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Unlike the much larger capital ships of the day, Hampshire did not have a large elevated armoured superstructure, so when she capsized and hit the bottom, the lighter sections of her superstructure and her four smokestacks were crushed by her weight and momentum. The vessel came to rest almost completely upside down, but with a slight list to starboard, propped up by her 7.5-inch turrets and her conning tower.

The wreck of HMS Hampshire today lies in 68 metres of water.

Left: The ship’s name still rings around the fantail – now missing the HA. (Author’s collection)

The port 43-ton propeller of HMS Hampshire. © Ewan Rowell

I arrived at the stern at a depth of about 65 metres and Gary arrived soon beside me. With a quick exchange of OK hand signals, and a muffled ‘Are you OK?’ shouted through the mouthpiece of my rebreather in a squeaky helium Donald Duck voice, we turned to move forward along the port side of the wreck at seabed level on our first recce. I immediately started filming.

At the very stern, we could see how the two unarmoured upper deck levels had collapsed down and how the upside-down bulwark of the fantail was sitting a few feet aft of the more intact keel section of the stern. We could make out the large embossed letters of her name, MPSHIRE. The section of metal that would have held the HA was missing, having sprung somewhere as this section of the ship collapsed. The rudder lay fallen to the seabed nearby.