HMS Natal (1905)

HMS "Natal" was a "Duke of Edinburgh" class armoured cruiser. She was built by Vickers Maxim of Barrow and launched on 30 September 1905. She was sunk by an internal explosion near Cromarty on 30 December 1915.

Career

"Natal" was built at Barrow by Vickers Maxim. She was launched on the 30th September 1905, and finally completed on the 5th March 1907. Her name was assigned supposedly because the funds required to build her in 1905 came largely or completely from the inhabitants of Natal Province in gratitude for the protection being provided by the Royal Navy. [ [http://www.navynews.co.uk/letters/2005/0511/051109_01.asp Navy News] ] Like her sister ships she joined the 5th Cruiser Squadron in 1907, and was later transferred to the 2nd cruiser Squadron in 1909. She escorted the Royal Yacht "Medina" from 1911 to 1912. She also had the duty of carrying the body of the US Ambassador to Great Britain, Whitelaw Reid, back to New York. For part of her career, she was commanded by William Reginald Hall. At the outbreak of war she joined the Grand Fleet and in January 1915 was refitted at Cromarty.

inking

On the 30th December 1915 "Natal" was lying in the Cromarty Firth with her squadron, under the command of Captain Eric Back RN. Shortly after 3.20pm, and without warning, a series of violent explosions tore through the ship. She capsized five minutes later. The most probable explanation was that a fire had broken out, possibly due to faulty cordite, that ignited a magazine. [ [http://www.scotsatwar.org.uk/AZ/hmsnatal.htm Scots at War -HMS Natal] ] The exact number of casualties is still debated, and ranges from 390, up to 421. Some were killed in the immediate explosions, others drowned as the ship capsized, or succumbed to the freezing water of the Cromarty Firth. Most of the bodies which were recovered from the sea were interred in Rosskeen Churchyard, Invergordon. A small number of casualties were interred in the Gaelic Chapel graveyard in Cromarty.

There was a huge amount of speculation about the loss of the "Natal". A mine laying U-boat was thought to be the cause but an underwater inspection revealed massive damage from an internal explosion. Sabotage by German agents was suspected but never proved.

With her hull still visible at low water, it was Royal Navy practice on entering and leaving Cromarty right up to the Second World War for every warship to sound “Still”, and for officers and men to come to attention as they passed the wreck.

Legacy

After numerous failed salvage attempts much of the ship’s interior was removed, and the wreck was stripped of armament and steel. The remainder was blown up in the 1970s to level the wreck to prevent it from being a hazard to navigation for the expanding oil industry. The skeleton of the "Natal" still lies visible in the Cromarty Firth marked by a radar buoy, and is now a government protected site. The destruction of HMS "Vanguard" in Scapa Flow on 9th July 1917 in similar circumstances was linked to the loss of the "Natal" but the cause of the sinking of the "Natal" has never been completely determined.

Contemporary papers about HMS "Natal", including the minutes of the court martial are in the British National Archives at Kew.

A memorial to the ship was erected in Durban in 1927, and there is a memorial plaque to Captain E. Back RN in the Officers’ Mess in HMS "Excellent", Whale Island, Portsmouth. There is also a memorial plaque in Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral. The wreck itself is now designated as a controlled site [ [http://www.operations.mod.uk/onthisday/newsItem_id=1111.htm MOD site] ] cite web |title=The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2008 | work=Office of Public Sector Information | url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080950_en_1 | accessdate=2008-07-21] under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. A garden called Natal Gardens has been created at Invergordon which contains a commemorative plaque remembering HMS "Natal".

References

*Colledge

Further reading

*A. Cecil Hampshire, "They Called it Accident", William Kimber, London, 1961

External links

* [http://www.black-isle.info/cromarty/imagelibrary/ Cromarty Image Library] - Photographs of the cruiser
* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=482243&CATLN=6&Highlight=&FullDetails=True Basic court-martial file information at the National Archives]