World War I British warship lost in surprise attack 110 years ago found in the North Sea

Researchers have found a British warship from the First World War in the North Sea. According to experts, the ship sank during a surprise submarine attack 110 years ago.

Historians have specified that the ship, called HMS Hawke, sank after an enemy torpedo explosion on October 15, 1914, killing more than 500 crew members. Scottish shipwreck researchers, who actually came across the wreckage of the British warship, reported that it was a 118-meter-long cruiser, LiveScience reports.

British ship

Kevin Heath, an expert from the Lost in Waters Deep research group, said that about 70 crew members of the warship managed to survive this terrible accident because they reached the lifeboats.

According to scientists, the Hawke was one of several British warships that were designed to blockade the German mainland. This was a tactic that kept most of the German Imperial Navy in port during the war. However, the new underwater technology of German submarines allowed them to escape the blockade and sink several Allied military and civilian ships.

Kevin Heath said that Hawke was sunk by a torpedo from a submarine called U-9, commanded by Otto Weddigen, a famous German commander. A few weeks earlier, Weddigen and the U-9 had sunk three British cruisers patrolling the North Sea, causing more than 1,400 deaths.

According to historical records, these sinkings caused a wave of outrage among the British public at the time, damaging the reputation of the Royal Navy. Still, the attacks prompted the British admiralty to take the threat of German submarines more seriously.

The wreckage is well preserved

Kevin Heath said the wreckage of the Hawke now lies on the seabed at a depth of about 110 meters and 112 kilometers east of Fraserburgh, a coastal city in northeastern Scotland.

So far, the only underwater images of the wreck were taken by the team's divers during an August expedition to the area. They show the wreckage in "remarkable" condition, Heath said.

"Lots of the decking is still in place. There is a wonderful captain's walkway around the back of the stern [and] loads of guns, because obviously she was a warship," added Kevin Heath.

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