The tragic fate of Britannica. Ship "Britannicus": photo, dimensions, history

Many centuries have passed since mankind built its first boats and began to conquer the seas and oceans. All this time, people accompanied the shipwreck. Over time, the size of ships increased, as did the number of casualties in disasters.

All records of shipwrecks broke the 20th century, when, it would seem, they had already learned to build reliable and strong ships, cruisers and steamships, and not just windswept sailing wooden vessels. The Britannic liner is one of the victims of the shipwreck.

The history of the three brothers ships

The accelerated pace of life in the early 20th century required faster movement in space than it was before. Rapidly developing trade between countries and mass emigration to the USA from Europe and other parts of the world created the need for powerful and high-speed transatlantic vessels.

In 1902, the "Lusitania" project began, in which two unprecedented in size and speed ships were created in America. The liners-sisters "Lusitania" and "Mauritania" took over the transatlantic transportation, which put the prosperity of the British merchant fleet in jeopardy.

In response to the US call at the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast, it was decided to build three liners, surpassing in their power and reliability, the US. The customer was one of the directors of the ship company White Star Line.

So in 1907, the British Admiralty project was launched, so the light saw the appearance of three brothers-brothers - "Olympic", "Titanic" and "Britannica." The passenger ship as a category of ships, thus, was transformed, became much faster than the military battles existing at that time, thanks to the equipment with the latest technology.

Characteristics of "Britannica"

What is curious about the three identical twins of the British company, is that each subsequent ship was built taking into account the shortcomings of the previous ones, but the best fate was still at the first ship - "Olympic". Unlike its "younger brothers", it crossed the Atlantic more than 500 times, whereas the "Titanic" had only one flight, and the "Britannica" - 5.

After the death of the Titanic, the shipbuilders took into account all the shortcomings that led to the collapse of this ship, during the construction of the Britannica. The ship was very similar to its "brothers", but it turned out to be much more powerful and perfect. It was better equipped with lifeboats, and partitions between the bulkheads had to prevent the ship from sinking in the event of an accident. This detail has become a significant advantage of the "Britannica". The ship had 17 waterproof partitions, which made it unsinkable when filling 6 open water compartments.

The characteristics of the boat deck have also been changed. The conversion of the davits and the installation of them not only along the sides, but also on the stern, allowed evacuating passengers at any roll of the liner.

Characteristics of the vessel:

• Length of the body - 269 m;
• Width - more than 28 m;
• The height from the waterline to the boat deck was 18.4 m;
• 29 steam boilers were used for engine operation for two four-cylinder steam engines connected with external screws (16,000 hp each);
• The total engine power was 50,000 liters. from.;
• The ship's speed was up to 25 knots.

In February 1914, the Britannic was launched. The ship, whose photo was in the newspapers of all countries, amazed with its size and grandeur.

Descent to the water

Day February 26, 1914 was significant for the builders of the shipyard "Harland and Wolff" (Belfast). The descent of the ship passed without the usual breaking of a bottle of champagne on the side, as there was no such tradition at the shipyard.

For that time, the size of the "Britannica" and its equipment were unrivaled: it accommodated 790 passengers of the 1st class, the second - 835, the third - 950. The crew members were also many - 950 people.

All plans related to the owners of the transport company with transatlantic flights of the ship were violated in August 1914. The First World War, which began, prepared the "Britannica" for the fate of the floating hospital. On board it accommodated 437 members of the medical staff, 675 people from the ship's crew and 3,300 wounded patients.

Reorganization of "Britannica" in the hospital

In order to transfer the passenger liner to the hospital category, it took a little bit to change the external and internal appearance of the Britannica. The ship was "decorated" with a green stripe and six red crosses - identification signs indicating that this is a peaceful hospital, and not a military ship.

Internal rework was more significant. The cabins were converted into operating rooms, wards with seriously wounded and a hostel for staff. The liner accommodated 2034 simple and 1,035 folding beds. The promenade deck was converted into a compartment for soldiers with light wounds.

The commander of the renovated vessel was Charles A. Bartlett.

The first trip "Britannica"

The history of the Britannica as a naval hospital began on December 23, 1915, when he left Liverpool, ready to take out wounded soldiers, and headed for Naples and the Greek port of Mudros on the island of Lemnos.

Together with two other converted airliners - Aquitaine and Mauritania, he cruised in the Dardanelles Strait.

The captain of the Britannica introduced a strict regime, to which not only staff but also patients were subordinated:

• Rise at 6.00 + bed cleaning;
• Breakfast at 7.30 am followed by a cleaning of the dining room;
• The captain's detour at 11.00;
• Lunch at 12.30 with the cleaning of the dining room;
• Tea at 4.30;
• Dinner at 20.30;
• Bypass captain at 21.00.

Strict discipline allowed to keep the hospital in order. To refuel the vessel it was necessary to go to Naples, which on December 28, 1915, was made by the Britannic. The ship, whose photo in its new shape became recognizable in the Mediterranean, took coal and water and went to Mudros, where the wounded were waiting for him.

The loading lasted 4 days, and already on 09.01.1916 the vessel unloaded patients in Southampton. After making two more "walks" for the wounded soldiers, "Britannicus" returned to the commercial fleet because of the calm in the Mediterranean.

Return of the "Britannica" to the war

In September 1916, military operations on the Mediterranean again became more active, demanding the presence of a large airliner for the removal of the victims on the battlefield.

German submarines, cruising in those waters, set traps for the destruction of the enemy from the rows of floating mines in a narrow part of the Mediterranean Sea. On the approaches to the military base on Lemnos, Allied ships often fell into these traps.

November 21, 1916 in the strait between the islands of Kay and Kitnos, the "Britannica" crashed when it ran into one of the underwater mines. The explosion occurred at 8 hours 7 minutes, in the morning, when part of the patients and staff were still in the dining room at breakfast.

The last moments of "Britannica"

The captain, assessing the situation, decided that he would be able to bring the ship to a nearby shore and to run aground. This maneuver only increased the flooding of the ship, since the partitions between the compartments were open.

Witnesses of the shipwreck were able to describe how the Britannic sank. Two explosions - the first from the starboard side and a few minutes later the second from the left, banked the ship. The water began to fill quickly the holds and cabins, in which the portholes were open for airing the rooms.

Evacuation in boats was carried out in strict order, as everyone remembered well that she had panic with the passengers of the Titanic. The first 2 lifeboats that were launched before the captain's assistant's order was delivered to the crew were caught with the people who were there, under the Britannica screws that had risen from the water, but still working.

After 55 minutes the nose of the liner reached the bottom, and from the impact the ship shuddered and overturned. Thanks to the discipline and clear leadership of the captain and his assistants, 10 people were killed on board 1066 passengers.

Expedition Cousteau

The death of "Britannica" has generated many rumors and accusations. Some said that the British government itself flooded the ship, others accused of this torpedoes, issued from a German submarine by an unarmed hospital.

Created as a transatlantic passenger liner, Britannic has not made a single crossing across the Atlantic and has not transported any passengers. He went down in history as the largest vessel that took part in the First World War.

In order to understand what exactly this liner sank, in 1975 a team led by the famous Jacques Yves Cousteau went to the Aegean Sea on the ship Calypso. Based on the data indicated in the maps by the British Admiralty, the team did not find the vessel and began to search for it with the help of a radar. After three days of searching, the crew of Calypso found the place of the death of the liner completely under other coordinates.

The purpose of the Cousteau expedition was to determine the causes of the crash and a description of how the Britannic drowned. At the bottom, the researchers found almost the whole hull of the ship, which was clearly visible only one rift from the impact of the nose on the bottom. More serious research was not conducted because of the limited equipment of that time. This was a superficial inspection, thanks to which on the front page in all newspapers appeared lying on the right side of the "Britannicus". The photo at the bottom also gave rise to a lot of rumors, considering that the ship was discovered almost 7 nautical miles further from the place indicated by the maps.

Finding the truth

In 2003, the expedition of divers decided to check the words of the German government that "Britannic" was blown up on a mine. They discovered a minefield, and even the remnants of a shell, on which the ship was blown up. They remained on the chain anchored to the bottom.

Modern diving equipment allowed to penetrate the interior of the ship and check that at the time of the explosion, all watertight bulkheads were open, indicating somebody's negligence.