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HMS Formidable (1898) sinks....
HMS Formidable (1898) sinks....
Item # 584119
January 02, 1915
SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN, Springfield, Massachusetts, January 2, 1915
* HMS Formidable (1898)
* Torpedo attack & sinking
* World War I - WWI
This 18 page newspaper has one column headlines on the front page that include: "FORMIDABLE", "Goes to Bottom", "IN THE CHANNEL", "600 Of The Crew Perish" and more with photo of the HMS Formidable (1898). 1st report coverage of the attack and sinking of this British battleship.
Other news of the day. Light browning with some margin wear and tear, small address label, otherwise good. Should be handled with care.
wikipedia notes: Under the command of Channel Fleet Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, the 5th Battle Squadron spent 31 December participating in gunnery exercises off the Isle of Portland, supported by the light cruisers Topaze and Diamond. After the exercises, that night the fleet remained at sea on patrol even though submarine activity had been reported in the area. With rough sea conditions and the wind increasing, submarine attacks would have been difficult to carry out effectively and so were not thought to be a significant threat. Formidable was steaming at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) at the rear of the squadron off Portland Bill just 20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km) from Start Point, when at 02:20 on 1 January 1915 a torpedo from U-24 struck the number one boiler port side. It was thought that she might be saved by reaching the coast, but by about 02:40 she had taken a list of 20° to starboard and her commanding officer — Captain Noel Loxley — gave the order to abandon ship. Darkness and worsening weather made it difficult to get the men and boats over the side; some small boats being thrown into the water upside down.
At about 03:05, Formidable was struck by a second torpedo on the starboard side. Amidst a 30 ft (9.1 m) swell the pinnaces and launch along with other boats (one of which capsized soon after) were launched, and the two light cruisers came alongside and managed to pick up 80 men in the deteriorating weather. By 04:45, she seemed in imminent danger of capsizing, and a few minutes later she rolled over onto many of the men in the water and sank quickly. Captain Loxley remained on the bridge along with his Fox terrier Bruce, calmly overseeing the evacuation of the ship.
In rough seas near Berry Head, a Brixham fishing trawler — Provident, under the command of Captain W. Piller — picked up the men from one pinnace before it sank, saving 71 members of the crew. The second pinnace took off another 70 men, of which 48 were brought ashore alive after it was eventually spotted from the shore the following night, 22 hours after the sinking. The total loss of life of Formidable was 35 officers (including Captain Loxley) and 512 men out of a total complement of 780. The body of Captain Loxley's dog, Bruce, a war dog, washed ashore and was buried in a marked grave in Abbotsbury Gardens in Dorset.
Formidable was the third British battleship to be sunk, and the second to be sunk by enemy action, during the First World War.
Category: The 20th Century
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