A Royal Navy cruiser torpedoed 100 years ago has been visualised as a 3D model in her last resting place beneath the waters of the North Sea.
Conservationists Historic England released the digital image of HMS Falmouth to mark the centenary of the warship’s loss off the Yorkshire coast.
HMS Falmouth, a veteran of the Battle of Jutland, was sunk by U-boats during a renewed German naval challenge in the North Sea in August 1916.
Historic England’s model was created by combining the results of a new survey of the wreck site with a digital 3D scan of a builder’s model of HMS Falmouth held by the Imperial War Museum at Chatham Historic Dockyard.
Wayne Cocroft, Senior Investigator at Historic England said: “Throughout the First World War the sea off our coast was an intensely-fought battlefield with many casualties lost within sight of the shore.
“Aside from war memorials to those lost at sea, the traces of maritime battles are invisible to all but a few. Modern technology is now being used to make our underwater heritage accessible to all.
“Digital 3D modelling and computer visualisation can recreate the appearance of lost vessels aiding our understanding and remembrance of this largely forgotten conflict.”
HMS Falmouth: Postcard showing the ship at sea shortly before she was commissioned in September 1911 (Image courtesy of WD Cocroft)
HMS Falmouth fought at Jutland as part of Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty’s battle cruiser fleet, torpedoing the German cruiser SMS Lützow.
On August 20th 1916, HMS Falmouth sank in Bridlington Bay, off the coast of northeast England, following another clash with the German Navy. She was trying to reach the safety of the Humber estuary after being struck in two separate U-boat attacks. Some 12 crew members lost their lives.
Read more about ‘HMS Falmouth’ on the Historic England website. The wreck was surveyed in partnership with the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency.
Source: Historic England
Images © Historic England (3D scan) & courtesy of WD Cocroft (HMS Falmouth in 1911)
Posted by: CN Editorial Team