After temporary repairs at Scapa, Barham was sent to Cromarty Firth for more permanent repairs in the floating dry dock there that lasted until 23 December. 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. BARHAM was torpedoed by U.331 and lost off the Western Desert of Egypt off Sollum and Sidi Barrani. 862 men went down with her, and her end was filmed by a war correspondent on board one of the escorting destroyers. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross that day. Neilson Larry 05/01/2011. U-331 thus passed through the screen and was in a position to fire her torpedoes after the leading ship, Queen Elizabeth, had passed her by and the second ship, Barham, was closing rapidly. They set several merchant ships on fire, but again failed to hit the latter at a range of 17,000 yards (15,500m) before breaking off fire at 13:20. Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1939, Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1941. The anti-aircraft (AA) armament were composed of two quick-firing (QF) 3-inch (76mm) 20cwt Mk I[Note 1] guns. LOVE YOU ALL: Yours Aye-Brian CANUCK Murza, W.W.II Naval Researcher-Published Author, Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. [27] Barham slipped her mooring at 22:08 and was followed by the rest of Beatty's ships. [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). The video of HMS Barhams loss can seen here, in the context of the overall newsreel. 1. One of these hits also started several major fires inside the hull. [Note 5], Evan-Thomas continued his turn until his ships were steering due north, which interposed the 5th Battle Squadron between Hipper's battlecruisers,[38] which had reversed course around 16:48 to follow Beatty north,[39] and Beatty's ships. At 14:15, Beatty ordered a turn north by east to rendezvous with the Grand Fleet. The start date is universally agreed to be 17 November 1941, while the end date is 15 January for the British (thus excluding the Axis counter-offensive of late January), while it is 6 February for the Axis, including the counteroffensive. At 14:32, Beatty ordered a course change to south-southeast in response to the spot report. 2023 BBC. [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. 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. Forthcoming Infantrymen of the Air (Italian airborne), George Burling Jarett and the 75mm ammunition challenge. 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. More Disasters Caught on Camera: https://goo.gl/hYJzzNBRITISH PATH'S STORY Before television, people came to movie theatres to watch the news. [18][19][Note 2] Barham cost a total of 2,470,113. Before leaving the Bridge to make my attempt to escape, the conning tower of a submarine surfaced about one hundred and fifty yards from the port side, and remained exposed for perhaps half a minute before the U boat dived again. 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. To the untrained eye, sonar imagery can be difficult to interpret, but Mr Mearns says the dimensions of the target match exactly what would be expected of a 160m-long, 13,500-tonne passenger liner. [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. Life on the Line Podcasts 11/25/2022, @ 13:16-Still stands thine ancient sacrifice, a humble and a contrite heart; Lord God of Hosts be with us yet, LEST WE FORGET, LEST WE FORGET!! The Queen Elizabeth class warship was the only British battleship to be sunk at sea by a U-boat during the conflict. 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. 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. 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. [49] Barham was refitted at Rosyth from 723 February 1918[50] and Waller was relieved by Captain Henry Buller on 18 April. 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. The British captured the submarine and took possession of its Enigma cipher machine. Hamilton. 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. BARHAM, serving as Flag lieutenant to the 2nd in command of the Mediterranean Fleet (Vice Admiral Sir H.D. Three minutes later another shell hit the aft superstructure, severing the antenna cables of the main wireless station. 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). 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 terrifying explosion was caught on film by Path cameraman John Turner who was on an adjacent ship. 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. [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. Despite the majority of the wreck lying some 75m below the . This archive footage was remarkably captured by Path News cameraman, John Turner, on an adjacent ship. petrol. [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. The interrogation report following the sinking of U-331 in late 1942 give further detail of the sinking of HMS Barham at this link. 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 damage allowed over 1,000 long tons (1,016t) of water to flood the stern and nearly knocked out the ship's steering gear. [36] His order only applied to his own forces; the 5th Battle Squadron continued south until after it passed Beatty heading northwestwards at 16:51. [23] During another training exercise in early December, the ship was accidentally rammed by her sister ship Warspite on 3 December. The third shell detonated on the face of the starboard wing turret, although some fragments entered the turret and caused minor damage. 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. This podcast series examines Australias Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere. [53] Barham participated in the Fleet review on 26 July 1924 at Spithead. [54], Captain Geoffrey Cooke assumed command on 25 March[53] and the Navy took the opportunity to augment her light anti-aircraft armament and upgrade its directors. 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 92-year-old, from Leicester, miraculously escaped death when the ship was sunk by a. By the afternoon the submarine and the 1st Battle Squadron were on reciprocal courses and Tiesenhausen ordered his boat to battle stations around 16:00. [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. Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right. 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. 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. HMS Barham underway off Devonport in WW2. 713 x 435. 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. Evan-Thomas turned northeast at around 18:06 and then made a slow turn to the southeast once he spotted the Grand Fleet. [46], Following Jutland, Barham was under repair until 5 July 1916. She was slow to go down, disappearing beneath the waves, stern first, at 11 the next morning. 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. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Richard Laland is one of only two survivors from the doomed battleship HMS Barham still alive today. The Grand Fleet sailed with 29 dreadnoughts and 6 battlecruisers while the Germans mustered 18 dreadnoughts and 2 battlecruisers. Contents 1 Service 1.1 First World War 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. 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. Richard Laland is one of only two survivors from the doomed battleship HMS Barham still alive today. On her return I teamed up with P-W again when he shifted his flag back to the, Battleships. David Mearns: "My research rules out all other shipwrecks in this area". [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. [89] The following morning, the German submarineU-331, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen, detected the faint engine noises of the British ships and moved to intercept. U.331 was under the command of Freiherr Diedrich von Tiesenhausen who was a lieutenant of 26 years of age. [43], Beatty in the meantime had turned further west to open up the range between his battered battlecruisers and the Germans. The hits on Seydlitz mostly opened up more holes that facilitated the flooding. Tiesenhausen ordered all four bow torpedo tubes fired at a range of 375 metres (410yd) at 16:25. (Lt. Cdr. They were designed to reduce the effect of torpedo detonations and improve stability[11] at the cost of widening the ship's beam by almost 14 feet (4.3m) to 104 feet (31.7m),[12] and reduced her draught to 32feet 6inches (9.9m). [54] Now under the command of Captain Hubert Monroe[53] and accompanied by the battleship Ramillies, she cruised along the coast of West Africa from December 1927 to February 1928. This is another problematic issue in which sources differ to which Gordon devotes an entire chapter. He is now involved in efforts to change this. The shell struck just below the waterline and burst on impact with the belt armour. [73], After the expiration of an ultimatum to surrender the following morning, the battleships engaged the port's 24-centimetre (9.4in) coast-defence guns and Richelieu at 09:30. The British had recently broken the Italian codes and sailed after dark on the 27th to intercept the Italians. She was the flagship of the 1st Battle Squadron and of the Second in Command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 1941. 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. [54] Willis was relieved by Captain Thomas Walker on 31 January 1939. [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 translated detailed report of the attack by U-331 can be found at this link. 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. Website with searchable ship database about warships, passenger liners, merchant ships, photo galleries, technical details, stories, news and much more. She reached Alexandria later that day, but she was too large for the floating dock there and had to be sent elsewhere for repairs. [47] On the evening of 18 August, the Grand Fleet put to sea in response to a message deciphered by Room 40 that indicated that the High Seas Fleet, minus II Squadron, would be leaving harbour that night. Guy Morris), S.O.O./S.N.O. The full truth only emerged at the Nuremberg Trials. Actually, my last time in Pearl (around 1994) I saw petrol bubbles coming from the wreck. BARHAM's explosion after being torpedoed. [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. "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.". 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. [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. 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. 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. [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. 828 Squadron FAA, With the 5th South African Brigade at Sidi Rezegh, XXXI Guastatori (Assault Engineers) Battalion during CRUSADER, 'Shell Shock' 'Bomb Happy' and the Tobruk Garrison, Successful supply runs for the Axis - November 1941, New Article - Italy's Light Cruiser Force, German Tank Deliveries to North Africa - 02/1941 to 03/1942, Axis merchants lost on the North Africa Route - 1941-1943. [61], Barham remained part of the Mediterranean Fleet at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. Full title reads: "HMS BARHAM 1914 - 1941". But barring a photograph I can say in my expert opinion there's a very, very high probability that that's Athenia. [54] Dalglish was relieved in his turn by Captain Percy Noble on 18 October 1922. The destroyer Hotspur rescued 337 survivors, including Vice-Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell and the pair who later died of their wounds, while the Australian destroyer Nizam reportedly rescued 150 men. After Free French emissaries were either captured or driven off by the Vichy French, Cunningham ordered his ships to open fire. Barham. It is just over 49 years since H.M.S. The list of men lost is at this link. I saw petrol bubbles coming from the wreck lying some 75m below the inside! The time we got on deck, the ship was listing at a range of 375 metres 410yd. 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