HMS Triumph - Battleship
Country : UK Launched : 15th January 1903
HMS Triumph. Royal naval battleship of the Swiftsure Class, HMS Triumph launched 15th January 1903. Was with the Channel Fleet until being transferred in March 1909 to the Mediterranean. In May 1912, she joined the 3rd Fleet at the Nore. In April 1913, HMS Triumph relieved HMS Tamare at Hong Kong. At the outbreak of World War One, HMS Triumph was re-commissioned using crews from various gunboats, took part in operations against the German port of Tsing Tao supported by Japanese ships. Transferred to the Mediterranean between January and February 1915 and took part in the bombardment of the Dardanelles forts. Along with her sister ship HMS Switsure, HMS Triumph were detached to a Special service squadron to bombard and destroy the Smyrna forts, with the idea to block and prevent it being used as a submarine base. Both ships were then returned to the Dardanelles to participate in the main attack on the narrows on the 18th of march. The attacks were successful but were soon called off due to the discovery of moored mines. (although it would be considered these mines being of old design it was mines like these which caused the loss of HMS Irresistible, Ocean and the French Battleship Bouvet.) While bombarding Gaba Tepe, she was torpedoed by the German u-boat U-21 and within half and hour she had capsized and sunk with the loss of 73 men. (described in Corbetts Naval Operations Vol III. Six miles away to the south-eastward was the triumph at her firing station off Gaba Tepe, still under way with her nets down, light guns manned and all watertight doors closed, and round her the Chelmer was patrolling at 15 knots. About 1225 as the destroyer was rounding the battleships bows she saw a suspicious white was five hundred yards on the Triumphs starboard beam. Instantly she made a dash for it but it was to late. The Triumph had started firing at the periscope, but in a minute a shack of extraordinary violence seemed to lift her and then for a while she was smothered for and aft in a shower of falling water and coal. the torpedo had got fairly home as if her nets had been a spiders web, When she could be seen again she had listed ten degrees. Ads she continued to heel mover the Chelmer rushed up under her stern walk, and by a fine display of seamanship was able to take off a number of men before, ten minutes after the battleship was struck she capsized. Fort nearly half an hour she remained floating bottom upwards and then, with a lurch that sent her stern high in the air, she slowly disappeared. As she went down the rescued men gave her a last cheer with cries of Goodbye, old triumph for her requiem. Happily there were many yo swell the sound of that farewell. The moment her list had become dangerous the retreat had been sounded and the men had quickly dropped down from the nets and booms. Thus thanks to the prompt action of the Chelmer and the other craft which hurried to the rescue, nearly all were saved. The Chelmer and her boats along took up over 500 Officers and men, and in the end only three officers and seventy men were lost. Armament: four 10 inch guns in pairs, fourteen 7.5 inch guns in singles, fourteen 14 pdr guns, two 2 pdr guns, four maxims and two torpedo tubes. Displacement: 11,800. Complement: 700. Speed: 20 knots.
Sunk 25th May 1915.
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