#ship sinking

[thatforestprince]

It has been 34 years since the MTS Oceanos sunk off the coast of South Africa on August 4th, 1991. Despite the captain and crew abandoning ship without notifying passengers, there were no casualties thanks to the efforts of the entertainment staff.

[desicat-writer]

If you see whatever you're seeing in a story it's there.

If you don't see it it's not there

Surprise! Both are simultaneously true and we're all grasping at straws. Let's not beat each other up for the differences we see in storytelling

[redarmyscreaming]

HMS Gurkha, 1 hour after being torpedoed near Sidi Barani, Jan 1942. Photo taken from Dutch destroyer HNLMS Isaac Sweers which rescued the crew .

[scotianostra]

5th June 1916 saw the loss of “HMS Hampshire” off Marwick Head, Orkney, with the loss of hundreds of lives, including Lord Kitchener. Only 12 survived.

The true number of deaths from the sinking of HMS Hampshire 101 years ago has only recently been revealed by experts researching a definitive account of the tragedy. Twelve authors spent two years painstakingly researching the tragedy – which claimed the life of Lord Kitchener, of “Your Country Needs You” poster fame – and now put an accurate figure of 737 on the number of deaths, estimates of which have wildly fluctuated over the years. The figure is revealed in a book published in 2017, HMS Hampshire: A Century Of Myths And Mysteries Unravelled, which also looks at the truth behind other tales surrounding the sinking.

The Hampshire, an armoured cruiser, was en route from Orkney to Russia, taking Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, on a secret mission to bolster support from the Tsar for the war when it hit a mine and sank.

The death of Kitchener had a profound impact on the country. “Very like President Kennedy or Princess Diana’s deaths in later years, everyone who was alive then would remember the moment they heard about Kitchener’s death And, much like Diana’s and Kennedy’s deaths, the demise of Kitchener attracted conspiracy theories.

Accusations of incomp­etence or collusion against the Admiralty have focused on the destruction of another ship, HM Drifter Laurel Crown, on 2 June, blown up by the same minefield laid by submarine U-75, and why the Hampshire was sent through a known danger zone. But authors of the book say the rumour comes from a simple misprint in an internal Admiralty document – the date of the destruction of the Laurel Crown should have read 22 June. Rumours that something sinister was afoot have also been fuelled by accounts from Orcadians claiming they were not allowed to assist in the rescue attempts and were even forcibly stopped by the military when they tried to intervene, but careful examination of what is still a sensitive subject in Orkney has revealed such stories are “almost certainly myth” with just two recorded incidents with some basis in fact. Many of the accounts come from Birsay, which was nearest to the stricken ship but not where rescue efforts were focused, in Sandwick, a few miles south of Marwick Head, where most bodies and survivors came ashore.

The second photo is the Kitchener Memorial at Birsay it is inscribed:

“This tower was raised by the people of Orkney in memory of Field Marshal Earl Kitchener of Khartoum on that corner of his country which he had served so faithfully nearest to the place where he died on duty. He and his staff perished along with the officers and nearly all the men of HMS Hampshire on 5 June 1916."

The tower was built in 1920 there is video of it’s unveiling ceremony here https://scotlandonscreen.org.uk/browse-films/007-000-002-399-c

[ireton]

Stellar Banner - an ore carrier that was scuttled off the Brazilian coast in 2020.

[scotianostra]

June 5th 1916 saw the loss of HMS Hampshire off Marwick Head, Orkney, with the loss of over 700 lives, including Lord Kitchener. Only 12 survived.

The Hampshire was en route from Orkney to Russia, taking Lord Kitchener on a secret mission to bolster support from the Tsar for the war when it hit a mine and sank. It wasn’t until lately that a definitive number was put on the number of deaths, a final figure of 737 souls were lost at sea that day.

Two of the most persistent rumours examined in a recent book, were that the ship sailed through a known minefield and that the military refused to allow local Orcadians to help with rescue attempts. Their conclusions are that the first was down to a simple misprint in an official document and the second did not hold up to close scrutiny, except in just two isolated cases.

Accusations of incompetence or collusion against the Admiralty have focused on the destruction of another ship, HM Drifter Laurel Crown, on 2 June, blown up by the same minefield laid by submarine U-75, and why the Hampshire was sent through a known danger zone. It has since been said that the Laurel Crown was actually blown up on June 22nd, but to me this still begs the question, why it was allowed to go through this minefield after the Hampshire sinking? Some answers we will never know.

The wreck is designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act and diving is forbidden without a licence.The ship is upside down at a depth of 55–70 metres of water. In 1983 one propeller and part of its drive shaft were salvaged. They are now on view at the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre and Museum, Lyness, Hoy, Orkney.

The Kitchener Memorial, as seen in the pic, at Marwick Head, five miles east of Dounby in Orkney, stands to commemorate, not just him, but all those who lost their lives that day.

[lostarcher17]

I was raised by TayNew, so nothing can hurt me anymore.

[scotianostra]

On 18th  December 1661, the ‘Elizabeth of Burntisland’ sank while returning 85 barrels of historic records to Scotland, after Oliver Cromwell removed them from Stirling Castle.

Among the state documents that went down with the Elizabeth were charters and records dating back to the reigns of King  Robert the Bruce and his son King David II.

But why were these important historic documents being shipped north from London in a storm? To answer that question we must go back to 1650 and Oliver Cromwell’s military campaign into Scotland.

In 1650, Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army entered Scotland after the Scottish parliament, led by Covenanters, declared Charles II king. The defending forces were no match for Cromwell’s army of well-trained and well-provisioned professional soldiers. The Scots suffered severe losses as the city and castle of Edinburgh fell.

The Records of Scotland were held in a special register house in Edinburgh. After its capture the state and legal papers were allowed to be moved to Stirling Castle for safekeeping.

The precious archive, however, was not safe for long. In August 1651,  Cromwell’s military commander, General Monck, laid siege to Stirling Castle. Monck set up artillery around the castle, including in a nearby churchyard, “whence for three days a fire was kept up causing considerable damage to the Castle.”  When the Castle fell, Cromwell’s forces, carried off their ‘spoils of war.’ These included not only the Earl of Mar’s coronet and robes but also the national records.

The records were sent to the Tower of London, Cromwell may have wanted to have all records of  his new ‘commonwealth’ in one archive, or he may have wished to demonstrate his power over a subjugated nation. Either way, it became very difficult to bring any legal cases in Scotland with the records in England.

After the restoration of Charles II in 1660, arrangements were made for the records to be returned to Edinburgh. However, a series of ill thought out decisions were to lead to their destruction.

Firstly, the ship carrying the records was due to sail during a period of particularly stormy weather. Secondly, it was well known that the Elizabeth of Burntisland was not the most seaworthy of vessels. Her Captain was reluctant to take the precious cargo. Ultimately, the Elizabeth was loaded with two tonnes of papers stored in 85 barrels.

The Captain’s apprehension was justified when the ship began to take on water off Northumbria. She sank, taking with her barrels of Scottish Royal charters and legal documents, documents whose loss leaves a hole in Scottish archives to this day.