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[Beagle1831]

I took this snapshot of the 1937 Fleet Review map which is on display on HMY Britannia.


Many of these ships would be sunk within a couple of years!


'Pub Quiz' question - which of the ships were sunk, when and what happened? 

[raflaunches]

I’ll go for an easy one


Glowworm- rammed the German cruiser Hipper 8th April 1940. A rare occasion where the C/O of an enemy ship recommended the VC for the brave actions of the captain of the Glowworm.

[Colin Bishop]

Cruiser Curacoa was rammed and sunk by the liner Queen Mary in WW2

A sobering account here:

https://www.commsmuseum.co.uk/publications/rmsqueenmary.pdf

Colin

[Colin Bishop]

On the map, Courageous, Glorious, Repulse, Hood Iron Duke and Barham were all moored in line. All were sunk in WW2 although Iron Duke remained aground in Scapa Flow as an anti aircraft platform.

Colin

[raflaunches]

Coventry


An anti-aircraft cruiser conversion. Sunk by HMS Zulu on 14th September 1942 after severe damage suffered by dive bombers in the eastern Mediterranean. She was a radar picket and was easily identified by the large rectangular box behind the bridge. Coventry was credited as being the highest scoring RN cruiser to shoot down aircraft but her radar was primitive in comparison to today. The Ju88 pilots decided to engage the Coventry differently and instead of engaging singularly they formed a swarm and attacked en mass. Coventry’s radar overloaded and the gunnery crews resorted to single gun control. She was hit many times with one bomb passing through the forward director, the bridge, through the radar room and exploded in the boiler room. The effect was so devastating that the cruiser’s back broke.
Her next name sake, the Type 42 destroyer was also sunk in a similar method and she was also credited with downing the most amount of enemy aircraft during the Falklands.

[Colin Bishop]

I think that is a wonderful example of the continuing service of RN ships Nick. Tradition carries a lot of weight as do Battle Honours.

Colin

[Beagle1831]

I didn't know that Iron Duke was grounded!


Some notes on the others
HMS Courageous - 17th September 1939, torpedoed by U-29, Western Approaches

HMS Glorious - 8th June 1940, sunk by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Norwegian Sea

HMS Hood - 24th May 1941, sunk by gunfire from Bismarck at Denmark Strait

HMS Barham - 25 November 1941, torpedoed by U-331, Mediterranean

HMS Repulse - 10th December 1941, sunk by Japanese aircraft in South China Sea

[raflaunches]

A non Royal Navy vessel I’ve just spotted:


Admiral Graf Spee


Scuttled after the spectacular cruiser chase by Ajax, Achilles, and Exeter on 17th December 1939

[Beagle1831]

What about the other non RN ones? 

[raflaunches]

IJN Asigara
Sunk by HMS Trenchart 8th June 1945


HNLMS Java
Sunk during the battle of the Java sea on 27th Feb 1942


Now the question has to be considering how many of these ships were sunk/scuttled from this Fleet Review has there ever been a more disastrous group of ships in another review?

[Beagle1831]

Yes when I looked them up it was a bit depressing!!
7 of the G class destroyers I think


Would the list of surviving ships be easier to do?


I'm trying to work out if any ship sunk another one?


Also I just found one that still survives today 

[raflaunches]

Yes at least there is one survivor, the Greek cruiser Georgios Averof.


I can’t see any obvious candidates in this fleet review for ships that sank each other or the other.
I think this has got to be one of the ‘most sunken vessels’ review in history!

[tonyH]

Heroic little Royal Daffodil, survived the Zebrugge raid in WW1 and finally scrapped in 1938

[Beagle1831]

Interesting! I had not even started on the smaller ships.

This is my list so far

HMS Courageous - 17th September 1939, torpedoed by U-29, Western Approaches
HMS Hood - 24th May 1941, sunk by gunfire from Bismarck at Denmark Strait
HMS Barham - 25 November 1941, torpedoed by U-331, Mediterranean
HMS Repulse - 10th December 1941, sunk by Japanese aircraft in South China Sea
HMS Glorious - 8th June 1940, sunk by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, Norwegian Sea
HMS Glowworm - 8th April 1940, sunk by gunfire and ramming Admiral Hipper (VC action), Norwegian Sea
HMS Grenville - 19th January 1940, sunk by mine, Thames Estuary
HMS Curacao - 2nd October 1942, collided with RMS Queen Mary and sank, north of Ireland
HMS Coventry - 14th September 1942, heavily damaged by German bombers and scuttled, Mediterranean
HMS Curlew - 26th May 1940, sunk by German bombers, near Narvik
HMS Dunedin - 24th November 1941, torpedoed by U-124, off coast of Brazil
HMS Crusader - transferred to Canada as HMCS Ottawa, sunk 14th September 1942 by U-91 off Newfoundland

Some of the international ships:
Hr.Ms. Java - 27th February 1942, sunk by long lance torpedo from Japanese cruiser Nachi, Java Sea
Marat - 23rd September 1941, sunk by German aircraft at mooring, Kronstadt
Admiral Graf Spee - 17th December 1939, scuttled off Montevideo following the Battle of the River Plate
Ashigara - 8th June 1945, torpedoed by HMS Trenchant, Bangka Strait
Dunkerque - 27th November 1942, scuttled to prevent German forces taking control of the ship at Toulon

[Baldrick]

I don't think the Dunkerque ever quite recovered from being bodgered by the British at Mers-el-Kebir in 1940