On the morning of 22 September 1914, just six weeks into the First World War, three Royal Navy armoured cruisers were sunk by a German U-boat in the southern North Sea. The action lasted less than 90 minutes but the lives of 1,459 men and boys were lost – more than at the Battle of Trafalgar or the sinking of RMS Lusitania. Yet, curiously, few have ever heard of the incident.
In this exclusive Members' lecture, you can hear from journalist, author and former naval officer, Stuart Heaver. His new book, The Coal Black Sea, tells the extraordinary true story of the disaster from the perspective of the men serving on HMS Aboukir, Hogue and Cressy, and reveals the role played in the catastrophe by Winston Churchill.
This Members' event was first streamed live on 21 July 2022. You can watch a recording of the event below.
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