The armored cruiser, HMS Drake, was built at the Pembroke dockyard between 1899 and 1902. She was a special warship, based on the Cressy class of cruisers, which were designed to take on a range of duties – everything from scouting to commerce, to warfare, and, to simply displaying the British flag. Although powerful, with a top speed of 23 knots, these vessels were not intended for heavy duty battle action.
Was HMS Drake Doomed from the Beginning?
It seems that HMS Drake was not destined for a long, illustrious life. From the very beginning, she seems to have been plagued with problem after problem. For instance, Captain John Jellicoe, who commanded the ship as she was being fitted out, mentioned problems that “made his hair stand on end,” such as leaks, and poorly fitted hatches below decks.
Finally deemed seaworthy in 1902, HMS Drake underwent sea trials and various home duties before being commissioned by the King in March of 1905. The Drake once hosted a royal ball in New York, and received Kings and Queens from Greece, Portugal and Spain. All went well, and by 1913, HMS Drake was basically obsolete. She was placed on reserve status.
Just a year later, in 1914, the ship was recommissioned and carried out escort duties until 1916, when she was refitted with new guns.
The Wreck
On October 2, 1917, HMS Drake was torpedoed by the German U-29, and her boiler room was flooded. All but two sailors working in the boiler room that day were killed. One survivor was, incredibly, blown straight onto the upper deck, where he landed uninjured. The second survivor managed to escape through the stokehold hatch.
Shortly thereafter, the damaged HMS Drake, which had lost use of its’ steering gear in the attack, was involved in a collision with cargo vessel Mendip Range, which then had to beach itself at Ballycastle Bay. All that morning and early afternoon, the Drake continued toward the safety of port.
That same day, the Drake, now floundering and taking on water, managed to lay anchor in Church Bay. The living were evacuated from the ship. The crew was not able to remove their 18 deceased shipmates from the boat before she finally sank at 2:35 p.m. There had been plans for their removal and salvage of the vessel, which were not able to be carried out at the time.
From 1920 on, various salvage efforts were undertaken, until, in 1962, a trawler called Ella Hewett, which was on her way to Iceland for fishing, ran into the wreck and sank right on top of it. During the 1970’s the Scottish and Northern Ireland Bomb and Mine Disposal Team cleared both vessels and hit them with depth charges, with the intent of decreasing the likelihood of a future collision. Today, HMS Drake and Ella Hewitt lie in less than twenty meters of water, in Church Bay. Visibility is good in the area, and this is a great wreck for divers of every level.
When you dive HMS Drake, expect to see the ram bow, as well as some hull plating, part of a propeller shaft, the rudder, and part of the steering gear. The ship’s Martin anchor lies on the seabed nearby. According to researchers from Wessex Archaeology, this is the only example of a ship of the Drake’s type – so when you dive it, you are visiting an important piece of history.
No one has ever found Drake’s Ship’s Bell, nor have the bodies of the eighteen crewmen who died in the boiler room explosion ever been found. Now, nearly a century later, the wreck is a protected site, yet divers are welcome to explore her. Artifacts should be reported, but may not be removed.