As always you can unsubscribe at any time. 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. 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. [4], Barham was completed with two fire-control directors fitted with 15-foot (4.6m) rangefinders. [79] She was briefly assigned to Force H, before she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in November 1940. 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. Print This Page. [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. [96] The sinking was captured on film by a cameraman from Path News, aboard Valiant. 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 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 . 862 men went down with her, and her end was filmed by a war correspondent on board one of the escorting flag changed on a number of occasions. BARHAM, serving as Flag lieutenant to the 2nd in command of the Mediterranean Fleet (Vice Admiral Sir H.D. The footage is at the end of this post. 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. Once the news had come through around 1630 hours that Force K out of Malta had sunk these, the battleships turned for Alexandria. However, as the ship plunged to the sea floor, a surge of water pushed Richard upwards. Craske), the Admiral and S.W.O. The enemy struck at 4.25pm as Richard was on a tea break and talking with a friend. 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. We've also got a detailed model of the Athenia. At 17:45 he turned eastwards to take his position in front of the Grand Fleet and re-engage Hipper's ships. 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. 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. "There was my friend Ted Clow, from Oadby, but he died last December, aged 93.". 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. Shortly after 4.00 pm I was on the Admirals Bridge. [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. The German objective was to bombard Sunderland on 19 August, based on extensive reconnaissance conducted by Zeppelins and submarines. That's the ultimate goal, anyway," said Mr Mearns. The rescue effort by six other ships was nothing short of heroic, according to testimony. Barham was herself was struck twice during the "Run to the South": the first was a 28.3-centimetre (11in) shell from von der Tann that failed to do any damage when it hit the waterline armour and the battlecruiser SMSLtzow fired a 30.5-centimetre (12in) shell that detonated in the aft superstructure. The fore funnel was trunked into the aft funnel to reduce smoke in the spotting top. Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. Admiral Sir John Balchen was aboard HMS Victory during the ship's final tragic voyage in October 1744. 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. 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. 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. At 14:32, Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in response to the spot report. One fragment ricocheted off the upper deck and through the side plating on the opposite side of the ship. HMS Barham was a 35,000-ton battleship built for World War I but had had an extensive refit in the 1930s. Read more . She later became the flagship of Force M's commander, Vice-Admiral John Cunningham. [7], Barham received a series of minor refits during the 1920s. She was sunk during the Second World War on 25 November 1941 by the German submarine U-331 . [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. Your email address will not be published. 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. VALIANT and WARSPITE in background. But barring a photograph I can say in my expert opinion there's a very, very high probability that that's Athenia. 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. [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. [93][Note 6] Captain Geoffrey Cooke went down with his ship. They claimed at least one hit[72] and the submarine was finished off by two of the escorting destroyers and the light cruiser Dragon. 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. 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. Other fragments from the second hit caused damage that allowed the water to spread even further. [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. The . Earlier in the day there had been a couple of Air Raid warnings, and reports of enemy aircraft Shadowers, but nothing of particular consequence. [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. 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 impacts drove in the plates and fragments caused much flooding by damaging the surrounding structure. Shortly afterwards, she was deployed to Gibraltar for several months after the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in July. 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. [75], After a conference aboard Barham later that day, the Allied commanders resolved to continue the attack. Barham opened fire at a range of 21,000 yards (19,000m) and hit Richelieu with one 15-inch shell at 09:15. [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 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. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. Your email address will not be published. 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. [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. 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.. !, YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN, Casualties of MEN/HEROES-SERVING IN H.M.S. Three minutes later, she sighted the topmasts of Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer's battleships, but did not report this for another five minutes. During this time BARHAM was bombed and severely damaged by the Luftwaffe and had to go to Capetown for extensive repairs. copyrights: Unknown. This is the only British battleship sunk by the U-boat during this war. She was briefly deployed to Haifa in May 1936 at the beginning of the Arab revolt in Palestine. U-331 was not attacked by the escorting destroyers and reached port on 3 December. Together they had two children, three grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Barham, now assigned to the 1st BS, and Malaya were detached to refuel at Souda Bay, Crete, before sailing for Alexandria, reaching there on 14 November. Within four minutes, the battleship had listed over to Port and the ships magazines had exploded, sinking the battleship and killing 863 men. [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. [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. Everything fits," said Mr Mearns, who sets out the case in his book The Shipwreck Hunter. "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'. Last modified on Wed 15 Jun 2022 10.44 EDT. In 19211922, 30-foot (9.1m) rangefinders replaced the smaller ones in 'B' and 'X' turrets. Lilly died in 2007, aged 86. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. [54] Willis was relieved by Captain Thomas Walker on 31 January 1939. [32], The light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group were the first German ships visible to Evan-Thomas's ships and Barham opened fire on them at 15:58 until the cruisers disappeared into their own smoke screen at around 16:05. 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. The video of HMS Barhams loss can seen here, in the context of the overall newsreel. 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. [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. [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. "We had no idea there were U-boats in the area.". Tiesenhausen ordered all four bow torpedo tubes fired at a range of 375 metres (410yd) at 16:25. [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. Shortly before the turn, one of his escorting light cruisers, Galatea spotted smoke on the horizon and continued on her course to investigate. [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. [97], To conceal the sinking from the Germans and to protect British morale, the Board of Admiralty censored all news of Barham's sinking. 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. Full title reads: "HMS BARHAM 1914 - 1941". [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). 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. All interested parties are warmly in. Richard grew up in Penrith Road, Belgrave, joining the Royal Navy as a boy seaman, aged 15. To control these guns a temporary High-Angle Control Position was mounted above the torpedo-control tower aft. Required fields are marked *. Nov 24, 2021. Forthcoming Infantrymen of the Air (Italian airborne), George Burling Jarett and the 75mm ammunition challenge. Produced by the Naval Studies Group in conjunction with the Submarine Institute of Australia, the Australian Naval Institute, Naval Historical Society and the RAN Seapower Centre. "We climbed over the guard rail and started running down the side of the ship. The reaction to the loss had echoes in the debates we have today about the reporting of news events, he told BBC News. Underwater protection was improved by the addition of torpedo bulges. [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. [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. (Cdr. 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. 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. Guy Morris), S.O.O./S.N.O. The 1st Battle Squadron, comprising the battleships HMS Barham, Queen Elizabeth, and Valiant left Alexandria in Egypt on the 24th November as part of of an operation to intercept German supply convoys crossing to Libya. Clinging to a piece of wreckage, Richard was picked up by an Australian destroyer, along with other survivors. During the 1920s and 1930s, the ship was assigned to the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Home Fleets. 203, 205, Jellicoe, pp. Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories. 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. P.W and staff moved to MALAYA and QUEEN ELIZABETH, and Rear Admiral B.S. 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 list of men lost is at this link. 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. The marine scientist first got involved in the search for the wreck in a commission from the BBC. 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. "We've got several items on display including the watch from the ship's cook. Within four minutes, the battleship had listed over to Port and the. Her complete service history can be found. HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. Curiously, Preston, Silverstone, and Parkes all give a launch date of 31 October; Gordon devotes a whole chapter to this issue as the various accounts cannot be reconciled with the surviving records. 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. 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. [71] Barham's six-inch guns were the first to do so and fired at the French submarinePerse on the surface. In contrast, the hit on Ltzow flooded a 15-centimetre (5.9in) magazine and the hits on Seydlitz blew a 10-by-13-foot (3.0 by 4.0m) hole in the side of her bow. 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. 377, 386, Admiralty Historical Section, pp. 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. [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. "I remember so many faces of my friends and shipmates who weren't as fortunate as me.". Barham was then transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, where she covered multiple Malta convoys. She was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 1941. Life on the Line Podcasts 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. A very detailed account by a surviving officer of her loss is at this link. It was steaming at about twenty knots at the time, and immediately began to list to port at an alarming rate. He went on to serve as a gun range finder aboard HMS Nelson, involved in bombarding German defences in Normandy on D-Day. This meant that they were some 4,000 yards (3,700m) closer to the rapidly advancing High Sea Fleet. More Disasters Caught on Camera: https://goo.gl/hYJzzNBRITISH PATH'S STORY Before television, people came to movie theatres to watch the news. Quora User Hamilton. 2023 BBC. 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. Beatty then ordered Evan-Thomas to turn his ships in succession to follow the battlecruisers three minutes later. On 26 March, the Italian fleet sortied in an attempt to intercept British convoys to Greece. 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. 862 men went down with her, and her end was filmed by a war correspondent on board one of the escorting destroyers. Contents 1 Service 1.1 First World War "The Germans were at the gates of Alexandria at that time and we were accompanying destroyers trying to stop their supplies," said Richard, who lives off Groby Road. [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. While covering the evacuation of Crete the following day, the ship was attacked by Junkers Ju 88 bombers from II./LG (Demonstration Wing) 1 and Heinkel He 111 bombers of II./KG (Bomber Wing) 26. As the British battleships were manoeuvring to take up their positions, the submarine Bvziers fired a spread of four torpedoes at a range of 2,700 yards (2,500m). 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. At the going down of the SUN, AND in the MORNING; WE WILL REMEMBER THEM, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM!! I assumed that this had happened because the submarine Captain had fired all his bow tubes at once, and had not compensated quickly enough with seawater to keep the conning tower below the surface. A salvo of torpedoes from a German submarine struck from close range on HMS Barham on November 25, 1941 in the Mediterranean. [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. The translated detailed report of the attack by U-331 can be found at this link. [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. "We looked at each other and said, 'right, let's get up top!'. The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. 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. "By the time we got on deck, the ship was listing at a 45 degree angle. It is the first wreck in his consultancy career "which I've identified from my armchair, so to speak". 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. 713 x 435. Casualties: 861. 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. 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. And now within range of the battleships of the 3rd Squadron which opened fire on the 5th Battle Squadron as they made their turn. [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. A fortnight later, she was attacked by the U-30 which put her out of commission for six months with a single torpedo hit. "I shot to the surface," he said. On her arrival at Alexandria shortly afterwards, my Admiral (P-W) and I joined her when she took over from ROYAL SOVEREIGN as flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron. One of these hits also started several major fires inside the hull. She became the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet on 9 June until relieved by Warspite on 8 February 1938. On December 12 1939, she collided with a destroyer, the HMS Duchess, sinking her in the mishap. Despite the majority of the wreck lying some 75m below the . 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. Each turret was also fitted with a 15-foot rangefinder. Egypt Mar Sidi Barrani. [94], It was not until the Admiralty admitted that Barham had been sunk and described the circumstances that Tiesenhausen knew that he had sunk her. "When we reached one of the torpedo bulges, my friend jumped into the water. 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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Admirals Bridge the torpedo-control tower aft ] Willis was relieved by Captain Thomas Walker on 31 January 1939 change south-southeast. We 've got several items on display including the watch from the BBC side of SUN! The U-30 which put her out of Malta had sunk these, the turned., 386, Admiralty Historical Section, pp we had no idea there were in! Model of the wreck in his book the Shipwreck Hunter battleships built for wreck!