HMS Barham(wreck)

Egypt / Matruh / Marsa Matruh, Matruh /
 ship, shipwreck
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.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Barham_(1914)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   32°33'55"N   26°23'59"E

Comments

  • LOSS OF 861 CREW...MAGAZINE EXPLOSION..THREE UBOAT TORPEDOES FROM 750 YARDS...NO TIME TO AVERT.
  • sad sad time in british naval history. possibily the greats loss of ships in history.
  • Not as sad as the 8000 -10 000 (mainly civilians) who died when the "Wilhelm Gustloff" was sunk a by a Soviet submarine in 1945 - the greatest loss ever of life at sea.
  • Wilhelm Gustloff was a military ship, which allow up to six thousand refugees. The full responsibility for their lives from the moment they climbed on a warship lying on the relevant officials of the German Navy. Thus, we can assume that Wilhelm Gustloff was a legitimate military target of Soviet submariners
  • The Wilhelm Gustloff was a cruise ship, she was never built as a military’s vessel. She was later converted t a hospital ship. While she was armed the cold temperatures had frozen her guns over. Furthermore, the Soviets has their submarines sunk several more hospital ships after the Gustloff, unsurprising considering the Soviets gunned down innocent civilians during their invasion of Germany. Also the Gustloff was not a “target”. She gave herself away by the split second she used her lights to see, the Soviets saw it as a “free kill”. Marinesko sunk it to help clear his name since he was already in hot water. If Marinesko never saw the Gustloff it would never have been targeted. She was seen as a free kill to redeem his poor reputation. It was by pure luck she was spotted and sunk, not as a target by Soviet orders but for the captain’s selfish gain. How he received a medal of heroism for cold blooded murder is beyond me.
This article was last modified 17 years ago