The first shot of the naval war was fired by the Chatham manned destroyer HMS Lance on the 5th August 1914 in an action that resulted in the sinking of the German minelayer Konigin Luise in the North Sea. Chatham manned ships later saw action across the world from the Battle of the Heligoland Bight, to the Falklands, Dardanelles and Jutland.
The grim reality of war quickly made its impact felt with the loss of nearly 1,500 men on three Chatham cruisers, Hogue , Aboukir and Cressy, sunk by a single U-Boat on 22nd September 1914.
Further losses followed including those of three Chatham division battleships, Formidable, King Edward VII and Cornwallis, and two ships, Bulwark and Princess Irene were destroyed by internal explosions whilst in the River Medway itself.
The photograph above right shows the HMS Hogue, one of the three Chatham manned cruisers to be sunk within a morning, 22nd September 1914. The photograph to the left depicts the HMS Bulwark which sank in the River Medway after a magazine explosion, 26th November 1914.
