On the other hand, the British knew exactly where the Italians were, thanks to their radar-equipped ships. Contents 1 Service 1.1 First World War British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared war on 3 September, 1939. During the 1920s and 1930s, the ship was assigned to the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Home Fleets. 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. . 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. 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 translated detailed report of the attack by U-331 can be found at this link. [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. Despite the majority of the wreck lying some 75m below the . 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. 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. This podcast series examines Australias Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere. Her main guns targeted the port and the battleship Richelieu. More Disasters Caught on Camera: https://goo.gl/hYJzzNBRITISH PATH'S STORY Before television, people came to movie theatres to watch the news. Scheer turned south again, then steered south-eastward to pursue a lone British battle squadron sighted by an airship, which was in fact the Harwich Force of cruisers and destroyers under Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt. The ships were fitted with four submerged 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, two on each broadside. One 250-kilogram (550lb) bomb struck 'Y' turret and started a fire inside the turret that took 20 minutes to quench. Rawlings took over temporarily from P-W who became Vice Admiral Light Forces. Three minutes later, she sighted the topmasts of Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer's battleships, but did not report this for another five minutes. In addition, the rear of the six-inch gun casemates was enclosed by a 1.5-inch (38mm) bulkhead. 862 men went down with her, and her end was filmed by a war correspondent on board one of the escorting destroyers. 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. [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. Between them, Barham and Valiant hit Moltke four times from 16:16 to 16:26, but only one of those hits can be attributed to Valiant. 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. However, as the ship plunged to the sea floor, a surge of water pushed Richard upwards. 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) 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. "By the time we got on deck, the ship was listing at a 45 degree angle. At 14:15, Beatty ordered a turn north by east to rendezvous with the Grand Fleet. The impact was right on the joints between several armour plates and drove them inwards and destroyed part of the hull behind them. Germany initially denied involvement fearing the US would join the war. The ship had been hit amidships by torpedoes on the port side. Within four minutes, the battleship had listed over to Port and the. One of these hits also started several major fires inside the hull. [25] On 21 May, the 5th Battle Squadron was attached to Beatty while his 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was detached for gunnery training and arrived at Rosyth the following day. 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. Guy Morris), S.O.O./S.N.O. Beatty then ordered Evan-Thomas to turn his ships in succession to follow the battlecruisers three minutes later. Underwater protection was improved by the addition of torpedo bulges. 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. The ship was not hit, but was forced to return to port under the cover of a heavy smoke screen. 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. Richard Laland is one of only two survivors from the doomed battleship HMS Barham still alive today. The shell struck just below the waterline and burst on impact with the belt armour. [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. Producers had wanted to stage a live, underwater broadcast from the sunken remains of a famous ship. 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. She was sunk during the Second World War on 25 November 1941 by the German submarine U-331 . Clinging to a piece of wreckage, Richard was picked up by an Australian destroyer, along with other survivors. One fragment ricocheted off the upper deck and through the side plating on the opposite side of the ship. [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. Last modified on Wed 15 Jun 2022 10.44 EDT. Fritz Julius Lemp commanded submarines for another two years. He replied, 'it's gone'.". 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. On December 12 1939, she collided with a destroyer, the HMS Duchess, sinking her in the mishap. 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. [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). 2. She later became the flagship of Force M's commander, Vice-Admiral John Cunningham. 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. All footage can be viewed on the British Path website. 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. 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. [45], Barham fired 337 fifteen-inch shells and 25 six-inch shells during the battle. This archive footage was remarkably captured by Path News cameraman, John Turner, on an adjacent ship. [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). Your email address will not be published. Huge palls of smoke rising from the stricken ship. 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. A salvo of torpedoes from a German submarine struck from close range on HMS Barham on November 25, 1941 in the Mediterranean. 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 had no idea there were U-boats in the area.". [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. Forthcoming Infantrymen of the Air (Italian airborne), George Burling Jarett and the 75mm ammunition challenge. This required maximum offensive power and a speed several knots faster than any other battleship to allow them to defeat any type of ship. Strange, if you think the ship was destroyed in 1941! The video of HMS Barhams loss can seen here, in the context of the overall newsreel. But barring a photograph I can say in my expert opinion there's a very, very high probability that that's Athenia. The S.G.O (Cdr. [54] Dalglish was relieved in his turn by Captain Percy Noble on 18 October 1922. [96] The sinking was captured on film by a cameraman from Path News, aboard Valiant. [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. [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. In the end, the TV idea was dropped, but Mr Mearns still hopes an expedition can be mounted by someone. 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. [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. On 612 May, she covered the Alexandria-Malta convoy of Operation Tiger. [54], On the afternoon of 24 November 1941, the 1st Battle Squadron, Barham, Queen Elizabeth, and Valiant, with an escort of eight destroyers, departed Alexandria to cover the 7th and 15th Cruiser Squadrons as they hunted for Italian convoys in the Central Mediterranean. [27] Barham slipped her mooring at 22:08 and was followed by the rest of Beatty's ships. [79] She was briefly assigned to Force H, before she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in November 1940. These recordings can be accessed through Apple iTunes or for Android users, Stitcher. HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. The shell devastated a messdeck and dented the armoured deck by a depth of 8 centimetres (3.1in), but caused no casualties. 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. IWM FL1472. U.331 was under the command of Freiherr Diedrich von Tiesenhausen who was a lieutenant of 26 years of age. 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. [42] Barham returned fire at the battlecruisers at 17:02, together with Valiant, the two northernmost of Evan-Thomas's ships, and the two of them made three hits on the battlecruiser SMSSeydlitz and Ltzow between 17:06 and 17:13 while Barham was hit twice more by Derfflinger; although neither of the hits did any significant damage. BARHAM's explosion after being torpedoed. Kapitaenleutnant Freiherr von Tiesenhausen, who did a radio broadcast on this attack in December 1941. 219220; Raven & Roberts, p. 359; Shores, Cull & Malizia, pp. 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. 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. [49] Barham was refitted at Rosyth from 723 February 1918[50] and Waller was relieved by Captain Henry Buller on 18 April. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. A salvo of torpedoes from a German submarine struck from close range on HMS Barham on November 25, 1941 in the Mediterranean. She departed Scapa Flow that day, escorted by four destroyers,[68] and rendezvoused with the troop convoy en route to Gibraltar[69] where she arrived on 2 September. 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. 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. The Grand Fleet sailed with 29 dreadnoughts and 6 battlecruisers while the Germans mustered 18 dreadnoughts and 2 battlecruisers. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. The report that it had been found was made in 2017 This find is one that has been anticipated heavily for many years and we are ecstatic to have found it here at Merlin Burrows. The battleship and the other ships of Force F were tasked to ferry troops to Malta, before continuing on to Alexandria. A German submarine torpedoed the ship hours after Britain declared war on Hitler in 1939 - more than 100 people, including many Americans, were killed. The list of men lost is at this link. At 14:32, Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in response to the spot report. "It was a shocking event," said Riverside curator Emily Malcolm. 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. 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. 1,306 individuals were successfully pulled off the Athenia in deteriorating seas. BARHAM was torpedoed by U.331 and lost off the Western Desert of Egypt off Sollum and Sidi Barrani. The Germans said he had ordered a British submarine to fire on the Athenia as part of a plot to force Washington's hand. 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. [54] Captain James Somerville relieved Monroe on 1 December and he was relieved in his turn on 16 March 1929 by Captain John C. The British captured the submarine and took possession of its Enigma cipher machine. [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. Read about our approach to external linking. 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 Queen Elizabeth class warship was the only British battleship to be sunk at sea by a U-boat during the conflict. [61], Barham remained part of the Mediterranean Fleet at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. 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. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. This was initially a Fairey IIIF until it was replaced by a Fairey Swordfish in 1938. "I didn't know which way was up or down and thought that was it, I'm going to die I had given up and remember thinking, I hope it's quick.". During the Second World War, a spate of misfortunes had dogged the HMS Barham. 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. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Ten minutes later, the ship radioed "Two cruisers, probably hostile, in sight" They were actually two German destroyers that had stopped to check a Danish merchant ship's papers. [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. [51], Barham became flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet in April 1919, and made a port visit to Cherbourg, France that month together with the rest of the squadron. LOVE YOU ALL: Yours Aye-Brian CANUCK Murza, W.W.II Naval Researcher-Published Author, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. The Board of Enquiry into the sinking ascribed the final explosion to a fire in the 4-inch magazines outboard of the main 15-inch magazines, which would have then spread to and detonated the contents of the main magazines. At the going down of the SUN, AND in the MORNING; WE WILL REMEMBER THEM, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM!! HMS Barham was one of five Queen Elizabeth -class battleships built for the Royal Navy during the early 1910s. [67] Barham played no role in the Norwegian Campaign although some of her crew and marines participated. The latter was succeeded by Captain Richard Horne on 1 October. 101102, 108110, 115116, 134142, Campbell 1986, pp. Tiesenhausen was not certain of the results of his attack and radioed that he had hit a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship with one torpedo. 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. 598 x 440. The sea, which had fortunately been smooth as BARHAM sank was, as far as I could see, a vast area of oil fuel and debris, with at that time no signs of life. 340, 346, 349, 354355, 358, Jones, pp. 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. For Archive Licensing Enquiries Visit: https://goo.gl/W4hZBv Explore Our Online Channel For FULL Documentaries, Fascinating Interviews \u0026 Classic Movies: https://goo.gl/7dVe8r #BritishPath #History #WWII #Navy #RoyalNavySubscribe to the British Path YT Channel: https://goo.gl/hV1nkf Dramatic Newsreel footage captured the sinking of the Queen Elizabeth Battleship. 2 six-inch gun. [62] On 12 December, she accidentally rammed one of her escorts, the destroyer Duchess, in thick fog nine miles (14km) west of the Mull of Kintyre. She became a private ship in January of that year and was refitted at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in FebruaryJuly. "Can I go into a court of law and say, '100%, that's Athenia?' BARHAM was torpedoed by U.331 and lost off the Western Desert of Egypt - off Sollum and Sidi Barrani. "I was disorientated but reached out and felt the ship. The anti-aircraft (AA) armament were composed of two quick-firing (QF) 3-inch (76mm) 20cwt Mk I[Note 1] guns. [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). She participated in the Battle of Dakar in mid-1940, where she damaged a Vichy French battleship and was slightly damaged in return. 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. 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. Read more 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. P.W and staff moved to MALAYA and QUEEN ELIZABETH, and Rear Admiral B.S. 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. Barham. 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. It was something Donaldson had made when the ship was built," she told BBC News. En route, Eagle's aircraft attacked Tripoli on 26 November. 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. She became the flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet on 9 June until relieved by Warspite on 8 February 1938. Full title reads: "HMS BARHAM 1914 - 1941". Battleship sunk on 25 of November 1941. 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. She became a private ship on 1 December and departed Alexandria to join the Home Fleet that same day. copyrights: Unknown. She was present when the High Seas Fleet surrendered for internment on 21 November. First published on Mon 12 Sep 2016 11.41 EDT. "We've got several items on display including the watch from the ship's cook. I was trying to push myself away when I got blown away by this massive explosion as the magazine went up. "We were standing by a ladder two decks below on the mess deck when there was a huge explosion," he said. This was replaced by a torpedo rangefinder in early 1928 when the permanent position was installed in the remodelled spotting top. 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. Beatty then altered course to the east, as he was still too far north to cut Hipper off. The resulting shockwave pushed the bulge inwards for a length of 7 feet (2.1m) and it started to slowly flood. Early 1910s that year and was followed by the German submarine struck from close range HMS... Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in response to the Mediterranean struck from close range on HMS Barham November. 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