HMS Natal

File:Warrior class cruiser diagrams Brasseys 1912.jpg

Natal displaced {{convert|13550|LT|t}} as built and {{convert|14500|LT|t}} fully loaded. The ship had an overall length of {{convert|505|ft|4|in|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|73|ft|6|in|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|27|ft|6|in|m|1}}. She was powered by four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, driving two shafts, which developed a total of {{convert|23650|ihp|lk=in}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|23.3|kn|lk=in}}.Roberts, p. 34 The engines were powered by 19 Yarrow water-tube boilers and six cylindrical boilers. The ship carried a maximum of {{convert|2050|LT|t}} of coal and an additional {{convert|600|LT|t}} of fuel oil that was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full capacity, she could steam for {{convert|7960|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}.Parkes, p. 445

Her main armament consisted of six BL 9.2 inch gun Mk IX - X in single Mk V turrets distributed in two centerline turrets (one each fore and one aft) and four turrets disposed in the corners about the funnels. Her secondary armament of four BL 7.5 inch Mk II - V naval gun in single Mk II turrets was carried amidships, between the wing 9.2-inch guns. Twenty-six Vickers QF 3-pounders were fitted, ten on turret roofs and eight each on the forward and aft superstructures. The last four ships of the {{sclass|Duke of Edinburgh|cruiser|0}} cruisers had a secondary armament of turreted 7.5-inch guns rather than the {{convert|6|in|0|adj=on}} guns in open barbettes of the first two ships; these latter four were sometimes referred to as the Warrior class.Roberts, pp. 34, 36 Because of the extra topweight of the turrets in comparison to their half-sisters their stability was reduced which made them very good seaboats and steady gun platforms. The ship also mounted three submerged 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, one of which was mounted in the stern.

Natal was ordered as part of the 1903–04 naval construction programme as the second of four armoured cruisers. She was laid down on 6 January 1904 at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers, Sons & Maxim. She was christened on 30 September 1905 by Louisa Cavendish, Duchess of DevonshireHampshire, p. 17 and completed on 5 March 1907 at the cost of £1,218,244.Parkes, p. 444 Her name was assigned because the funds required to build her came largely or completely from the inhabitants of Colony of Natal.{{cite news|url=http://www.northern-times.co.uk/Opinion/Stones-Throw/The-little-known-tragedy-of-HMS-Natal-07112012.htm|title=The little known tragedy of HMS Natal|last=Stone|first=Jamie|date=8 November 2012|work=The Northern Times|access-date=25 October 2013|archive-date=3 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160203214522/http://www.northern-times.co.uk/Opinion/Stones-Throw/The-little-known-tragedy-of-HMS-Natal-07112012.htm|url-status=dead}} Like her sister ships, she joined the 5th Cruiser Squadron in 1907, and was later transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in 1909. Captain William Reginald Hall assumed command after the premature death of Captain F. C. A. Ogilvy in December 1909 and remained in command until June 1911.Hampshire, pp. 23–27 She escorted the ocean liner {{ship|RMS|Medina|1911|6}} in 1911–1912 while the latter ship served as the royal yacht for the newly crowned King George V's trip to India to attend the Delhi Durbar.Preston, p. 13 Natal also had the duty of carrying the body of the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain, Whitelaw Reid, back to New York in December 1912.{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1912/12/22/100600736.pdf|title=Squadron to Meet Reid Funeral Ship|date=22 December 1912|work=New York Times|access-date=29 January 2011}} After completing this mission, her crew gave her the nickname of Sea Hearse.Hampshire, p. 29

On 5 June 1913, while under the command of Captain John Green, Natal collided in fog with a fishing vessel. A court of inquiry convened to investigate the collision concluded that Natal′s speed of {{convert|10|kn|mph km/h}} when she struck the fishing vessel was excessive for the foggy conditions, but the Admiralty declined to endorse this finding.Green Service Record. The National Archives. ADM 196/42. f. 260.

At the outbreak of war, she joined the Grand Fleet and in January 1915 was refitted at Cromarty. Natal spent much of 1915 uneventfully patrolling the North Sea until she began a brief refit at the Birkenhead shipyard of Cammell Laird on 22 November. On 5 December the ship rejoined the 2nd Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow. Twelve days later the squadron sailed to Cromarty Firth.Hampshire, pp. 76, 78–79

File:HMS Natal Wreck.jpg

On 30 December 1915, Natal was lying in the Cromarty Firth with her squadron, under the command of Captain Eric Back. The captain was hosting a film party aboard and had invited the wives and children of his officers, one civilian friend and his family, and nurses from the nearby hospital ship Drina to attend. A total of seven women, one civilian male, and three children were in attendance that afternoon.Hampshire, p. 89

Shortly after 15:25, and without warning, a series of violent explosions tore through the rear part of the ship. She capsized five minutes later.Hampshire, pp. 92–104 Some thought that she had been torpedoed by a German U-boat or detonated a submarine-laid mine, but examination of the wreckage revealed that the explosions were internal. The divers sent to investigate the ship reported that the explosions began in either the rear 9.2-inch shellroom or the 3-pounder and small arms magazine.Hampshire, pp. 151–56 The Admiralty court-martial into the causes of her loss concluded that it was caused by an internal ammunition explosion,Hampshire, p. 167 possibly due to faulty cordite.Brown, p. 165 The Admiralty issued a revised list of the dead and missing that totaled 390 in January 1916, but did not list the women and children on board that day.Hampshire, p. 113 Losses are listed from 390 to 421.{{Historic Environment Scotland|cat=PLA |num=101920 |num2=NH76NE 8001 |desc=Hms Natal: Nigg Bay, Cromarty Firth|access-date=23 June 2025}}

With her hull still visible at low water, it was Royal Navy practice on entering and leaving Cromarty right up to World War II for every warship to sound "Still", and for officers and men to come to attention as they passed the wreck.Hampshire, pp. 156–57 After numerous attempts, much of the ship was salvaged. The remainder was blown up in the 1970s to level the wreck so that it would not be a hazard to navigation.

File:HMS Natal-gedenkteken, Ou Fort.jpg

A memorial to the ship was erected in Durban in 1927. A garden known as Natal Gardens was opened on 15 July 2000 by celebrity gardener Charlie Dimmock, at Invergordon which contains a commemorative plaque remembering Natal.{{cite web|url=http://warmemscot.s4.bizhat.com/warmemscot-ntopic153.html|title=HMS Natal Memorial, Invergordon|last=Brown|first=Adam|date=27 December 2006|publisher=The Scottish War Memorials Project|access-date=29 January 2011}} The plaque itself was unveiled in June 1992.{{cite journal |title=Brief Notices |journal=Newsletter of the Society for Nautical Research |date=February 1993 |issue=9 |page=8}}

The wreck itself is now designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.[http://www.operations.mod.uk/onthisday/newsItem_id=1111.htm MOD site] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927211135/http://www.operations.mod.uk/onthisday/newsItem_id%3D1111.htm |date=27 September 2007 }}{{cite web|title=The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels and Controlled Sites) Order 2008|work=Office of Public Sector Information|url=http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2008/uksi_20080950_en_1|access-date=21 July 2008}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last=Brown|first=David K.|title=The Grand Fleet: Warship Design and Development 1906–1922|publisher=Caxton Editions|location=London|year=2003|edition=reprint of the 1999|isbn=1-84067-531-4}}
• {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|editor2-last=Kolesnik|editor2-first=Eugene M.|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
• {{cite book|last=Hampshire|first=A. Cecil|title=They Called It Accident|year=1961|publisher=William Kimber|location=London|oclc=7973925}}
• {{cite book|last=Parkes|first=Oscar|title=British Battleships|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1990|edition=reprint of the 1957|isbn=1-55750-075-4}}
• {{cite book|editor1-last=Gardiner|editor1-first=Robert|editor2-last=Gray|editor2-first=Randal|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921|year=1985|location=Annapolis, Maryland|publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=0-85177-245-5 |name-list-style=amp|chapter=Great Britain and Empire Forces|first1=Antony|last1=Preston|author-link=Antony Preston|pages=1–104}}
• {{cite book|last=Roberts|first=John|chapter=HMS Cochrane|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|title=Warship|location=London|volume=III:9|pages=34–6|isbn=0-85177-204-8|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q5IXvcE1vE8C&q=hms+cochrane&pg=PA34|access-date=5 August 2009|date=1989-10-01}}

{{Commons category|HMS Natal (1905)}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070509122420/http://www.black-isle.info/cromarty/imagelibrary/ Cromarty Image Library] - Photographs of the cruiser
• [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=482243&CATLN=6&Highlight=&FullDetails=True Basic court-martial file information at the National Archives]
• [https://archive.org/stream/marineengineerin11newyuoft#page/63/mode/1up The New English Cruiser Natal] Launch photo and technical details

{{Warrior-class cruiser}}

{{1913 shipwrecks}}

{{December 1915 shipwrecks}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Natal (1905)}}

Category:Warrior-class cruisers

Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness

Category:World War I cruisers of the United Kingdom

Category:World War I shipwrecks in the North Sea

Category:Protected wrecks of Scotland

Category:1905 ships

Category:Maritime incidents in 1913

Category:Maritime incidents in 1915

Category:Ships sunk by non-combat internal explosions

Category:1915 disasters in the United Kingdom

Category:Black Isle

Category:History of the Scottish Highlands

Category:1915 in Scotland

Category:1905 in England

Category:Royal Navy ship names