HMS Black Prince

1916

Jutland, the night engagement, all hands Location: North Sea, off Jutland, Denmark · Coordinates: 56.75°N 5.83°E · Casualties: 857 · Survivors: 0 · Depth: 55 m · Cause: naval gunfire — Separated from the 1st Cruiser Squadron in poor visibility during the night phase of the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. At around 00:10 on 1 June she found herself less than a thousand metres from the German battle line. Destroyed by combined fire from SMS Thüringen, Ostfriesland, Nassau, and Friedrich der Grosse. · Fate: war grave · protected · Type: armoured cruiser · Tonnage: 13,550 tons · Crew: 857 · Flag: United Kingdom · Launched: 1904 Royal Navy armoured cruiser, separated from the 1st Cruiser Squadron during the night phase of the Battle of Jutland. At 00:10 on 1 June 1916 she blundered into the German battle line at point-blank range. Destroyed in fifteen minutes by combined fire from four German dreadnoughts; no survivors of her crew of 857. The worst-ever Royal Navy loss with no survivors; only HMS Hood the following war would exceed the toll in any single engagement. The Vessel HMS Black Prince was a British armoured cruiser of the Royal Navy's Duke of Edinburgh class, built at the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company between 1903 and 1906 and commissioned on 17 March 1906. She was 154 metres long, 12,595 tons displacement, and armed with six 9.2-inch primary guns in single-gun turrets (one on the forward centreline, one aft, and four in wing positions), ten 6-inch secondary guns in casemate positions, and three 18-inch torpedo tubes. Her armour protection included a 152-millimetre main belt of Krupp cemented armour, 190-millimetre turret face armour, and 38-millimetre deck armour. She was, at her commissioning in 1906, among the more powerful armoured cruisers in the Royal Navy. Her design represented the final generation of British armoured cruisers before the 1906-1907 transition to the battlecruiser concept (the subsequent HMS Invincible of 1908 represented this transition). The specific tactical role of the Duke of Edinburgh class was as heavy scouting and raiding forces: ships that could overwhelm enemy light cruisers and survive engagement with moderate enemy capital ships, operating independently of the main battle-fleet. By May 1916, Black Prince had been assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the British Grand Fleet under Rear Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, based at Cromarty on the Scottish coast. Her specific operational role was reconnaissance and screening for the Grand Fleet's capital-ship formations. Her complement was approximat The Disaster During the night of 31 May to 1 June 1916, the battle's tactical situation became progressively more confused. The German High Seas Fleet had begun its withdrawal from the main engagement area, retreating southeast towards the safety of the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven. The British Grand Fleet was pursuing, but the pursuit was complicated by restricted visibility (night, with occasional fog banks), by the confused battle situation, and by the limited night-signalling capabilities of 1916 naval communications. At approximately 00:15 on 1 June 1916, HMS Black Prince, apparently navigating independently in the night, blundered into the retreating German High Seas Fleet at close range. Her specific position was approximately 25 kilometres east of the point of the main-fleet engagement; her course was approximately south-southwest; she was approximately 1,500 metres from the German battleship SMS Thüringen. Thüringen identified Black Prince as a British ship within seconds of the encounter and opened fire at approximately 00:16 on 1 June 1916. The German battleship's primary armament was twelve 30.5-centimetre guns; her fire was accurate and sustained. Black Prince's response was insufficient: her own 9.2-inch guns could not effectively engage a battleship at such close range, and her armour was inadequate to protect against 30.5-centimetre shells. The engagement lasted approximately 10 minutes. Black Prince was progressively destroyed by approximately 15 heavy-shell hits fr