21 November 1916

[Chris Dohany]

To the thirty men who lost their lives 86 years ago today in the sinking of Britannic.

Babey, Robert Charles, Trimmer
Binks, Pvt. Arthur W., R.A.M.C.
Bostock, Pvt. George James, R.A.M.C.
Brown, Joseph, Fireman
Crawford, Thomas Archibald, Asst. Butcher
Cropper, Lt. John, R.A.M.C.
Dennis, Arthur, Trimmer
Earley, Frank Joseph, Leading Fireman
Freebury, Pvt. Henry, R.A.M.C.
Garland, Charles Claude Seymour, Steward
George, Leonard, Scullion
Gillespie, Pownall, 2nd Electrician
Godwin, George William, Fireman
Honeycott, George, Lookout
Jenkins, Walter, 2nd Baker
Jones, Pvt. Thomas, R.A.M.C.
King, Pvt. George William, R.A.M.C.
McDonald, Thomas Taylor, Asst. Cook
McFeat, John George, Fireman
Phillips, Charles James David, Trimmer
Philps, George Bradbury, Fireman
Rice, James Patrick, Steward
Sharpe, Sgt. William, R.A.M.C.
Sherin, George, Greaser
Smith, Pvt. Leonard, R.A.M.C.
Smith, William, Fireman
Stone, Pvt. William, R.A.M.C.
Toogood, Henry James, Steward
Tully, Thomas Francis, Steward
White, Percival William Ernest, Trimmer

 

[Mark Chirnside]

It is important for us to remember Britannic too, I agree Chris. Thanks for posting those who died in the sinking. I would also like to include those few who perished afterwards, in some cases apparently as a result of the sinking.

Gladly, Britannic will not be forgotten. Not by a few of us, anyway.

Best regards,

Mark.

 

[Brandon Whited]

I agree that the sinking of the Britannic should be remembered by us. Eighty-six years ago today Violet Jessop remembered her toothbrush as she left yet another sinking vessel...

Since we're on the subject, did anyone happen to catch that Discovery Channel documentary Inside the Britannic? It came on about a week ago. I'm not sure if it was all-new or if I just hadn't saw it before. It showed some stunning interior footage, particularly of a public lavatory.

 

[Nigel Bryant]

I thought I would post here as well. I concur with Mark, Britannic will not be forgotten. She and her crew will be remembered.

All the best,

Nigel

 

[karen ann jones]

Today is a day of rememberance for the Britannic,may she and those who lost their lives rest in peace and know that they are all remembered and loved on this day.

 

[Nicolas Roughol]

Another year passes on...
Let's not forget about her and her crew.

 

[Mark Baber]

The New York Times, 30 December 1916

BOY SURVIVOR TELLS HOW BRITANNIC SANK
---
Fifteen-Year-Old Sea Scout Here Says Crew Believed She Was Torpedoed
---
ONLY ONE KILLED BY BLAST
---
But Thirty in Lifeboats Were Killed When Huge Propellers Smashed Them
---
Further details of the sinking of the White Star steamship Britannic were
brought to New York yesterday by Henry Pope, a 15-year-old cabin boy on the
liner Lapland, who was a sea scout on the great British hospital ship when
she was torpedoed or sunk by a mine on Nov. 21 in the Aegean Sea. Young Pope
said that the officers and crew of the Britannic believed that she had been
torpedoed because the explosion, while it shook the 50,000-ton ship fore and
aft, made little noise, as if a torpedo had passed through the hull forward
and exploded in the centre of the ship, where the inrush of water had deadened the
sound.

If it had been a mine, the officers said, it would have exploded against the
side of the ship with terrific violence. Pope is an intelligent boy, small
for his years. He told his story without any flourish.

"On the morning of Nov. 23 the Britannic was steaming past the Island of Zea
toward Mudros, where we were to take about 3,000 wounded on board and convey
them to Southampton," said the lad. "There were fifty doctors and assistant
surgeons on board, 150 nurses, and 650 in the crew of the Britannic.

"I was one of seventeen sea scouts, and my duty was to look after Purser
Lancaster in his office. Others of us ran the lifts and stood by for calls.
At 8:05 five of us were in the saloon pantry when we felt a shock and the
ship shook as if she had been struck by a big sea. There was little noise.
We went on eating our breakfasts for a few minutes, and then the whistle
blew four times, and we knew that the Britannic had been torpedoed or mined.

"There wasn't any excitement, as every one knew their boat stations and went
to them without stopping to look for their kits. The sea scouts on the lifts
worked them as long they could, but the ship soon listed so much to
starboard that they had to give it up and go to the boats. The officers told
us that the explosion was forward of the No. 1 hold, which was blown away
with the "glory holes," where the stewards live, the cooks' cabins, and sea
scouts' quarters. So far as we could find out in the short time before the
Britannic was abandoned, only one man was killed by the explosion, the night
watchman, who was asleep in his bunk.

"Thirty men were killed by the smashing of three lifeboats, which got
entangled with the big propellers, and others died afterward in the hospital
at Athens. Three sick bay attendants were drowned through one of the boats
being dropped by the stern, while the bow was held up to the davit. Five
scouts were in that boat, but they hung on to the standing part of the boat
falls and were not hurt.

"Captain C. A. Bartlett, commander of the Britannic, stayed on the bridge
giving orders to the officers through his speaking trumpet as the ship was
going down under his feet, and did not leave until the water lapped over
him. Then he struck out and got to one of the lifeboats which was waiting
for him.

"Directly after the explosion our wireless operator sent out calls for help,
and the auxiliary cruiser Heroic and the destroyers Greyhound and Scourge
came at full speed to rescue us. The wounded were taken by special train to
Athens.

"I was sorry to see the big ship sink in the bright sunshine with her
starboard side almost on the bottom of the ocean. As the sea swirled into
her big funnels they broke off one after another with the heavy strain, as
if wrenched from the steel plates on the hurricane deck."

The lad's home in [sic] London. Victor Niblo, a vaudeville actor in this
country is his stepfather.

-30-

 

[Remco Hillen]

Hello Mark,

A fantastic account! Many thanks for that. It has some interesting points; most noticably:
- The opinion of some Officers, which don't have to be the WSL Officers; could also be RAMC men perhaps, about the mine/torpedo. Strange to read about how a torpedo would enter the ship and then explode.
- The account on how 3 men died when a lifeboat was dropped. Dont' think I've heard that before.

Thanks again!

Regards,
Remco

 

[Dan Cherry]

Did the Britannic's sinking make, so-called, "headlines" in any newspapers at the time? I've heard, and have seen for myself in an original paper I own, that the Britannic's loss was basically a 'footnote' in the summary of world news columns. The news item in the paper I have is scarcely one column inch of copy.

 

[Mark Baber]

It wasn't a footnote item at least as far as The New York Times was concerned, Dan; it was front page news. (It may even have been the lead article, but I didn't note what column the story was in.) "HOSPITAL SHIP BRITANNIC SUNK; 50 LIVES LOST" was the headline on 23 November 1916.

 

[Michail Michailakis]

Hi everyone,

This is taken from a short article written for the Britannic website:

"[...]Many will ask why so much attention should be given to a liner that never carried a single passenger, was largely incomplete during her short career as a hospital ship and her loss remained a footnote in maritime history for many years. The easiest answer would be the link to her famous sister ship. Without any doubt many people see the Britannic as nothing more than a copy of Titanic and this similarity attracts them to the wreck and its story. However, seeing the ship under this point of view makes us ignore the fact that she was actually one step ahead of Titanic in terms of safety, being a quite different vessel despite the similar design.

A French thinker has formed a theory that may help us understand better Britannic's importance. According to this theory every object produced by man is designed having in mind its destruction by frequent use, by exposure to nature's forces or by accident. Some examples: a car must be able to pass a crash test, a building must resist earthquakes, a ship must stay afloat in case of collision or bad weather. In all these cases, it was the study of the destroyed objects that gave the necessary knowledge for their evolution. Britannic was just that: The evolution of the "Olympic" class design as a direct result of the study of Titanic's destruction. This was possible because the Britannic could be modified, being at the initial stages of construction . On the contrary, Olympic was complete when Titanic sank, so she could not receive such extensive modifications.

We saw that the sinking of a ship may help us built better vessels in the future, however we come attracted to wrecks for another reason which is equally fascinating. It's the process of reconstructing the image of something by the observation of its remains. The people who do that are called "rivet counters" and the Britannic -being so well conserved- gives them a great opportunity to discover many details of the "Olympic" class which otherwise would remain hidden.

Concluding, we should not forget that this website is also a tribute to those who perished during the sinking while doing their duty. Their death was less glorious of the soldiers who died in combat but equally horrible. The men and women who served on the hospital ships had the most sacred mission of all: to heal the body and the psyche of the wounded soldiers, offering their medical assistance and human comfort during the long journey back to England."

Best regards,
Michail

 

[Orijit Kar]

And now another year has passed for the Britannic under the sea...87 years total

 

[Mark Draper]

The good news is Britannic is still as sunning as she was to those aboard her- the twreck is sitll in one piece and no sign of decay. I find that amazing as Titanic has been on the bottom a bit longer, but Britannic is still intact.

Hey fellas do you think Cameron will ever visit and film Britannic? He's filmed Bismarck and Titanic. Why not this wreck, whic is easier to get to? Not to mention it'd be cool to see Cameron's mini bots go into the wreck where no human can go due to the limits of diving gear.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Hey fellas do you think Cameron will ever visit and film Britannic?<<

Don't know, but I think it would be a likely target. The man is quite an experienced wreck diver and if he can't do the Britannic the justice she deserves, I don't know who could. I'm sure I'd enjoy seeing the end result if he went out there.

 

[Steve Olguin]

Could you imagine that? Hurry lets go tell him before he looses interest in shipwrecks.