Once the news had come through around 1630 hours that Force K out of Malta had sunk these, the battleships turned for Alexandria. [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. Realising their mistake, the Germans changed course for home. 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. search wreck . 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 British and the German fleets returned home; the British lost two cruisers to submarine attacks, and one German dreadnought had been torpedoed. 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. 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. [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. 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. [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. Required fields are marked *. The German objective was to bombard Sunderland on 19 August, based on extensive reconnaissance conducted by Zeppelins and submarines. Evan-Thomas turned northeast at around 18:06 and then made a slow turn to the southeast once he spotted the Grand Fleet. 1. Shortly after 4.00 pm I was on the Admirals Bridge. [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). He went on to serve as a gun range finder aboard HMS Nelson, involved in bombarding German defences in Normandy on D-Day. Wikipedia. Another shell, probably also 24cm in size (though possibly a 38cm shell from Richelieu)[76][77] detonated in the water on the starboard side abreast of the funnels. She was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 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. The 5th Battle Squadron concentrated their fire on the German battleships after losing sight of the battlecruisers, with Barham opening fire at 18:14. While making the turn,[40] Barham was struck by two 30.5-centimetre shells beginning at 16:58, probably from the battlecruiser SMSDerfflinger. [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. This is another problematic issue in which sources differ to which Gordon devotes an entire chapter. HMS Barham was a 35,000-ton battleship built for World War I but had had an extensive refit in the 1930s. [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. I was in H.M.S. En route, Eagle's aircraft attacked Tripoli on 26 November. Naval Historical Review, Biographies and personal histories, WWII operations Ship sinking, Survivor, HMS Barham, Australian Naval History Podcasts 203, 205, Jellicoe, pp. U.331 was under the command of Freiherr Diedrich von Tiesenhausen who was a lieutenant of 26 years of age. [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. [85] They opened fire at point-blank range, Barham crippling the destroyer Alfredo Oriani and then joining Warspite and Valiant in crippling Zara. The ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from 1 to 3 inches (25 to 76mm) in thickness. 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 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 . The turbines were rated at 75,000 shaft horsepower (56,000kW) and intended to reach a maximum speed of 25 knots (46.3km/h; 28.8mph). To control these guns a temporary High-Angle Control Position was mounted above the torpedo-control tower aft. 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. 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. "I remember so many faces of my friends and shipmates who weren't as fortunate as me.". He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross that day. 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. 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. 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. Richard Laland is one of only two survivors from the doomed battleship HMS Barham still alive today. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. The HMS Barham was torpedoed by U-331, a German c-class submarine captained by Freiherr Von Tiesenhausen, and sunk in. I was trying to push myself away when I got blown away by this massive explosion as the magazine went up. [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. "We looked at each other and said, 'right, let's get up top!'. [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. petrol. During a port visit to Corfu in July, the ship was visited by King George II of Greece. 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. 2 six-inch gun. During the 1920s and 1930s, the ship was assigned to the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Home Fleets. At the going down of the SUN, AND in the MORNING; WE WILL REMEMBER THEM, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM!! When VE Day arrived, he was escorting an Arctic convoy north of Norway. 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. 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. 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