Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
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An Armored Cruiser Blows Up ...!
On the afternoon of December 30, 1916 at around 3:20 pm on the armored cruiser HMS "Natal" lying with his squadron off Cromarty (Scotland) ...
... a series of severe explosions occurs without warning ...:
Within just five minutes, the cruiser initially had a heavy list ...
... capsizes and remains keel up in the shallow water of the bay ...:
Some of the crew members who were able to save themselves from the wreck die of hypothermia or exhaustion in the waters of the Firth of Cromarty. 387 survivors, including 14 officers, can be rescued.
Still, the human casualties are considerable - they are estimated to be at least 390, but probably more than 421 deaths.
As the devil wants it, that day was a late Christmas party - and many officers had invited family members and relatives to join them on HMS "Natal".
The next picture was taken shortly before the explosion on the deck of the cruiser ...:
Among the dead are the ship's commander, Captain R. N. Eric Percy Coventry Back ...
... his wife, as well as ten other women and children, two dock workers, the ship's dog "Nobby" and the two ship's cats "Rudolph" and "Minnie".
Many dead are so disfigured by the detonations that they can no longer be identified and are given nameless gravestones in the cemetery in the town of Cromarty ...:
After the sinking of the armored cruiser, there were numerous speculations in the media about the cause of the sinking, such as the explosion of a mine laid by a German submarine or sabotage by German agents.
However, upon examination of the wreck by divers, it is found that the ship was destroyed by a massive internal explosion.
A court martial fails to clearly clarify the cause of the accident.
The most likely explanation today is a fire caused by spontaneous combustion of cordite, which detonated one of the ship's ammunition magazine.
The battleships HMS "Bulwark" (1914) ...
... and HMS "Vanguard" (1917) went in a similar way lost ...:
When building battleships, the British had a general problem with securing their ammunition chambers against fire and lightning bolts!
During the Skagerak battle in 1916 they lost three of their most modern battle cruisers, HMS "Queen Mary" ...
...HMS "Indefatigable"...
...and HMS "Invincible"...
... after flashes of an explosion, which were actually harmless German grenades, struck the powder magazine and detonated the cordite of the propellant charges.
On "Invincible" only five sailors survived, on "Queen Mary" and "Indefatigable" only 25 men of the 1,200-man crew of each of the ships.
HMS "Hood", constructed at this time (1916), fell victim to the same cause in the battle against the German "Bismarck" on May 24, 1941 ...:
Only three of the 1,418 men were rescued.
On the afternoon of December 30, 1916 at around 3:20 pm on the armored cruiser HMS "Natal" lying with his squadron off Cromarty (Scotland) ...
... a series of severe explosions occurs without warning ...:
Within just five minutes, the cruiser initially had a heavy list ...
... capsizes and remains keel up in the shallow water of the bay ...:
Some of the crew members who were able to save themselves from the wreck die of hypothermia or exhaustion in the waters of the Firth of Cromarty. 387 survivors, including 14 officers, can be rescued.
Still, the human casualties are considerable - they are estimated to be at least 390, but probably more than 421 deaths.
As the devil wants it, that day was a late Christmas party - and many officers had invited family members and relatives to join them on HMS "Natal".
The next picture was taken shortly before the explosion on the deck of the cruiser ...:
Among the dead are the ship's commander, Captain R. N. Eric Percy Coventry Back ...
... his wife, as well as ten other women and children, two dock workers, the ship's dog "Nobby" and the two ship's cats "Rudolph" and "Minnie".
Many dead are so disfigured by the detonations that they can no longer be identified and are given nameless gravestones in the cemetery in the town of Cromarty ...:
After the sinking of the armored cruiser, there were numerous speculations in the media about the cause of the sinking, such as the explosion of a mine laid by a German submarine or sabotage by German agents.
However, upon examination of the wreck by divers, it is found that the ship was destroyed by a massive internal explosion.
A court martial fails to clearly clarify the cause of the accident.
The most likely explanation today is a fire caused by spontaneous combustion of cordite, which detonated one of the ship's ammunition magazine.
The battleships HMS "Bulwark" (1914) ...
... and HMS "Vanguard" (1917) went in a similar way lost ...:
When building battleships, the British had a general problem with securing their ammunition chambers against fire and lightning bolts!
During the Skagerak battle in 1916 they lost three of their most modern battle cruisers, HMS "Queen Mary" ...
...HMS "Indefatigable"...
...and HMS "Invincible"...
... after flashes of an explosion, which were actually harmless German grenades, struck the powder magazine and detonated the cordite of the propellant charges.
On "Invincible" only five sailors survived, on "Queen Mary" and "Indefatigable" only 25 men of the 1,200-man crew of each of the ships.
HMS "Hood", constructed at this time (1916), fell victim to the same cause in the battle against the German "Bismarck" on May 24, 1941 ...:
Only three of the 1,418 men were rescued.
