Lost to the Sea

21/06/2023

As we all hold out hope for the recovery of the Titan manned submersible and the five people aboard, I thought I'd share the story of the deepest underwater rescue - Pisces III.

On 29 August 1973 Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman began their dive aboard Pisces III. They were in the Celtic Sea, south of Ireland, laying a new transatlantic cable.

Just after 9am, as they were preparing to be hauled back onto their support ship, their tow line tangled on a hatch, ripping it open. Water flooded into rear compartment, sealed off from the crew in the front. However it caused the submersible to start sinking. There was sudden jolt as Pisces III reached 175 feet, as she hung suspended by a single rope.

The cable would not hold for long. Pisces III was much heavier than she should have been now one of her compartments was flooded. She was also swinging back and forth in the currents, putting further strain in the rope. It was a matter of time before the cable snapped and she began to plummet to the bottom.

The submersible hit the sea bed at around 40mph, raising concerns of further damage to the vessel. But she was structurally secure and her oxygen supply and carbon monoxide filter systems were operational. She lay on her side and the crew sat in darkness, waiting for rescue.

An international effort to save the men commenced. Submersibles Pisces II and Pisces V were flown to Ireland. The US Navy volunteered an unmanned rescue vehicle (CURV-III), the Canadian Coastguard sent a ship that happened to be in the vicinity, and the Royal Navy sent a specialist deep sea vessel.

It was nearly two days since the accident before everything arrived and rescue attempts could begin. Pisces II and V made several failed attempts over the following day.

On 1 Sept, with time running out, Pisces II found the stricken submersible and managed to attach a line to it. CURV-III then arrived with a second line. At 10.50am, more than three days after Pisces III hit the seabed, she started to lift towards the surface. When divers finally managed to open the hatch and release the crew the oxygen cylinder was down to only 12 minutes remaining.

Everyone hopes for the same good fortune for the Titan crew, but it should be noted that if they've found themselves on the seabed near Titanic, they are nearly eight times deeper than Pisces III.

20/06/2023

As I'm sitting listening the Ashes, I thought I'd share the story of the SS Bokhara and the sinking that wiped out almost the entire Hong Kong cricket team.

The Hong Kong cricketers were returning from a match against Shanghai Cricket Club, alongside an estimated 160 other passengers and crew.

On 9 October 1892 an unforeseen typhoon struck. The captain, with very few options open to him, hoped to ride out the weather. However the conditions worsened, damaging the ship and smashing lifeboats and waves eventually swamped the engine rooms, dousing the boilers and leaving the ship powerless.

Desperate attempts were made to restart the boilers, but it was too late. Out of the darkness they spotted land only a few hundred yards away and closing fast. The captain knew that catastrophe was almost certain and rushed below to warn the passengers and crew to get on deck, in order to give them their best chance to swim for shore. However there wasn't enough time, and as Bokhara was torn open on the rocks the water flooded in, killing many of those caught below. She sank in two minutes.

Survivors were found by Chinese fishermen who, after salvaging from the wreckage, took them to safety. Only two of the Hong Kong cricketers would return home. Total numbers of casualties and survivors are unclear, as the passengers and crew were not properly registered, and those shipwrecked were mixed in with those of another ship that had sunk in the same typhoon and landed nearby. But what is known is that of those who sailed out of Shanghai on the Bokhara, most were lost.

19/06/2023

Very worrying news. Hopefully they are recovered safely.

Rescuers are searching for a submersible used to take tourists and experts to view the famous shipwreck.

29/05/2023

On this day in 1914 the RMS Empress of Ireland, sailing out of Canada's Saint Lawrence River, sights the Norwegian SS Storstad. Soon fog descends, with each ship occasionally spotting each other's mast lights and trying to signal their position with fog whistles.

At 1.56am Storstad appears out of the fog, smashing hard into Empress of Ireland's side. Water pours through a huge hole and into her lower decks. There isn't time to close the watertight doors and the ship rapidly lists to one side, rendering half her lifeboats useless. The crew struggle to launch the remaining lifeboats in the following minutes, a task made more difficult as the electrics fail and the ship goes dark.

Ten or so minutes after the collision Empress of Ireland is fully on her side, and after a few minutes more she sinks entirely. 1,012 people are killed.

During the subsequent investigation the testimonies of the two crews do not match up, and while the Canadian investigation sides with the Empress of Ireland's account, a Norwegian inquiry endorses the Storstad's version of events. Other factors included the Empress of Ireland leaving port with lower portholes open with sped up the sinking, the design of the Storstad's bow which increased the damage, and the longitudinal bulkheads on the ocean liner which were intended to make her stronger and and watertight, meant that water entering the ship was trapped in one side, causing her to list rapidly.

It was the worst peacetime disaster in Canadian waters.

12/05/2023

An estimated 1,500 nurses lost their lives in the First World War. More so than in any previous conflict, nurses found themselves very much in harm's way. This would be the case on 30 October 1914.

The hospital ship HMHS Rohilla set out to Dunkirk to pick up wounded soldiers from the opening months of the First World War. Aboard is a crew and a medical staff numbering 229 in total, including a great many nurses.

While later hospital ships would be sunk by torpedoes and mines, Rohilla found itself caught in a storm and thrust upon a reef off Whitby. The ship sat just 400 yards offshore, her back broken, in a raging gale. Some tried to swim for shore, and many drowned doing so.

What would follow would be a dramatic three day rescue involving a total of six lifeboats that braved the waves, eventually rescuing 146 of those aboard.

08/05/2023

On 16 June 1897 HMS Foudroyant is forced on to Blackpool beach by a storm. At nearly 100 years she had launched straight into the French Revolutionary Wars in 1798. The 80 gun warship soon saw action at the Battle of Tory Island, which marked the final attempt by the French to invade the British Isles.

But her greatest distinction would come the following year when she would serve for a time as Nelson's flagship. After extensive service through the following Napoleonic wars she would eventually retire into less glamorous roles; guard ship, training vessel and then for storage. She was deemed of no further use in 1891 and sold to be broken up, but it was her connection to Nelson that would save her.

She was restored and sent to tour Britain as a travelling attraction, helping to fund her maintenance. This would continue for 6 years until the fateful day in Blackpool would see her driven into the North Pier and driven onto the beach. The Blackpool lifeboat crew would brave the storm to save all of the crew, but the ship was wrecked.

Timbers from the ship would be fashioned into keepsakes, trinkets, and furniture. The boardroom of Blackpool Football Club would be panelled with wood from the ship, and the ship's bell resides at Blackpool Town Hall.

06/05/2023

Rule Britannia

05/05/2023

At first glance, HMS Bronington seems a fairly unremarkable warship. Were you to pass by her at the Birkenhead Docks you'd have seen a modest, aged minesweeper in a poor state of repair. However there is one thing that makes her special.

This is the ship that King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, commanded throughout 1976 during his Royal Navy service. She would go on to be decommissioned in 1989 and was a visitor attraction for several years.

However, over time she fell into disrepair and was tucked away in the corner of a Merseyside dock, overlooked by most people and mostly forgotten.

Efforts were underway to find a long-term future for HMS Bronington, but when in March 2016 she sank at her moorings, it seemed that all hope was lost. However the charitable trust set up to save the ship are determined and confident that they will be able to save her.

You can find out more about the HMS Bronington Preservation Trust and support their work here: https://hmsbronington.org/

04/05/2023

HMS Valiant, HMS Melampus, HMS Hindustan, HMS Collingwood, HMS Bronington. Anyone know the connection?

03/05/2023

With the coronation of King Charles III in a few days, let's look back on a ship that bears his name, the Royal Charles.

Constructed during the Commonwealth that followed the English Civil War, she was originally called Naseby, after an important Parliamentarian victory over King Charles I.

Charles I would go on to lose his life after the war, and it would be over a decade before the monarchy returned. When it did, it would be upon the Naseby, newly renamed the Royal Charles, and carrying King Charles II.

The Royal Charles would go on to fight the Dutch in the victory at the Battle of Lowestoft and the defeat in the Four Days Battle the following year, before being captured at the humiliating Dutch Raid on the Medway.

Taken back to the Netherlands, she would be displayed as a public attraction and foreign dignitaries would be invited aboard. King Charles II complained about such an undignified and public humiliation, and the Dutch eventually conceded, scrapping the Royal Charles as it wasn't a functional fit for their fleet.

Image: Painting of the Royal Charles in Dutch colours following capture

29/04/2023

HMS Formidable launches herself, with fatal consequences. Out of control she injures many and kills one. She would go on to see service throughout the war, including the Battle of Cape Matapan. She would be remembered as the ship that launched herself.

23/03/2023

Today is World Meteorological Day, so what better time to talk about the North Atlantic Weather War. From the war at sea to the D-Day landings, parachute drops and bombing raids, predicting the weather was the difference between victory or defeat, life or death throughout the Second World War. And it was a very dangerous business.

While convoys charged across the Atlantic as speedily as they could and under near radio silence, the weather ships had to linger and transmit regular reports home. While encryption could hide the message, it couldn't mask the source and these ships, often fairly vulnerable vessels, could easily be hunted down. What follows are a few stories of the weather ships that never came home.

SS Arakaka and SS Toronto City were selected for weather monitoring in 1940, although both soon reported that the ships were unsuitable for the task and critically vulnerable from U-boats, with almost nothing to defend themselves with. On 20 June 1941 the Arakaka encountered U77, was struck by a single torpedo and sank within a minute, with all hands lost. On 1 July 1941 Toronto City was sunk by U108.

USS Muskeget of the US Coast Guard went missing on 9 September 1942. After attempts to contact her failed, leading to days of search and rescue, but the ship and all aboard were never seen again. It was later revealed that she was sunk by U755.

The German weather ships would also pay a heavy price to obtain their crucial forecasts. The Wuppertal would have the most somber and mysterious fate in early 1945, reporting damage in harsh weather before disappearing. Two uboats were sent to try to locate her, but both found nothing. While other weather ships were targeted and raided in successful attempts to gain their secret enigma coding machines. This included Lauenburg, which was boarded and sunk in 1941, and the capture of the Externsteine in 1944. The commander of the latter was so surprised to be fired upon that he originally thought he was being attacked by tanks, because he didn't believe the US Coast Guard could break through the ice to reach him.

The crews and specialists aboard all vessels faced extreme danger, far from what we commonly recognise as the front lines, to ensure the safety of thousands of men fighting the war.

Images:
Lauenburg, being boarded.
SS Arakaka
USS Muskeget (as YAG-9)
Externsteine, being captured.

07/03/2023

I find myself in wonderful Zanzibar, a beautiful place but also the site of the shortest war in history:

The shortest war in history lasted less than 45 minutes, killed over 500 people and sank one ship - the oddly named HHS Glasgow of the Zanzibar Sultanate.

Upon the death of pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896, Khalid bin Barghash seized control. The British did not agree, preferring Hamoud bin Mohammed.

An ultimatum was given for this change of leadership, with a deadline of 9am on 27 August and five ships of the Royal Navy sat in the harbour waiting to enforce it. They took positions around HHS Glasgow, the only significant ship the Sultanate had. An earlier Sultan had been hugely impressed by HMS Glasgow and ordered a copy, to the extent that he kept the same name. However while she was fairly modern when she first went to sea, HHS Glasgow was now dated, surrounded and utterly outgunned.

Shortly before the deadline passed, a message from the defenders was sent, saying they had no intention of surrendering and that "we do not believe you would open fire on us". Well seeing is believing, as they say.

The deadline passed, firing commenced at 9.02am, and by 9.46am the Royal Palace was in flames, the land forces had surrendered, and HHS Glasgow was sinking, for the cost of one injured British sailor.

History now takes a dim view of this sort of imperial meddling, but in this case Hamoud bin Mohammed did outlaw slavery in Zanzibar, while Khalid bin Barghash had been keen to profit from it, so it may have worked out for the best.

06/03/2023

I'm currently enjoying visiting the wonderful country of Tanzania, so I thought I'd share the story of the lengthy Battle of the Rufiji Delta.

The outbreak of the First World War saw the conflict reach every continent and ocean, as most of the great European colonial powers turned on each other.

The German light cruiser SMS Königsberg had been deployed to German East Africa, modern day Tanzania, just prior to the start of the war. It was there that her captain learned that a British cruiser, HMS Pegasus, had put into port in the nearby island of Zanzibar for repairs. They decided to attack.

Pegasus had been part of a task force sent to hunt the Königsberg, but the tables would be turned when on 20 September 1914 the German vessel surprised Pegasus in a one-sided encounter.

Pegasus was sunk with the loss of 38 men, while Königsberg suffered no damage or losses. However, during the action the German ship suffered a failure of one of her engines. It would prove fateful. Rather than continuing her offensive, the cruiser had to withdraw into the Rufiji Delta to make repairs. The British learned of this and blockaded the delta, trapping Königsberg in the river with no chance of escape. However, while she couldn't escape, she also couldn't be reached.

The history of the First World War in Africa is fascinating, but also tends to involve small groups using their initiative to overcome strange and frustrating challenges. It could not be further from the large scale and often stationary warfare in Europe.

So how do you sink a ship hidden up river, defended by the colony that surrounds it. You know it's there, but you can't see it or reach it. It would be the start of a more than eight month battle as the British tried new and unusual ways to sink her.

An early attempt was to send a torpedo boat up the river, but this was easily fought off. Another idea was to sink a ship in the mouth of the delta, figuring that stopping a ship from reaching the sea is the next best thing to sinking her. But no sooner had they sunk a blockship than they found there were multiple routes out of the delta.

A seaplane was brought in to spot Königsberg, it found the cruiser but was then shot down. More seaplanes were brought in with a view to bombing the ship, but they fell apart in the tropical conditions. Yet more seaplanes arrived, and they too melted in the heat.

As the blockade dragged on the German supplies were dwindling. Many of the crew had been redeployed to fight the war on land, while the death rate to malaria and other diseases climbed. Even if the way was clear for Königsberg to escape, she was in no state to do so.

Finally in June 1915 two monitors - rather small ships carrying a single very large gun turret - arrived from Malta. Unlike the other Royal Navy vessels, HMS Mersey and HMS Severn could travel up the river, although they would be under constant attack from the shore.

After taking significant damage on a failed first attempt, they returned to finish the job. Five hours of shelling destroyed Königsberg's guns, set her on fire and forced her captain to scuttle her.

The survivors went on to continue the war on land, fighting until November 1917 when they were captured by the British. After the war they returned as heroes for their unusual and dedicated stand.

20/08/2022

Droughts have exposed the wrecks of the German Black Sea fleet along the Danube River. They have long been a navigation hazard and a cause of inconvenience, and Serbia recently committed to removing them. But until then, it's fascinating to get a glimpse of these lost ships.

Europe's worst drought in years has pushed the mighty river Danube to one of its lowest levels in almost a century, exposing the hulks of dozens of explosives-laden German warships sunk during World War Two near Serbia's river port town of Prahovo.

13/08/2022

In late 1943 the war had turned against Japan. Outgunned and in retreat, the Japanese military was banking on their people's determination and willingness for self-sacrifice to rescue their Empire.

The Imperial Japanese Navy began development of four su***de weapons programmes; the Kamikaze planes, the Shinyo boats, the Fukuryu human mines, and the Kaiten manned torpedoes.

While none of the other methods was as successful as the Kamikaze, the submarine-launched Kaiten's ability to sink ships would be demonstrated on 20 November 1944 when a large explosion rocked the USS Mississinewa. She was an oiler, carrying thousands of gallons of aviation fuel and diesel, and within seconds she suffered a second explosion as her cargo ignited.

Survivors abandoned ship, and within minutes the USS Mississinewa began to turn over. She lost 63 of her crew in the process.

The Kaiten programme would be assessed after the war, revealing it to have been a hugely ineffective use of lives and resources. The US Navy would lose two ships (the other being USS Underhill), had several damaged, and lost a total of 187 lives. in exchange the Japanese lost 106 Kaiten pilots, and eight Kaiten launching submarines with a further 846 men killed.

30/07/2022

On this day in 2009 the replica of the Prins Willem catches fire. The original Prins Willem was built in 1650. A large ship for her time, she took part in the Dutch defeat at the Battle of Kentish Knock during the First Anglo-Dutch War. She served the Dutch East India Company before being wrecked off Madagascar in 1662.

The replica of this beautiful ship was constructed in 1985, oddly as a theme park attraction in Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. This reflected the long standing Dutch-Japanese trading relationship that endured the Japanese isolation, when only a select few were allowed to approach Japan.

When the park shut in 2003 the ship returned to the Netherlands, finding a new home in Den Helder. Sadly on the morning of 30 July 2009 an electrical fire during renovation work set this wonderful replica ablaze, burning her to the waterline and leaving nothing worth rebuilding.

14/07/2022

Usually a shipwreck has a couple of interesting stories to tell, but the MV Awa Maru is surrounded by intrigue. The former Japanese cargo vessel was designated as a Red Cross relief ship, which should have given her protection as she left Singapore on March 28 1945. However four days later the American submarine USS Queenfish spotted her, misidentified her, and sank her with torpedoes.

2,004 passengers and crew died, a huge death toll for any sinking. There was a sole survivor, Kantora Shimoda. Not only was this his first sinking, by his account it was his third, and every time he was the only person to live.

The Japanese had lied about the route, which was something they disclosed to the allies to allow the ship safe passage. They had reported a route through a minefield, apparently to give the impression the area was safe and therefore lure enemy vessels into being sunk there.

This wasn't the only deception. Conscious that the allies had spies in Singapore they had filled the ship with grain in the daytime, then under the cover of night removed the cargo and filled the ship with contraband goods - things that would make her a legitimate target.

For a long time it was rumoured that this cargo included vast treasures to be smuggled back to Japan. This was later proven not to be the case, but only after the People's Republic of China, in the 1980s, spent five years and a vast amount of money trying to recover it.

She was mostly carrying rubber, tin and lead - supplies for the war effort and prohibited on a Red Cross ship. This much was vouched for by Kantora Shimoda, the survivor. Despite this, and intelligence that seemed to support it, Commander Loughlin of the Queenfish was court-martialled and found guilty of negligence.

The US offered to replace the ship, which seems like an oddly reasonable offer in war time. Even more remarkably the Japanese not only refused this but, on 14 August 1945, the day of the Japanese surrender, they issued a huge demand for compensation. It would not be paid.

One final curiosity remains around the sinking of the MV Awa Maru. It is rumoured that the ship carried the fossilised remains of the Peking Man, a culturally and anthropologically important discovery of an early hominid, an ancestor of modern humans. While debate continues about what happened, it has never been rediscovered.

Images: The MV Awa Maru, the USS Queenfish, Peking Man.

10/06/2022

A wonderful discovery of an important shipwreck. When The Gloucester sank in 1682 it took with it over 120 lives, and very nearly killed the then Duke of York, future King James II.

Details of the royal wreck are revealed for the first time after it was found by divers 15 years ago.

03/06/2022

A dreadful mistake that cost 26 lives, the cover-up to spare the guilt of those involved, and the death of the first US submariner in the First World War are all part of the little known story of the HMS H5.

She'd enjoyed a successful career since being launched in 1915, including sinking the U-boat U-51 off the coast of Germany. But it would be closer to home that HMS H5 would meet her fate, and at the hands of a British ship.

On 2 March 1918, off the coast of Wales, she was spotted by the merchant vessel Rutherglen. With the extensive U-boat campaign in British shores, the Rutherglen thought they had their enemy in their sights. Believing that if they let it dive it would be a threat to themselves and others, they turned to ram the submarine.

The crew of the Rutherglen would report, with pride, that they had sunk a German U-boat, damaging and flooding their ship in the process, but when the Admiralty heard nothing more from HMS H5, it became clear what had happened. A decision was made not to tell the crew of the Rutherglen, to the extent that they paid them the reward offered for sinking an enemy submarine.

The Rutherglen was under orders not to stop for enemy survivors, lest they become a target for other U-boats. So despite hearing cries from the water, they sailed on. All crew of the HMS H5 perished.

On board was Lieutenant Earle Childs of the US Navy, there as an observer. His death would come days before the birth of his child. He would be awarded the Navy Cross for his service with the Royal Navy.

29/05/2022

HMS Formidable was due to launch on 17 August 1939. Crowds had gathered, the dignitaries were preparing, when suddenly she started moving ahead of schedule. Picking up pace, she smashed her way down the slipway, sending debris flying, injuring 20 and killing one. She would be known as 'the ship that launched herself', and would go on to have a successful career throughout the Second World War.

GAUMONT BRITISH NEWSREEL (REUTERS)To license this film, visit https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVABAZU7VSTOD8A9BIOUPMY9K9LC-THE-HMS-FORMIDABLE-IS-LAUNCHED...

21/05/2022

On this day in 1940, L'Adroit is beached and explodes during the Dunkirk evacuation.

23/04/2022

On December 28 1944 the SS John Burke explodes. She is loaded with explosives, destined for the US forces on the island of Mindoro.

Part of a one hundred ship convoy, they are spotted by the Japanese just before dawn, and soon kamikaze attack planes are inbound. One pilot selects the John Burke as their target.

Despite attempts to shoot it down, the plane strikes the ship with a quick initial explosion, followed by a massive detonation of the munitions in the cargo holds.

The John Burke disintegrates, killing everyone on board instantly. A nearby ship is also badly damaged and begins to sink. Across the convoy ships are damaged, with several incorrectly reporting that they too have been hit by kamikaze or torpedoes, such was the force of the shockwave and debris.

Air-cover will eventually arrive, shepherding the convoy and their vital supplies to Mindoro through days of Japanese attacks.

17/04/2022

Sad news that the museum ship USS The Sullivans has partially sunk in Buffalo, New York.

The ship was named after the five Sullivan brothers; George, Frank, Joe, Matt and Al. They were all killed when the USS Juneau was sunk at the Battle of Guadalcanal on November 13, 1942.

Japanese submarine I-26 struck Juneau with a torpedo near her magazine, causing the ship to explode. Frank, Joe and Matt died immediately.

It was thought unlikely that anyone would survive the explosion, and it was deemed too dangerous to stop. A later flyover spotted survivors, but the information was miscommunicated and a rescue was not launched.

It was eight days until the ten remaining survivors were found. On the second day Al had drowned. George, the eldest, survived a few days more before delirium from either drinking sea water or grief, caused him to step off his life raft. Some accounts claim he was then killed by a shark.

The huge losses for the Sullivan family caused the Navy to split up siblings to avoid a similar tragedy, and the Sole Survivor Policy was introduced to safeguard servicemen who had already lost a family member in the war.

USS The Sullivans was launched on 4 April 1943, earned 11 battle stars across the Second World War and Korean War, before transferring to the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in 1977.

13/04/2022

Have you ever heard of the Frankenstein ship? Well it starts with HMS Nubian which, on 27 October 1916, is torpedoed during the Battle of Dover Strait, eventually breaking the ship in two with the bow (front) of the ship sinking, with 15 men killed.

A fortnight later HMS Zulu hits a mine in the English Channel, which kills three men and breaks off the stern (rear) of the ship.

In a short space of time the Royal Navy has lost half of one destroyer and half of another. With this being a time of war and in great need of ships, the decision is made to put the two halves together.

They call the ship HMS Zubian, a portmanteau of the two ships names. This vessel would deliver valuable service, taking part in the First Ostend Raid and also sinking German U-boat UC-50.

The Royal Navy at this time seems to have enjoyed creative ship naming. When HMS Porcupine was torpedoed and broke in two, they were able to make use of the two halves as accomodation ships, naming them HMS Pork and HMS Pine.

03/04/2022

MV Explorer was an Antarctic cruise ship, specially built to navigate rough and icy seas. So it was something of a surprise when she was sunk by an iceberg.

Passengers reported a loud bang in the dead of night on 23 November 2007. They were on a 'Spirit of Shackleton' cruise, named after the great explorer. As Shackleton also lost his ship to the ice, they seem to have followed the spirit of his adventure a little too closely.

According to some accounts, while the crew surveyed the impact of the first iceberg, they were hit by another. But the damage of the first was greater, and already sufficient to sink the ship.

A mayday was issued at 04:24, and as the gravity of the situation became clearer, orders to abandon ship were issued. By 07:30 all passengers and crew were safely evacuated, to be picked up by a Norwegian vessel five hours later.

The subsequent investigation praised the professionalism of the crew in ensuring no lives were lost. However questions remain unresolved as to how it sank in the first place. Her previous Captain has stated that there must be more to the sinking than has been disclosed, while another expert stated that "essential pieces of the story are missing."

Regardless of that, when a ship sinks, especially one in such a hostile environment, it is to the credit of the crew that everyone survived.