Naval History Forums

Hi guys! I have a question concerning the sinking a dreadnought battleship. I'll try to give a little background to the inquiry so it doesn't come across as too ridiculous (because I'm sure it will).

I am currently researching information on WWI British dreadnoughts for a novel that I'm writing; I came across these forums during my search, and felt that some members might be able to help me out. The book in and of itself, other than a short scene, has very little to do with dreadnoughts, but I would still prefer it to be as accurate as possible. At the moment, the scene involves two characters sinking the ship by setting off an explosion below the deck in the stern.

Given that the ship is much like the HMS Warspite (03) and armed as if it were commissioned in WWI, how difficult would this be to pull off? Was there anything already in (or near) the stern that could aid two men in doing something like this (torpedoes, oil, coal)? In short, if such a feat is too outrageous, I want to scrap the idea right away—but am not knowledgeable enough to know if that is really the case.

I really appreciate the help,
F.

Hi Frost. You can do the work spectacularly, setting of a charge in one of the shell rooms (bow or stern), and blow the ship like HMS Barham did in the Med, or open sea cocks (water entrances located in the bottom) and let her sink slowly.

Regards

Frost wrote:Hi guys! I have a question concerning the sinking a dreadnought battleship. I'll try to give a little background to the inquiry so it doesn't come across as too ridiculous (because I'm sure it will).

I am currently researching information on WWI British dreadnoughts for a novel that I'm writing; I came across these forums during my search, and felt that some members might be able to help me out. The book in and of itself, other than a short scene, has very little to do with dreadnoughts, but I would still prefer it to be as accurate as possible. At the moment, the scene involves two characters sinking the ship by setting off an explosion below the deck in the stern.

Given that the ship is much like the HMS Warspite (03) and armed as if it were commissioned in WWI, how difficult would this be to pull off? Was there anything already in (or near) the stern that could aid two men in doing something like this (torpedoes, oil, coal)? In short, if such a feat is too outrageous, I want to scrap the idea right away—but am not knowledgeable enough to know if that is really the case.

I really appreciate the help,
F.

..... If I were planning to sink HMS WARSPITE duriong WW1, I would make my attempt while the ship was comfortably in harbor with her various hatches and passageways open for the ease of the crew, and (b) I would seek to place an "infernal device" in a main battery magazine where 25 or so tons of famously unstable and powerful British WW1 cordite propellant would sympathetically detonate and materially assist my efforts. A main battery magazine explosion would not only sink the ship forthwith, but would render it a totally unsalvageable wreck.

Google the loss of HMS VANGUARD for additional literary inspiration.

B

Here is a link to some ships that actually did explode during the time period you are interested in:

http://www.gwpda.org/naval/thist24.htm