LOSS OF THE HAMPSHIRE

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 146, 18 December 1933, Page 9

LOSS OF THE HAMPSHIRE

STORIES OF SALVAGE

LORD KITCHENER ON BOARD

Tho cabled messages describing salvage work on the sunken' cruiser Hampshire, in which Lord Kitchener lost his life during the AVorld War, follows strange stories of operations on the wreck which were circulating in the middle of this year. Last June the New York "HeraldTribune" reported that a "master locksmith" who had left the United States some months previously had now returned to the country with his side bandaged and a broken wrist, and that he was accompanied by a trained nurse. The man's story was that a secret salvage company had decided, to loot the sunken Hampshire. Hejiad joined the company at Kiel, Germany, and was taken to the site of the wreck, which had been discovered, after four years of intensive search, sixty-five fathoms below tho surface, After mud-suckers had been used to clear the wreck, its starboard side was blown open, and divers descended. The strongroom boxes, safes, and navigation room were discovered, and papers from the latter established the vessel's identity. . Then earne the task of tho "master locksmith," who had to wrestle with tho locks of the safes. In an aluminium diving-suit he went down and brough up £,15,000 in gold in a chest. Then he returned to tackle the safes a"s well. It was his idea that the locks could be forced with a drill. AVith two other divers, the man said, ho: descended, but they were flung against the side of the Hampshire and held there by a violent undertow. For forty minutes the three men, wrestled with the current, fighting to get out of its grip. At • last the -salvage crew hauled them to the surface in a state of complete collapse. The "master locksmith's" wrist, according to the story, was broken, his ribs were injured, and his hair' had turned white. The three men were taken to a hospital in Konigsberg. When back in New York the "master locksmith" declared that the secret salvage company wished to sell its information to the British Government because they believed that important State documents were in the safes of the Hampshire. An official of the British Admiralty, to whom the story was referred, said that the authorities had no knowledge of attempted salvage of the Hampshire. There Aras no contract with any firm for the salvage of the cruiser, and without a contract the work would be illicit, and could not fail to come under official observation. An authority pointed out that, although the Hampshire had not been officially located, it would be impossible for any one to carry out such operations as mud-sucking and blowing out the side of the vessel without being noticed. Salvage work of the kind described was very costly, and could only be undertaken by a large firm. HOW THE SHIP WAS LOST. The Hampshire, a cruiser of the Devonshire class, of 10,850 tons, and carrying four 7.5 in and .six 6in guns, was sunk on June 5, 1916, to the west .of the Orkneys, and of the ship's complement of 650 only one petty officer and eleven men survived. Tho vessel had been chosen by Lord Jellicoe, the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, "to take a party-from Scapa Flow to Archangel." The party consisted of Lord \Kitchcncr and his staff, and the visit was to be made as the result of a decision by the great sol•dier, who felt that it would be of advantage if he went to Russia and discussed the question of munitions and the Russian army's campaign. Definite arrangements for the visit were made at the end of May, when the composition of the party and tho date of its arrival in Archangel was telegraphed to the British mission iv St. Petersburg. The chosen cruiser was only eleven years old, had done efficient service up to the time of her loss, and had been one of the ships detailed to hunt for the German raider Emden, circumstances of interest because of the subsequent charge that she was not suitable for , the w6rk of conveying Kitchener to Russia. The secret of Kitchener's mission was closely guarded at the Admiralty, and only four or five persons who were actually concerned with ihe arrangements knew what was in hand. The secret was also carefully preserved in the Navy, and apart from a few officers, the men of the ships at Scapa Flow knew nothing of the Hampshire's destination. To the crew of tlie Hampshire the presence of Lord Kitchener on board came as a. com-

plete surprise. Thus there seems to have been no foundation for the later suggestions that Kitchener's mission was revealed to the enemy. . CHANGED PLANS. The real cause of the disaster to the Hampshire was a whole combination of circumstances. The secret sailing orders given the Hampshire's captain on June 4 directed him to proceed by a route to the east of the Orkneys and stated that, weather permitting, two destroyers wero, to screen her as far as latitude 62deg north. Bust the route by which the cruiser was to proceed was further considered by the Com-mander-in-Chief and his staff on the •lay of her departure. On that morning a strong north-easterly gale was blowing', and it seemed certain that a neavy sea would be encountered on the cast of tho islands and would provent the escorting destroyers from keeping up with the Hampshire at tho 18 knots which she was directed to maintain.. The waters in the vicinity of the eastern exits were frequently visited by enemy submarines. One had appeared there less than a week before and had fired a torpedo at a mine-sweeper. There were two other routes to be considered, and it was at first thought that the cruiser would bo dispatched through Pentland Firth to tho west as far as Cape Wrath, a route which was then being swept by minesweepers, but a message that a submarine had been sighted in these waters led to the determination that the vessel should go by the west of the Orkneys. - The departure might have been delayed, but to this, Lord Jellicoe maintained, Kitchener would never have agreed. Thus the Hampshire slipped her buoy at 4.45 p.m. on June 5- and nn hour later picked up the destroyers, the Arictor ami the Unity, which hud left ahead of her and searched the waters through which she had to pass. Soon after 6 p.m. the A rictor signalled to the Unity that she was able-to make a, speed of only 16 knots. The Hampshire apparently determined to proceed with the 'Unity alone and signalled to the Victor to return to. her base. AVhilo the messages were passing, however; the-Unity signalled her inability to make more than 12 knots. As neither destroyer was able _to keep np with the cruiser at even 15 knots, both were finally sent back. THE EXPLOSION. The position of the cruiser was now dangerous. She was proceeding through unswept waters without an escort at a reduced speed of 13J knots. At about S o'clock, according to tho evidence of the survivors, there was a rumbling explosion under the forward half of the ship. She at once began to settle down. One survivor who was on the bridge declared that the explosion seemed to "tear her heart out." She was unable to steer, the eleetrie power failed, all lights went out, and no wireless communication was possible. All the evidence, however, showed that discipline was finely maintained. Orders were giyen to abandon ship, and the men went to stations without a sign of panic and made every effort to launch the boats by hand. One survivor said that he saw the captain's galley slung on the third cutter's davits and heard tha captain calling for Lord Kitchener to get. into the boat, but did not see Kitchener come. There was a difference of opinion as to whether or not. this boat was lowered, but the survivors /were unanimous that no boats got away. Kitchener went up to the quarter deck and was not seen again. When tho f oro part of the "ship was submerged some floats wero pushed into the water, and on these the only survivors escaped. Every float was filled up to or beyond the limit of safety, and one capsized twice, the complement of all rapidly being reduced. One' other man was taken off the floats, . but died while being carried to safety. Later writers have taken the view that the mine which sunk the Hampshire had been laid off the western entrance of Scapa Flow to hinder the entrance of the Grand Fleet. Tho Germans, in point of fact, had made a, mistake in position when laying the mines, the western route not being usually taken by big ships, and had also set them too deep. The mines wore therefore innocuous even to a heavy draught ship except at low water, but the Hampshire, hugging the shore in slack water (which existed here for a very short period) struck one of these mines. She went down in about ten minutes. The death of Kitchener was felt to be a national calamity, and the Queen Mother at once placed herself at the head of a movement to obtain a per- j manent memorial, an appeal which resulted in the collection of the astonishing sum of £700,000. From these funds,! on December 10, 1925, a memorial chapter in St. Paul's Cathedral was dedicated to Lord Kitchener and to' all who fell during the Great War. ' I