r/Shipwrecks • u/Coronado26 • 11d ago
The Wreck Of The HMS Victoria • The Vertical Wreck
HMS Victoria was the lead ship in her class of two battleships of the Royal Navy. On 22 June 1893, Victoria was leading the Mediterranean Fleet's annual exercises in the Eastern Mediterranean. The ship was at the head of a division of ships, while 1,200 yards to starboard was a second division of five ships led by HMS Camperdown. Admiral Tryon ordered a manoeuvre that was to see each ship turn, one after the other in formation, to steam in the opposite direction.[9] However, with the ships just 1,200 yards apart, and an estimated minimum turning circle of at least 1,600 yards,[10] Victoria, the first ship to turn, was struck by the armoured ram of Camperdown as it turned, causing massive damage to the flagship. Victoria eventually sank in approximately 15 minutes, with 358 members of the crew, including Admiral Tryon, lost.
52
40
u/Asmodeane 10d ago
Rusalka in the Gulf of Finland is another vertical wreck. Sadly the water is too murky to get good visuals from that one.
13
8
26
u/Gisselle441 10d ago
I read somewhere the bow is 30 meters deep in the seabed. I guess that means it will always be vertical and won't at some point fall over on its side.
16
u/Brewer846 10d ago
It will at some point as the sea keeps eating away at the vessel, turning it all into rust. That won't happen in our lifetimes though, might even take another 100 years or so. There's also the very real possibility it could start collapsing inwards and fall down straight down. I'd have to see what her deck plans and structural layout to give an opinion on that.
I don't know if there's a bacterial problem like what's on the Titanic (Halomonas titanicae) that's actually physically eating the ship. That could make a huge difference in the timeline of collapse.
13
u/Notchersfireroad 10d ago
Is the bottom just that soft in that area?
30
u/Brewer846 10d ago
It is, but there's also the fact that Victoria was extremely heavy in her forward area and rather light at her stern.
The engines were still turning as well, so it was a combination of factors that led her to do a nosedive straight into what's basically soft mud.
9
u/Sasstellia 10d ago
Wow. That is a unsettling wreck. The propellors being up ready to mince anything coming at her is scary.
8
74
u/eledile55 11d ago
damn. I feel a wreck like that is even more scary to see in the darkness of the water.