The Sinking of HMS Barham

HMS Barham was a British battleship that had served in the First World War before returning to combat in the Second. On 25 November 1941, the German submarine U-331 attacked it in the Mediterranean. The ship rolled over after being torpedoed, and a massive explosion followed as it sank. This short documentary places that familiar image within the ship’s final moments and the wider submarine threat. The speed of the disaster left little time for escape. A survivor’s account offers a different scale of understanding from the view of the ship seen at a distance. Museum film records help identify and contextualize the sinking footage rather than allowing the explosion to stand alone as a spectacle. The story also shows how a heavily armed capital ship could be lost to an attack from a much smaller vessel, with consequences determined in minutes for the people aboard. Music: Historium Soundtrack Library created by Suno & Flowmusic Sources and further reading: The Sinking of HMS Barham — Film Catalogue Record https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060020134 Blavatnik Art, Film and Photography Galleries: Large Print Guide https://www.iwm.org.uk/sites/default/files/files/2024-04/blavatnik_art_film_and_photography_galleries_large_print_guide.pdf HMS Barham — Survivor’s Account of the Sinking https://navyhistory.au/hms-barham-survivors-account-of-sinking/