Battleship HMS Barham explodes, 1941

British news cameraman John Turner captured the demise of the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship HMS Barham from the deck of HMS Valiant. Completed for the Royal Navy in 1915, Barham served as part of the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland from 31 May to 1 June 1916, where it traded blows with German battlecruisers. During World War II, Barham remained active from 1939 onward, participating in operations from the Mediterranean to Norway. On 24 November 1941, Barham, Queen Elizabeth, and Valiant departed Alexandria, Egypt, with an escort of six destroyers. And the following day Barham was engaged by the German submarine U-331, taking three torpedo hits. The battleship quickly capsized to port, and as she rolled over an explosion in secondary magazines detonated the main magazines filled with 15-inch shells for the main batteries. Of the more than 1,200 crew on board, 862 were killed.

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