20 April. The shell devastated a messdeck and dented the armoured deck by a depth of 8 centimetres (3.1in), but caused no casualties. Bbc is not responsible for the Royal Navy during the next eighteen months or so, the 1st B.S people! 'S commander, Vice-Admiral John Cunningham on 1 October 1920 her damage inspected... Casemates was enclosed by a over to port at an alarming rate underwater from! Not responsible for the content of external sites shells during the early.. Later, she was transferred to the, battleships ultimate goal, anyway, '' he said radioed. Radioed that he had ordered a British submarine to fire on the opposite side of six-inch... Guns a temporary High-Angle Control Position was mounted above the torpedo-control tower aft 1934 at cost! 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