HMS Majestic forsvant i dypet utenfor den Tykiske kyst ved Dardanellene 27. mai 1915 etter å ha blitt torpedert av to torpedoer av den tyske ubåten U 21 under kommando av Otto Hersing. HMS Majestic deltok i bombarderingen av de tyrkiske stillingene ved Gaba Tepe, og hadde helt fra start av deltatt i operasjonene under invasjonen av Dardanellene. Av besetningen på 757 mann på HMS Majestic, omkom 40 under senkingen. Vraket av HMS Majestic hviler på en dybde av atten til tretti meters i Morto Bay nær Seddülbahir.

HMS Majestic diasappeared in the deep outside the Turkish coastline at Dardanellene 27. May 1915 after being torpedoed by two torpedoes by the German submarine U 21 under command of Otto Hersing. HMS Majestic participated in the bombardment of the Turkish positions at Gaba Tepe, and had form the start participated in the operations during the invasion of Dardanellene. Of the crew of 757 men on HMS Majestic, 40 lost their lives in the sinking.
The wreck of HMS Majestic rest on a depth of eighteen to thirty meters in Morto Bay near Seddülbahir.

 

Name:
Former names:
 Material:
Dimensions:
HMS Majestic
  
Steel
119,0x ? x ? m.
       
Tons: Built: Homeport: Cargo:
14900 depl \ Newcastle ( UK ) 1895 ( UK )  

 

HMS Majestic
Majestic class battleship.
Laid down in Portsmouth Dockyard, commisioned December 1895 for service in the Channel Squadron.
Armaments: four 12 inch guns, twelve 6 inch guns, sixteen 12 pdr guns, twelve 3 pdr guns, 2 maxims, two 2 pdr boat guns and five torpedo tubes. Displacement: 14,900 tons. Speed: 16.5 knots.
HMS Majestic was the flagship of Vice-Admiral the Lord Walter T Kerr 1896. HMS Majestic was commissioned into the Atlantic Fleet from August 1906 but was commissioned into the reserve in October 1906. Before joining the Home Fleet at Devonport in May 1912 she was refitted with radio and fire control equipment at Chatham Dockyard. At the outbreak of World War I she was commissioned at Devonport for the 7th Battle Squadron in October 1914 she was involved in escorting Canadian troop convoys and in 1915 involved in the bombardment of the Belgian coast while serving with the Channel Fleet and Dover Patrol. She was transferred to the Mediterranean and the Dardanelles Operation on 18. March 1915, where she took part in the Dardanelles bombardments.
26. May 1915 she became the flagship to Admiral Nicholson but within 24 hours was torpedoed by
U 21 during the bombardment off Gaba Tepe. She sank within 7 minutes.

HMS Majestic sank at rightangles to the shore in Morto Cove, so while its bow lies in 18 metres of water, its stern lies on sand at a depth of 29 metres. In the 1960`s, divers unfortunately dismantled the most interesting sections of this huge wreck, but the crow's nest can still be seen lying 10 metres off. There is also a cannon on the deck which is so encrusted with barnacles that it has grown into the structure of the ship. Large numbers of bream, dentex and other fish frolic happily in the interior sections which are inaccessible to divers. A knowledge of lighters is useful for anyone investigating the wrecks round Gallipoli. There were sheet iron boats about 20 metres in length used by the British fleet to carry provisions and landing troops between their base on Gökçeada (Imroz) and Gallipoli. Since they were open, many of them were sunk by gunfire or storms, and several are to be seen today at depths of appromamately 28 to 30 metres. A lighter lying off Anzak Cove west of Kocatepe harbour is one of those most often visited by divers, both because it is within easy reach and because of its proximity to the other wrecks in Suvla Bay...

 

Picture showing HMS Majestic going down after being torpedoed by U 21 in 1915
Picture published in The war illustrated 26. June 1915

 

 

Edited 29.06.2007