World War I - HMS Audacious

Today, deep sea divers are going to investigate the British battleship “HMS Audacious.”  It was declared unsinkable and went into battle during World War I.  She struck a mine and the men onboard her fought to keep her alive.  It was a secondary, mysterious explosion that sent her down to the bottom of the Irish Sea.  The wreck lies 14 miles off the tip of Ireland.  So what caused this second explosion that sent her to the bottom?  The run time for this documentary is 50:05.

For decades an unknown shipwreck lies on the bottom unseen.  It is only in the last few years that the ship was seen and named.  It was called the HMS Audacious and it is one of the largest, most complete battleships coming from World War I.  It is October 1914 and the scene is the North Atlantic.  The war is four months old and the British believe that the Irish Sea is safe.  However, suddenly the HMS Audacious is struck and sinks deep into the Irish Sea.

A team of technical divers is now on the scene of the shipwreck.  The wreck is a diver’s dream.  It is the last remaining super dreadnaught and has been completely untouched over the years.  Innes McCartney leads the expedition to the wreck.  It was one of the most powerfully built ships and was the only super dreadnaught lost during World War I.  Even though she was big, it took years to locate her.  Everyone had survived her sinking so is not classified as a war grave.  She sits on the bottom as to how she went down.  Her wreck lies in pieces, what could have such damage to the ship?

Back in World War I, battleships were the most technologically advanced machines.  With the power of the battleship, a nation could rule the seas.  The late Eric Grove talks about the history of the battleship in the battle for naval supremacy.  If you had a bigger battlefleet you could control the seas.  Germany and Great Britain are engaged in a race to build a more and more powerful battleship.  There is a clear arms race going on in the lead-up to World War I.

The British developed the super dreadnaught battleship.  It is 600 feet long, 90 feet wide, and 23,000 tons.  The top speed is 21 knots.  The super dreadnaught had twelve-inch armor and ten thirteen-and-a-half-inch guns.  It would have been a sight to see at sea.  The battleship was to beat the enemy ship into submission.  When the Audacious was launched she was declared unsinkable.  These words would haunt the British public.

Innes visits the USS Texas to compare the specs on the wreck at the bottom.  It is the sole survivor above land that is considered a super dreadnaught.  It is the same age as the Audacious and is similar to the layout.  The USS Texas could have been built in the United States and both battleships would have been complicated to build.

However, the Audacious did not sink in battle.  It was sent to the bottom of the sea by a mine.  How is that possible?  The divers look at the area of maximum damage.  The turret is upside down and is torn apart.  The size of the ship is a challenge for the divers as they can only cover so much area on one dive.  The ship is slowly collapsing under her own weight.  Despite this, there is evidence of a massive explosion that tore her apart.  Once the dives are completed, the next step is to perform a sonar scan of the ship.

How could an unsinkable ship fall victim to a simple mind?  What will the scans reveal of the ship?  Will the historians solve the mystery as to why she sank?  What were the origins of the second explosion?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

First, it was very nice to see Eric Grove once again presenting his knowledge of battleships.  He is always interesting to listen to.  Second, it was very interesting to watch this mystery unfold.  This would be an interesting to show to a science class because of the application of the scientific method to solve the mystery.