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NATAL HMS 1905

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 1:15 am
by aukepalmhof
HMS NATAL was ordered as part of the 1903–04 naval construction programme as the second of four armoured cruisers. She was laid down on 6 January 1904 at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers, Sons & Maxim. She was christened on 30 September 1905 by Louisa Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire and completed on 5 March 1907 at the cost of £1,218,244. Her name was assigned because the funds required to build her came largely or completely from the inhabitants of Colony of Natal. Like her sister ships, she joined the 5th Cruiser Squadron in 1907, and was later transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in 1909. Captain William Reginald Hall assumed command after the premature death of Captain F. C. A. Ogilvy in December 1909 and remained in command until June 1911. She escorted the ocean liner RMS Medina in 1911–1912 while the latter ship served as the royal yacht for the newly-crowned King George V's trip to India to attend the Delhi Durbar. HMS NATAL also had the duty of carrying the body of the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, Whitelaw Reid, back to New York in December 1912. After completing this mission, her crew gave her the nickname of Sea Hearse.
World War I
At the outbreak of war, she joined the Grand Fleet and in January 1915 was refitted at Cromarty. HMS NATAL spent much of 1915 uneventfully patrolling the North Sea until she began a brief refit at the Birkenhead shipyard of Cammell Laird on 22 November. On 5 December the ship rejoined the 2nd Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow. Twelve days later the squadron sailed to Cromarty Firth.
Sinking
On 30 December 1915, HMS NATAL was lying in the Cromarty Firth with her squadron, under the command of Captain Eric Back. The captain was hosting a film party onboard and had invited the wives and children of his officers, one civilian friend and his family, and nurses from the nearby hospital ship DRINA to attend. A total of seven women, one civilian male, and three children were in attendance that afternoon.
Shortly after 15:25, and without warning, a series of violent explosions tore through the rear part of the ship. She capsized five minutes later. Some thought that she'd been torpedoed by a German U-boat or detonated a submarine-laid mine, but examination of the wreckage revealed that the explosions were internal. The divers sent to investigate the ship reported that the explosions began in either the rear 9.2-inch shell-room or the 3-pounder and small arms magazine. The Admiralty court-martial in the causes of her loss concluded that it was caused by an internal ammunition explosion, possibly due to faulty cordite. The Admiralty issued a revised list of the dead and missing that totalled 390 in January 1916, but did not list the women and children on board that day. Losses are listed from 390 to 421.
With her hull still visible at low water, it was Royal Navy practice on entering and leaving Cromarty right up to the Second World War for every warship to sound “Still”, and for officers and men to come to attention as they passed the wreck. After numerous attempts, much of the ship was salvaged. The remainder was blown up in the 1970s to level the wreck to prevent it from being a hazard to navigation.
Legacy
A memorial to the ship was erected in Durban in 1927, and there is a memorial plaque to Captain E. Back RN in the Officers’ Mess in HMS Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth. There is also a memorial plaque in Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral. A garden called Natal Gardens has been created at Invergordon which contains a commemorative plaque remembering HMS NATAL. The wreck itself is now designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
Name: HMS NATAL
Namesake: Colony of Natal
Builder: Vickers, Sons & Maxim, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down: January 1904
Launched: 30 September 1905
Christened: by Louisa Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire
Completed: 5 March 1907
Nickname: Sea Hearse
Fate: Blown up at Cromarty Firth, 30 December 1915
Class and type: Duke of Edinburgh-class armoured cruiser
Displacement: 13,550 long tons (13,770 t) (normal)
14,500 long tons (14,700 t) (deep load)
Length: 505 ft 4 in (154.0 m)
Beam: 73 ft 6 in (22.4 m)
Draught: 27 ft 6 in (8.4 m) (maximum)
Installed power: 23,650 ihp (17,640 kW)
Propulsion: 2 shafts, 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines.
19 Yarrow water-tube boilers and 6 cylindrical boilers
Speed: 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range: 7,960 nmi (14,740 km; 9,160 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 712
Armament: 6 x 1 - BL 9.2-inch (234 mm) Mk X guns
4 x 1 - BL 7.5-inch (191 mm) Mk II or Mk V guns
26 x 1 - Vickers QF 3-pounder guns
3 x 1 - submerged 18 in (460 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour: Belt: 3–6 in (76–150 mm)
Decks: 0.75–1.5 in (19–38 mm)
Barbettes: 3–6 in (76–150 mm)
Turrets: 4.5–7.5 in (110–190 mm)
Conning tower: 10 in (250 mm)
Bulkheads: 2–6 in (51–150 mm)
Delandre label
Source: Wikipedia
Peter Crichton
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