aim Posted 17 February Share Posted 17 February I'm sure I have read in the past that the explosion which led to the sinking of HMS King Edward VII was officially caused by a loose mine which had floated away from a minefield (Scapa? Belfast area? Clyde area?), although there were persistent rumours that it was a torpedo (but the government didn't want people to think a U-boot had escaped from the North Sea in case there was panic in the streets). However, I now see that Bilham, 2024, and Wikipedia, 2024, both say that the explosion was caused by a mine laid by SMS Mowe, without saying where they got the information from. Any ideas? aim REFERENCES Bilham, C. 2024, Lost battleships. 9: HMS King Edward VII. Medal News 62(2):28-29. Wikipedia, 2024.SMS Mowe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Mowe P.S. How do I put an o+umlaut in Mowe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 17 February Share Posted 17 February You’ll find a more detailed account of the sinking here… https://archive.org/details/britishbattleshi0000burt/page/246/mode/1up?q=Edward+VII MB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Lowrey Posted 17 February Share Posted 17 February That Möwe’s mines accounted for King Edward VII is old news. The German official history Der Krieg zur See 1914-1918: Der Krieg in der Nordsee, volume 5, published in 1925 clearly attributes the loss of King Edward VII to Möwe’s mines. It includes a map showing where Möwe laid her mines in the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Treasurer Posted 18 February Share Posted 18 February 9 hours ago, KizmeRD said: You’ll find a more detailed account of the sinking here… https://archive.org/details/britishbattleshi0000burt/page/246/mode/1up?q=Edward+VII Burt gives a good account of the incident, but unusually is wrong about how long it took to identify mine as the reason for loss. Although initially reported as a torpedo hit, Jellicoe was suspicious from the start and had the Admiralty immediately declare the area dangerous until further notice. A steamer hit a mine two days later. The following day the Admiralty announced that KEVII had hit a mine and sunk, without giving the location and against Jellicoe's wishes. Sweeping began as soon as the weather permitted. Full details are in the Naval Staff Monograph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aim Posted 27 February Author Share Posted 27 February Dear Kizme, Michael and The, Many thanks for your replies (above). I decided to buy the book - I was amazed by how many publishers, dates of publication, prices, book covers and even book shapes there were! I eventually bought the paperback version published in 2022 by Seaforth Publishing - I hope this meets with your approval. The book eventually came in the post last Saturday but I wasn't able to thank you all immediately - sorry. The book confirms that the King Edward VII hit a mine laid by the Möwe while heading for Belfast. She tried to continue on her way but couldn't make it. Thanks again, aim P.S. I copied the word Möwe from above. How do I get an umlaut without copying it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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