Post by Administrator on Nov 21, 2020 9:53:07 GMT
Today we remember the loss of the Britannic, Sister ship of the Titanic, which went down on the 21st November 1916 in the Eastern Mediterranean. Her first voyage was to help evacuate wounded troops from Gallipoli. With the opening of the Salonika campaign she was to complete a further three trips to evacuate troops from this theatre, bringing back over 10,000 men.
The Britannic was on her way to pick up more wounded soldiers near the Gulf of Athens, when at 8:12 a.m., a violent explosion rocked the ship. Captain Bartlett ordered the closure of the watertight doors and sent out a distress signal.Something had hit the ship on the starboard side, near the bow between the second and third cargo holds. Damage to a bulkhead meant that the first five compartments would become flooded. The timing of the explosion was fatal.Bartlett ordered the ship to be abandoned at 8.35am, just twenty three minutes after the explosion. Over the next half hour, the 600 crew and 500 medical personnel clambered into thirty-five lifeboats or swam for their lives away from the fast-sinking ship. 30 people lost their lives.
VIA: Royal British Legion - Paris France
The Britannic was on her way to pick up more wounded soldiers near the Gulf of Athens, when at 8:12 a.m., a violent explosion rocked the ship. Captain Bartlett ordered the closure of the watertight doors and sent out a distress signal.Something had hit the ship on the starboard side, near the bow between the second and third cargo holds. Damage to a bulkhead meant that the first five compartments would become flooded. The timing of the explosion was fatal.Bartlett ordered the ship to be abandoned at 8.35am, just twenty three minutes after the explosion. Over the next half hour, the 600 crew and 500 medical personnel clambered into thirty-five lifeboats or swam for their lives away from the fast-sinking ship. 30 people lost their lives.
VIA: Royal British Legion - Paris France