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HMS Hampshire (1903)
Encyclopedia
HMS Hampshire was a Devonshire-class
Devonshire class cruiser (1903)
The Devonshire class was a class of six armoured cruisers of the British Royal Navy, launched in 1903–1904 at a cost of around £850,000 each....
armoured cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
of the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. She was built by Armstrong Whitworth
Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. Headquartered in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth engaged in the construction of armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles, and aircraft.-History:In 1847,...
, Elswick, Tyne and Wear
Elswick, Tyne and Wear
Elswick is a ward of the city of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in the western part of the city, bordering the river Tyne. One of the earliest references to the coal mining industry of the north east occurs in 1330, when it was recorded that the Prior of Tynemouth let a colliery, called Heygrove, at...
and commissioned in 1905 at a cost of £833,817.
Hampshire saw service during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and was present at the battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
in mid-1916. Several days later she was sailing to Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, carrying Field Marshal Lord Kitchener
Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
, when she is believed to have struck a mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
laid by a German submarine. She sank with heavy loss of life, including Kitchener and his staff. Rumours later circulated of German spies and sabotage being involved in the sinking. Her wreck is listed under the Protection of Military Remains Act, though part was later illegally salvaged. A number of films were made exploring the circumstances of her loss.
Career
Hampshire was initially assigned to the Channel FleetChannel Fleet
The Channel Fleet was the Royal Navy formation of warships that defended the waters of the English Channel from 1690 to 1909.-History:The Channel Fleet dates back at least to 1690 when its role was to defend England against the French threat under the leadership of Edward Russell, 1st Earl of...
after her commissioning in 1905. She spent 1911 in the Mediterranean, and was on the China Station
China Station
The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....
between 1912 and 1914. She joined the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
to carry out patrol duties in 1915, and fought at the battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
on 31 May 1916.
Last voyage and sinking
Immediately after the battle, she was directed to carry Lord KitchenerHerbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG, KP, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, ADC, PC , was an Irish-born British Field Marshal and proconsul who won fame for his imperial campaigns and later played a central role in the early part of the First World War, although he died halfway...
from Scapa Flow on a diplomatic mission to Russia via the port of Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
. Due to the gale force conditions, it was decided that Hampshire would sail through the Pentland Firth
Pentland Firth
The Pentland Firth , which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.-Etymology:...
, then turn north along the western coast of the Orkney Islands. This course would provide a lee from the strong winds, allowing escorting destroyers to keep pace with her.
Hampshire departed Scapa Flow at 16:45 and about an hour later rendezvoused with her two escorts, the Acasta class
Acasta class destroyer
The Acasta class was a class of twenty destroyers built for the Royal Navy under the Naval Programme of 1911 - 1912 that saw service during World War I...
destroyers HMS Unity and Victor. As the ships turned to the northwest the gale increased and shifted direction so that the ships were facing it head on. This caused the destroyers to fall behind Hampshire. As it was considered unlikely that enemy submarines would be active in such conditions, Captain Savill of the Hampshire ordered Unity and Victor to return to Scapa Flow.
Sailing alone in heavy seas, Hampshire was approximately 1.5 mi (2.4 km) off mainland of Orkney between Brough of Birsay
Brough of Birsay
- Lighthouse :An unmanned lighthouse on the Brough was built in 1925 by David A Stevenson.-References:...
and Marwick Head at 19:40 when an explosion occurred and she heeled to starboard. The detonation had holed the cruiser between bows and bridge, and the lifeboats were smashed against the side of the ship by the heavy seas when they were lowered. About 15 minutes after the explosion, Hampshire sank by the bows. Of the over 600 personnel aboard, only 12 men on two Carley float
Carley float
The Carley float was a form of invertible liferaft designed by American inventor Horace Carley . Supplied mainly to warships, it saw widespread use in a number of navies during peacetime and both World Wars until superseded by more modern rigid or inflatable designs...
s managed to reach the shore; Kitchener and his staff were lost.
Cause of sinking
It is believed that Hampshire struck one of several mines laid by the German minelaying submarine U-75SM U-75
SM U-75 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-75 was engaged in naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic....
on 28 May 1916, just before the Battle of Jutland, in an effort to block one of Scapa Flow's exits.
Fritz Joubert Duquesne, a Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
and German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
spy, claimed to have sabotaged and sunk Hampshire. Duquesne claimed to have assumed the identity of Russian Duke Boris Zakrevsky and joined Kitchener in Scotland. En route to Russia, Duquesne signalled a German U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
to alert them that Kitchener’s ship was approaching. He then escaped on a raft just before Hampshire was destroyed. In the 1930s and 40s, he ran the famous Duquesne Spy Ring
Duquesne Spy Ring
The Duquesne Spy Ring is the largest espionage case in United States history that ended in convictions. A total of thirty-three members of a German espionage network headed by Frederick "Fritz" Joubert Duquesne were convicted after a lengthy espionage investigation by the Federal Bureau of...
and was captured by the FBI along with 32 other Nazi agents in the largest espionage conviction in U.S. history.
Location of wreck
The wreck was designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act. She lies in around 65 m (213.3 ft) of water off the north west coast of Orkney. In 1983, one propeller and part of a drive shaft were illegally salvaged. The prop was later given to LynessLyness
Lyness is a village on the east coast of the island of Hoy, Orkney.During the 1920's Lyness was briefly the headquarters of the metal salvage firm of Cox and Danks's raising of the German High Seas Fleet, scuttled by the Germans on June 21st 1919 during the Armistice.During the Second World War it...
museum, Orkney after protests.
Media
The sinking of the ship and the events surrounding Kitchener's death are portrayed in the 1969 film Fräulein DoktorFräulein Doktor
Fräulein Doktor is a First World War drama filmed in 1968 and released in 1969. It was a European co-production, starring Suzy Kendall, Kenneth More, Capucine, James Booth, Giancarlo Giannini and Nigel Green. It was produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by Alberto Lattuada, with a music...
about a female spy, and the 1921 film How Kitchener Was Betrayed
How Kitchener Was Betrayed
How Kitchener Was Betrayed is a 1921 British war film directed by Percy Nash and starring Fred Paul, Winifred Evans and Bertram Burleigh. It was a fictional portrayal of the events leading up to the death of Herbert Kitchener on HMS Hampshire during the First World War in which the German secret...
.
The sinking is also central to one of the plots of Clive Cussler
Clive Cussler
Clive Eric Cussler is an American adventure novelist and marine archaeologist. His thriller novels, many featuring the character Dirk Pitt, have reached The New York Times fiction best-seller list more than seventeen times...
's book Crescent Dawn