[docfr8]

It was already starting to capsize... Once the magazine exploded, that was the icing on the cake

May you have fair winds and following seas... RIP shipmates!!!!

[gimlet]

Wikipedia says the HMS Barham has never been found. Surprisingly, 400+ crew survived. It blew up in about 4 minutes after being hit by torpedoes, I wonder why so many survived such a massive blast. Weird battle, the submarine surfaced 30 yards from another destroyer and they opened fire with cannon, then the sub dove out of control way below its rated depth to 800+ feet and recovered.

Here is info from WIKI:

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.[87] The following morning, the German submarine U-331, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen, detected the faint engine noises of the British ships and moved to intercept. 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. An ASDIC operator aboard one of the leading destroyers, Jervis, detected the submarine at 16:18 at an estimated range of 900–1,100 yards (820–1,010 m), but the contact was disregarded as it subtended an angle between 40 and 60 degrees wide, far larger than a submarine. U-331 thus passed through the screen and was only 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. Tiesenhausen ordered all four bow torpedo tubes fired at a range of 375 metres (410 yd) at 16:25. Possibly due to her closeness to Valiant's bow wave and discharging the torpedoes, the boat's conning tower broached the surface and was fruitlessly engaged by one of the battleship's "pom-pom"s at a range of about 30 yards (27 m). The boat dived out of control after she broached, reaching an indicated depth of 265 metres (869 ft), well below her design depth rating of 150 metres (490 ft), before she stabilised without any damage. U-331 was not attacked by the escorting destroyers and reached port on 3 December. Tiesenhausen was not certain of the results of his attack and radioed that he had hit a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship with one torpedo.[88]

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. Barham quickly capsized to port and was lying on her side when a massive magazine explosion occurred about four minutes after she was torpedoed and sank her. 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.[89] Due to the speed at which she sank, 862 officers and ratings were killed,[54][90] including two who died of their wounds after being rescued. The destroyer Hotspur rescued some 337 survivors, including Vice-Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell and the pair who later died of their wounds, while the Australian destroyer Nizam reportedly rescued some 150 men.[91][Note 6] Captain Geoffrey Cooke went down with his ship.[94] The sinking was captured on film by a cameraman from Pathé News, aboard Valiant.[95]

[U.B.Hotch]

Originally Posted by gimlet ↗

Wikipedia says the HMS Barham has never been found. Surprisingly, 400+ crew survived. It blew up in about 4 minutes after being hit by torpedoes, I wonder why so many survived such a massive blast. Weird battle, the submarine surfaced 30 yards from another destroyer and they opened fire with cannon, then the sub dove out of control way below its rated depth to 800+ feet and recovered.

Here is info from WIKI:

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.[87] The following morning, the German submarine U-331, commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Hans-Diedrich von Tiesenhausen, detected the faint engine noises of the British ships and moved to intercept. 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. An ASDIC operator aboard one of the leading destroyers, Jervis, detected the submarine at 16:18 at an estimated range of 900–1,100 yards (820–1,010 m), but the contact was disregarded as it subtended an angle between 40 and 60 degrees wide, far larger than a submarine. U-331 thus passed through the screen and was only 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. Tiesenhausen ordered all four bow torpedo tubes fired at a range of 375 metres (410 yd) at 16:25. Possibly due to her closeness to Valiant's bow wave and discharging the torpedoes, the boat's conning tower broached the surface and was fruitlessly engaged by one of the battleship's "pom-pom"s at a range of about 30 yards (27 m). The boat dived out of control after she broached, reaching an indicated depth of 265 metres (869 ft), well below her design depth rating of 150 metres (490 ft), before she stabilised without any damage. U-331 was not attacked by the escorting destroyers and reached port on 3 December. Tiesenhausen was not certain of the results of his attack and radioed that he had hit a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship with one torpedo.[88]

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. Barham quickly capsized to port and was lying on her side when a massive magazine explosion occurred about four minutes after she was torpedoed and sank her. 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.[89] Due to the speed at which she sank, 862 officers and ratings were killed,[54][90] including two who died of their wounds after being rescued. The destroyer Hotspur rescued some 337 survivors, including Vice-Admiral Henry Pridham-Wippell and the pair who later died of their wounds, while the Australian destroyer Nizam reportedly rescued some 150 men.[91][Note 6] Captain Geoffrey Cooke went down with his ship.[94] The sinking was captured on film by a cameraman from Pathé News, aboard Valiant.[95]

Thank you for the additional info here...My question was answered in the last sentence: Who was filming and not mobilizing for rescue attempts?

[gimlet]

Originally Posted by U.B.Hotch ↗

Thank you for the additional info here...My question was answered in the last sentence: Who was filming and not mobilizing for rescue attempts?

Your welcome.

It says the U-boat commander didn't know the results of hi torpedo hit. I was wondering how he couldn't hear a blast like that, then realized he was diving to 800+ feet fighting to save the sub and might have thought it was a depth charge.*

* I have never been in a navy, never been on a sub and have no knowledge of nautical warfare. I did see Das Boot once though...

[gringo1965]

BRUTAL... I remember I came across an old video , it was a tour.. They have munitions elevators , they are careful with the powder.
But, this comment...
The sailor showed the camera man the bridge on a battleship, WW2.. The top of the ship. The bridge , is encased with 10 inches of treated iron,, The door is really where you can see it. I think the clip said the door weghed arond a ton.

[K53]

War is hell for those on the frontline