On 5th June 1916 HMS Hampshire struck a mine off Marwick Head, Orkney. On board was Lord Kitchener, the British Secretary of State for War, and his retinue, on route to Russia to attend negotiations with Tsar Nicholas II.
737 men lost their lives when the Devonshire-class Armoured Cruiser exploded after hitting the mine laid by German U-75. There were only 12 survivors.
HMS Hampshire had been accompanied by two destroyers which, due to the heavy seas, had to turn back.
The official Inquiry took evidence from the 12 survivors and reported that in heavy seas between 7.30 and 7.45pm, the vessel struck a mine and began at once to settle by the bows, heeling over to starboard before she finally went down about fifteen minutes after.
The survivors told the Inquiry:
Efforts were made, without success, to lower some of the boats, one of them being broken in half during the process, and her occupants thrown into the water.
As the men were moving up the hatchways to their stations, Lord Kitchener, accompanied by a naval officer appeared. The Captain called out for Lord Kitchener to come to the forebridge near where the Captain’s boat was hoisted.
What happened next to that boat and whether or not Kitchener reached it was not known.
The survivors continued:
Large numbers of the crew used their lifesaving belts, waistcoats, etc, which proved to be effective in keeping them afloat. Three rafts were safely launched, and with about fifty to seventy men on each of them, got clear of the ship.
Though the rafts with these large numbers of men got safely away, in one case, out of over seventy men on board, only six survived.
The survivors all reported that men gradually dropped off, and even died on board the rafts from exhaustion, exposure and cold . Some of the crew perished trying to land on the rocky shore, and some died after landing.
The survivors were rescued by local people and given warm clothing until they were collected. They went to Leith by Hospital Ship and from there south. Some bodies were recovered. Kitchener’s personal military secretary Lieutenant Colonel Fitzgerald’s body and the remains of many others were taken first to Thurso for transport south.
For more information click on this link to the website HMS Hampshire.
Fiona Grahame
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