HMS Vanguard, a British battleship, blew up in Scapa Flow on 9 July 1917, killing 843 crewmen.
The Dreadnought suffered a series of explosions after a day of exercises in the vast natural harbour that served as the base for the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet in the Orkney Islands.
A board of inquiry found that a fire had started in the ship’s ammunition magazines.
Most of the dead have no known grave but the sea and are commemorated on the Naval War Memorials at Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth.
The personal stories of some of the men lost on HMS Vanguard are told by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in a centenary tribute on its website.
Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Images: Centenary News
Posted by: CN Editorial Team