HMS Bulwark 1914
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Marker: recorded wreck position (First World War).
Key facts
| Name | HMS Bulwark | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1914 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | First World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | pre-dreadnought battleship | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | Fire or explosion | Wikidata P828 has cause (on P793 event): explosion |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Royal Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War I | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | English Channel | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | England | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 48 km from land |
| Position | 50.4167, 0.6500 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
HMS Bulwark was one of five London-class pre-dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy at the end of the 19th century. The Londons were a sub-class of the Formidable-class pre-dreadnoughts. Completed in 1902 she was initially assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet as its flagship. The ship then served with the Channel and Home Fleets from 1907 to 1910, usually as a flagship. From 1910 to 1914, she was in reserve in the Home Fleet.
Following the start of the First World War in August 1914, Bulwark, along with the rest of the squadron, was attached to the reformed Channel Fleet to protect the British Expeditionary Force as it moved across the English Channel to France. On 26 November 1914 she was destroyed by a large internal explosion with the loss of 741 men near Sheerness; only a dozen men survived the detonation. It was probably caused by the overheating of cordite charges that had been placed adjacent to a boiler-room bulkhead. Little of the ship survived to be salvaged and her remains were designated a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. Diving on the wreck is generally forbidden.
Diving & visiting
On 29 November divers sent to find the wreck reported that the ship's port bow as far aft as the sick bay had been blown off by the explosion and lay 50 ft (15 m) east of the mooring. The starboard bow lay 30 ft (9 m) further away. The remainder of the ship had been torn apart so violently that no other large portions of the wreck could be found. One 12-inch gun was located on 28 December, a considerable distance away from her mooring, and later recovered.
The wreck is marked by the "East Bulwark" and "West Bulwark" buoys. It was designated as a controlled site in 2008 due to it being military remains and cannot be dived upon except with permission from the Ministry of Defence.
A memorial to those lost on Bulwark and the minelayer Princess Irene (also lost in an accidental explosion) was erected at the Dockyard Church, Sheerness, in 1921. It was dedicated by Archdeacon Charles Ingles, the Chaplain of the Fleet, and unveiled by Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas, Commander-in-Chief, The Nore. Victims of both ships are also commemorated on the Naval War Memorial at Southsea. Another memorial was placed in Woodlands Road Cemetery, Gillingham, Kent, as part of the Naval Burial Ground.
Location
- Recorded position: 50.4167, 0.6500 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: English Channel
- Nearest coast: England
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article HMS Bulwark (1899) (revision 1374726122), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Wreck site”, “Memorials”; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
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Other wrecks of the World War I
- HMS Aboukir 1914
- HMS Cressy 1914
- HMS Good Hope 1914
- HMS Hawke 1914
- HMS Niger 1914
- HMS Pathfinder 1914
- SM U-11 1914
- SM U-13 1914
- SMS Emden 1914
- SMS Gneisenau 1914
All 163 wrecks of the World War I →
Browse more: UK & Ireland wrecks · wrecks off England · English Channel · First World War