On 26 March, the Italian fleet sortied in an attempt to intercept British convoys to Greece. This increased her metacentric height to about 7 feet (2.1 m) at deep load, despite the increase in her deep displacement to 35,970 long tons (36,550 t). To control these guns a temporary High-Angle Control Position was mounted above the torpedo-control tower aft. [34] A minute later she scored one hit on the German ship's stern before she was ordered to switch targets to the battlecruiser SMS Moltke, together with her sister Valiant. [54] Now under the command of Captain Hubert Monroe[53] and accompanied by the battleship Ramillies, she cruised along the coast of West Africa from December 1927 to February 1928. [26], In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of 16 dreadnoughts, 6 pre-dreadnoughts, 6 light cruisers, and 31 torpedo boats, departed the Jade early on the morning of 31 May. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. It made such a difference from the longwinded (over 20 Articles) which were submitted by one Graeme Sorley who monopolised this site for weeks.I formerly lived in South Queensferry between the Wars and can remember the Barham anchored off Rosyth it was about 1936 as one of the ex-German Navy the Derflinger (? She was present when the High Seas Fleet surrendered for internment on 21 November. The resulting shockwave pushed the bulge inwards for a length of 7 feet (2.1 m) and it started to slowly flood. After all, there had been no official reports of such a disaster and certainly nothing had been in the papers about an attack on the vessel. [95], In an effort to conceal the sinking from the Germans and to protect British morale, the Board of Admiralty censored all news of Barham's sinking. Two minutes later, Beatty ordered a course change to east-southeast, positioning the British ships to cut off the German's line of retreat, and signalled action stations. The ships had multiple armoured decks that ranged from 1 to 3 inches (25 to 76 mm) in thickness. There, one moment, gone the next. With this turn, Hipper was falling back on the High Seas Fleet, 60 miles (97 km) behind him. Most of the content on this site is created by our users, who are members of the
Scheer turned south again, then steered south-eastward to pursue a lone British battle squadron sighted by an airship, which was in fact the Harwich Force of cruisers and destroyers under Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt. My father lost his life along with 862 of his shipmates. The ship had a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,260 km; 5,754 mi) at a cruising speed of 12 knots (22.2 km/h; 13.8 mph). This was initially a Fairey IIIF until it was replaced by a Fairey Swordfish in 1938. Saved by Robert Mann. The 5th Battle Squadron concentrated their fire on the German battleships after losing sight of the battlecruisers, with Barham opening fire at 18:14. 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. [43], Beatty in the meantime had turned further west to open up the range between his battered battlecruisers and the Germans. In 4 minutes and 45 … This image was created and shared by: Colin Sweett . The Valiant did open fire on the submarine but it was so close to her that she couldn’t depress her guns sufficiently and the rounds passed over the submarine. The battleship was attacked by U-331. Thank you again for the succinct Contribution. Suddenly there was a blinding flash, an enormous explosion and a mushroom of black smoke rose thousands of feet into the air. Like most of the watch I had taken a mug of tea on to the upper deck to enjoy the sun and admire the view. Because she sank so … According to the Scottish-born clairvoyant and mother of six, the British battleship HMS Barham had just been sunk. She had been struck by four torpedoes. [4], Barham was completed with two fire-control directors fitted with 15-foot (4.6 m) rangefinders. [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. [7], Barham received a series of minor refits during the 1920s. The Germans opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the British battlecruisers. I wish I could remember his name he held the DCM and finished life as a street cleaner in South Queensferry. She became a private ship in January of that year and was refitted at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard in February–July. [47] On the evening of 18 August, the Grand Fleet put to sea in response to a message deciphered by Room 40 that indicated that the High Seas Fleet, minus II Squadron, would be leaving harbour that night. A High-Angle Control System (HACS) Mk I director were added to the roof of the spotting top and the mainmast was reconstructed as a tripod to support the weight of a second HACS director. Thank you Mr Roland Bundy for a most deeply interesting account of the loss of the Barham. In addition, the rear of the six-inch gun casemates was enclosed by a 1.5-inch (38 mm) bulkhead. 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