RNCVR Posted 6 February , 2006 Share Posted 6 February , 2006 Ady's post on HMS Glorious got me thinking about a few period photos I have of the sinking of HMS Campania on 5 Nov 1918. First off, here is the link to his post - HMS Campania was a blue ribband winning Cunard liner of 1893 whish was taken over by the Admiralty in 1914 & converted to an auxiliary aircraft carrier. She underwent two stages of conversion whish was finally completed in Apl '16. She missed Jutland as she was having engine problems repaired at that time. Her end came in the Firth of Forth when she dragged her anchor during a gale & collided with HMS Glorious & & Royal Oak (altho some accounts say she collided with HMS Revenge). I am not 100% sure exactly when the collision(s) took place but the first photo I have was taken under searchlight at nite & shows her settling by the stern. Her flight deck is just visible forward of the 2 fore funnels. Phot is very dark & rippled hopefully will come out reasonably visible...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 6 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 6 February , 2006 I should have mentioned in my previous post that all of the crew of Campania were saved prior to her sinking. here is another taken early in the morning : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 6 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 6 February , 2006 & finally as she is just about to dip below the waves - the 3 birds above her seem to be "bidding her farewell"..... I dont know the ID of the B/S in the background but there appears to be a lot of the ship's company manning the side to view the final moments of HMS Campania, Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Roberts Posted 6 February , 2006 Share Posted 6 February , 2006 I dont know the ID of the B/S in the background I'm pretty sure its an "R" class battleship, presumably one of those Campania collided with i.e. Royal Oak or Revenge. the first photo I have was taken under searchlight at nite The searchlight appears to be coming from the sky....but I suppose its a matter of perspective; the photographer was standing on the main deck of a ship and the searchlight was actually from the mast or upper superstructure ie over the photographer's head. Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horace Bachelor Posted 6 February , 2006 Share Posted 6 February , 2006 Bryan, The battleship is a Royal Sovereign class, which one I couldn't say. Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horace Bachelor Posted 6 February , 2006 Share Posted 6 February , 2006 Sorry Adrian, I was perusing a couple of books trying to identify the battleship and didn't see your post. Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historydavid Posted 7 February , 2006 Share Posted 7 February , 2006 quote "She underwent two stages of conversion whish was finally completed in Apl '16. She missed Jutland as she was having engine problems repaired at that time." The latter statement is incorrect. The Campania was at Scapa Flow, stationed 5 miles from the main fleet anchorage, having been at sea earlier that day. She received the the general signals to the fleet regarding leaving harbour, but somehow didn't receive the signal to leave harbour, or see the rest of the fleet leave. The absence of the fleet was finally noticed at 23.45 and her captain decided to try to catch up. When Jellicoe was informed he ordered Campania to return, fearing she would fall prey to a submarine as she was unescorted. This meant that the main fleet lost its potential for aerial reconnaissance (in view of the sea conditions met later, this didn't really matter). Best wishes David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horace Bachelor Posted 7 February , 2006 Share Posted 7 February , 2006 David, You're right about Campania and the breakdown in communications causing her to miss sailing with the fleet. Didn't Engadine play a role when one of her seaplanes spotted elements of the High Seas Fleet? I believe there were once again communication problems and the information never reached Jellicoe. Jutland appears to have been plagued by communication errors from start to finish. Rich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
historydavid Posted 8 February , 2006 Share Posted 8 February , 2006 Rich, You are quite correct. Engadine was with the battlecruiser fleet (Beatty). She was ordered to launch one of her seaplanes at 14.47, which sighted the enemy ships at about 15.18. A petrol pipe broke and the plane had to land on the water, make repairs and radio Engadine about the sighting. However, Engadine was unable to contact the Lion so Beatty was never made aware of the sighting. So he had to continue to rely on reports from his cruisers. Communications in general were undoubtably a major problem at Jutland. Just two examples. Reports that were made were often incomplete (eg. "Enemy in sight" without a location). An order by flags to turn the battlecruiser fleet was not seen by Admiral Evan-Thomas, and not passed on by searchlight from Tiger, which meant that his squadron became detached, causing him to come under fire from the main German fleet. There were many more instances of either failure to report or giving incorrect or incomplete information. Overall, a good old British cock-up. Best wishes David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 9 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 9 February , 2006 Thanks mates for the responses. I also seem to recall reading that Campania indeed did miss the battle of Jutland for the reasons David has mentioned. Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted 13 February , 2006 Share Posted 13 February , 2006 Hi Two more photographs you might be intereted in?: This photograph follow the second one shown on this thread. Regards Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted 13 February , 2006 Share Posted 13 February , 2006 Hi Missing photograph [1] Regards Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted 13 February , 2006 Share Posted 13 February , 2006 Hi, Missing photograph [2] Regards Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 16 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 16 February , 2006 Thanks very much for posting these photos Arthur! They appear to be of the same sequence as those I posted. Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 They appear to be of the same sequence as those I posted. Bryan Hi Bryan, I have five photographs in all, three of them are the same as the photgraphs that you posted. Plus the two that I have added. I got my photographs with some other bits and pieces when I bought a second-hand book. Regards Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted 16 February , 2006 Share Posted 16 February , 2006 They appear to be of the same sequence as those I posted. Bryan Hi Bryan, I have five photographs in all, three of them are the same as the photgraphs that you posted. Plus the two that I have added. I got my photographs with some other bits and pieces when I bought a second-hand book. Regards Arthur Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RNCVR Posted 16 February , 2006 Author Share Posted 16 February , 2006 Thanks Arthur - have sent you my email address, Bryan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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