Catastrophic explosions sunk ship

A 100th anniversary tribute to the Vanguard, which suffered a magazine explosion and left only two crew alive, was held on Sunday.

Built in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, in 1909, Vanguard was the eighth ship to bear the name.

It was also one of a new generation of dreadnoughts, which out-gunned all previous warships.

On 9 July 1917, the ship had been conducting exercises in Scapa Flow and had anchored for the evening.

But at 11.20pm a series of catastrophic explosions, most likely caused by an accidental magazine explosion, resulted in the ship sinking almost immediately.

The Vanguard now lies in 14 metres of water north of the island of Flotta.

The Royal Oak and Vanguard war graves are off limits to divers and the first images of the latter were only released this year after permission was granted to a Norwegian team.

Emily Turton, of MV Huskyan, said: “The main wreck is complicated with an extensive debris field.

“Surprisingly ... both the bow and stern are intact despite large pieces of wreckage having being thrown hundreds of metres away.

“Witness accounts on the night of her loss describe a large explosion immediately behind the bridge.

“We can reveal that our initial survey result supports this.”

Blasts destroyed HMS Vanguard.