The Time a Norwegian Battleship Almost Blew Up Dover
HMS Glatton, originally a coastal defense battleship for the Norwegian Navy named Bjorgvin, was taken into Royal Navy service during World War I. Delayed modifications and changes pushed its readiness to the summer of 1918. On September 16, 1918, a massive explosion occurred on Glatton in Dover, prompting Admiral Roger Keyes and Captain Nester Diggle to fight the fire. Despite their efforts, Glatton had to be sunk to prevent further disaster.
Out of a crew of 346, one officer and 59 men were missing, and 124 were injured, with 19 later succumbing to burns. A court of inquiry in 1919 attributed the explosion to slow combustion of cork lagging in the 6-inch midship magazine, igniting cordite. However, other theories included sabotage, spontaneous ignition, and overheating.
Glatton's sister ship, Gorgon, underwent trials in 1919, piling red-hot ashes against the bulkhead, but results were inconclusive. The court's verdict in April 1919 pointed to cork lagging, but later discoveries of omitted rivets and newspaper-filled spaces raised doubts.
Salvage work on Glatton began in 1925, and the hulk was refloated in 1926, buried under reclaimed land near the submarine harbor. The true cause of the fire and explosion remains unknown, leaving speculation and unanswered questions.
Background 0:00
Explosion 6:10
Board of Inquiry 10:00
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Thanks for watching everyone! A bit of a new thumbnail because I got tired of doing the same thing over and over again. Also thank you for 10,000 subscribers! It’s truly an amazing and humbling feeling.
Congratulations on the 10k subscriber milestone! Keep up the great work and Merry Christmas!
Another fantastic video my friend, merry Christmas and a happy new year.
You deserve this for the excellent content
Thanks for this. Excellent, as always. I had no idea that GLATTON had become part of the car ferry terminal. I must have driven over her a hundred times or more, without ever knowing it.One can't make everything into a memorial, but a brass plaque in the terminal would seem like an appropriate thing to do. I shall have to find out if anything like that has been done already. Thank you.
Thank you. I've written a poem on behalf of the survivors of Glatton - good to see her story publicised.
@ImportantHistory
6 ай бұрын
Oh that’s interesting. If you don’t mind me asking, where can I read it?
@billthomas8205
6 ай бұрын
@@ImportantHistory Not yet published, but pop me an email address & I'll send you a copy.
@gianurwiler5098
6 ай бұрын
@@billthomas8205cool
Just finally gotten around to watching this as well as the video on the HMS Tiger. These ships were by far the most weird looking, and bizarre designs to ever come into contact with a warship. Well...that is if you over look the engineering nightmare that was the Greek Armored Cruiser G. Averof. Though unlike the Averof the Glaton would be turn fatal with these designs. Good video man, and I'll be doing more digging into these ships as I've never heard of these ships until now. Can't wait until the next video
Reminds me of the loss of the MAINE in Havana.
❤
IEEEEE!!!
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British warships are unfortunately like British cars: "good enough", quantity not quality. And usually deathtraps to their crew.