30th December 1915 On this day:  Enemy Mine Explosion  On the Move   Billets Reorganised    HMS Natal was an armoured cruiser of the ‘Warrior’ Class. She had an official complement of 704 officers and men. She escorted the royal yacht in 1911,1912 for the newly crowned King George V's trip to India to attend the Delhi Durbar. On Thursday December 30th 1915 she was lying in Cromarty harbour near Invergordon, to the North of Inverness. At 3.20 p.m. fire broke out on board. Within about five minutes the ship was torn apart by the explosion of her after magazines and sank almost immediately. Natal’s crew were all pre-war regulars, reservists or wartime volunteers, conscription wasn’t introduced until two days after she exploded. About half the crew were under 25. Amongst the dead were 33 Royal Naval Reserve Stokers, nearly all from the North East, 14 members of the Royal Naval Volunteer 12 Reserve, 63 Royal Marines, including 15 bandsmen, three nursing sisters of Queen Alexander’s Royal Naval Nursing Service, three canteen staff who worked for the Army & Navy Stores and two Admiralty employed civilian craftsmen. 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. Shortly after 1525, and without warning, a series of violent explosions tore through the rear part of the ship. She capsized five minutes later. Some thought that she'd 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. The Admiralty court-martial in the causes of her loss concluded that it was caused by an internal ammunition explosion, possibly due to faulty cordite. 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. With her hull still visible at low water, it was Royal Navy practice on entering and leaving Cromarty right up to the Second World War for every warship to sound "Still", and for officers and men to come to attention as they passed the wreck. 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. RMT Persia lost off Crete   The Persia was sunk off Crete, while the passengers were having lunch, on 30 December 1915, by German World War I U-Boat ace Max Valentiner (commanding SM U-38). The Persia sank in five to ten minutes, killing 343 of the 519 aboard. The sinking was highly controversial, since it broke naval international law, or the "Cruiser Rules", which stated that merchant ships could be stopped and searched for contraband, but could only be sunk if the passengers and crew were put in a place of safety (for which, lifeboats on the open sea were not sufficient). Instead, the U-Boat fired a torpedo with no warning, and made no provision for any survivors. This action took place under Germany’s policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, but broke the Imperial German Navy’s own restriction on attacking passenger liners, the Arabic pledge.  Late Christmas Dinner  Liner Sunk  Row Continues  Visiting Sailors in Action  Sentry Killed  Trench Work  Working Parties  Baggage  Hard Work  G.O.C Division inspection    Orders  Trench Work  At Rest  Inspection  Working Parties & Baths  Trench Work    Attachments  Snipers  In Billets  In Camp  Attack Practiced  On the Move  Aircraft damaged  At Rest  Preparations  Cleaning up  Air Raid  Enemy Snipers Quietened  Orders Received  Quiet  Naval High Velocity gun  Tests  Training  Holding the Line  On the Move   A Relief  On the Move  140th Brigade Operational Order No. 47.  Lectures  Instruction  Reliefs Can you add to this factual information? Do you know the whereabouts of a unit on a particular day? Do you have a copy of an official war diary entry? Details of an an incident? The loss of a ship? A letter, postcard, photo or any other interesting snipts? If your information relates only to an individual, eg. enlistment, award of a medal or death, please use this form: Add a story.

Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day. This section is under construction.

Want to know more about 30th of December 1915? There are:47 items tagged 30th of December 1915 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Remembering those who died this day, 30th of December 1915. Boy 1st Class Sydney George Abbs. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Chief Writer Charles Adams. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Ordinary Seaman Samuel George Aldous. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Painter 2nd Class William Rodger Alexander. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Stoker George Edward Allen. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Able Seaman John Henry Allen. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Leading Stoker John William Allen. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Leading Seaman Ernest William Allright. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Stoker 1st Class Ernest Walter Alvin. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Carpenters Crew David Anderson. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Leading Stoker Arthur John Andrews. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Leading Stoker Leonard John Appleyard. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. 2Lt. John William Arkless. 17th Battalion Durham Light Infantry Read their Story. Wireman 2nd Class Edward Stanley Arnold. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Able Seaman Atkins. H.M.S. Natal Read their Story. Ordinary Seaman Charles Henry Axten. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Sailmaker Herbert John Ayers. H.M.S. Natal. Read their Story. Able Sea. Daniel Bigley. HMS. Natal Read their Story. Stokr. Edward Blakeley. HMS Natal Read their Story. Pte. Benjamin Dodds. Durham Light Infantry Read their Story. Pte Benjamin Dodds. 15th Battalion Durham Light Infantry Read their Story. Pte. John Robert Laws. 7th Btn. Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) W.Eng James Coutts Robertson. HMS Natal Read their Story. Arthur Russell Smijth-Windham. Read their Story. Add a name to this list.

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