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Sunk by German mine off north-west Orkney on 5 June 1916 with the loss of the UK Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener
The wreck of the 10,850-ton armoured cruiser HMS Hampshire lies 1.5 miles off the 200-foot sheer cliffs of Marwick Head at the north-west tip of the main island of Orkney. It is a very special and sensitive wreck for the people of Orkney – its memory deeply entwined in the fabric of Orkney itself. A total of 737 souls, including the UK Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, and his staff, perished on the fateful night of 5 June 1916 as Hampshire sank quickly after striking a mine laid by a German submarine eight days earlier – part of German preparations for what would develop into the Battle of Jutland. There were only 12 survivors.
The 10,850-ton Devonshire-class armoured cruiser HMS Hampshire. (IWM)
Hampshire was laid down on 1 September 1902 by Armstrong Whitworth at its Elswick shipyard at Newcastle upon Tyne and launched on 24 September 1903. Fitting out afloat was completed on 15 July 1905. She was one of six such vessels in her class and displaced 10,850 long tons with a length overall of 473.5 feet, a beam of 68.5 feet and a deep loaded draught of 25.5 feet.