Daily Event for October 27


October 27, 1914: HMS Audacious hit a mine and sunk near Lock Swilly. Audacious, one of four King George V class battleships was on gunnery practice. The British were using Lock Swilly while Scapa Flow's submarine defenses were being upgraded. The mines had been laid by the ex-liner Berlin, which had been converted into a mine layer. While performing a turn a "thud" was heard below. When the ship did not right itself after completing the turn, an order was given to close the watertight doors. The mine had struck on the port side just forward of the after engine room, and the ship took on a 10 degree list. To counter this some compartments on the starboard side were flooded. This only prolonged the inevitable. Several ships came to the aid of the stricken battleship, including the RMS Olympic (sister to the Titanic) which was now serving as a troopship. All but about 250 members of the crew were transferred to Olympic. At about 14:00 Olympic took Audacious in tow, but by now she was settling heavily by the stern and the tow line broke. Two more attempts were made by other ships to tow her back but failed. At about 20:45, Audacious capsized, soon after there was a large explosion, (probably the forward magazines) followed by 2 more explosions, Audacious sank in a little over 200 feet of water. There were only 2 fatalities in this drama.

© 2005 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com


HMS Audacious sinking.





2005 Daily Event