On October 25th, over 100 years ago, the Velox met its end in the eastern Solent and the site has been investigated several times since. Recent work experience student Aiden tells the story of this ship and its final voyage.
Launched on February 11, 1902 as the HMS Python it was later bought and renamed by the military in June 1902, thus becoming HMS Velox. It was a steel hulled ship measuring 65.53 metres in length and 6.43 metres in width. The ship was engineered by the Parsons marine firm and the sub manufacturers were Hawthorn Leslie and company. HL and Co. also manufactured its predecessor, the HMS Viper. HMS Velox was a Torpedo Boat Destroyer (TBD) and used steam turbine engines which, as we will find out, caused many problems. HMS Viper that came before HMS Velox was also full of problems and sunk on August 3, 1901 after crashing into a reef while sailing through fog.
The voyage and wreck
On the fateful day of HMS Velox’s sinking in 1915, the ship sailed alongside HMS Conflict into the eastern Solent when disaster struck. It hit a floating German sea mine at roughly 3.34pm, which scraped along the bottom of the hull and exploded upon contact with the stern gear, blowing the stern of the ship half off. The ship had only been at sea for about a year at this point.
Figure 1:HMS Velox, Source: Wikimedia Commons
The wreck lies in the eastern Solent, 1.5 miles East of Bembridge. Figure 2 is a bathymetry image of the wreck, while Figure 3 is its plan. Dives down to inspect the wreck of this ship, sunk 109 years ago (as of now), have been conducted by the Maritime Archaeology Trust research team (see in figure 4).
Figure 2: Bathymetry scan of the ocean floor around the wreck, showing a depth of -7.50 to -8.50 metres below sea level, Source: HMS Velox Site Report, Maritime Archaeology Trust
Figure 3: Archaeological plan of the site, Source: HMS Velox Site Report, Maritime Archaeology Trust
Figure 4: Diver inspecting part of the shipwreck, Source: HMS Velox Site Report, Maritime Archaeology Trust
The rescue
There was a rather lacklustre amount of rescue that occurred. At 4:45pm the same day as the ship started sinking, HMS Conflict began to help. It attached a tow line to the bow of the Velox and pulled. Commander Pattinson eventually realised that they would not get anywhere safe in time so called for an abandon ship; the wreck sunk stern first shortly after.
Archaeological investigations
There have been several archaeological investigations into the wreck, the most recent being in July of 2010. To learn more about the ship’s epic history, you can read the Maritime Archaeology’s site report or visit their webpage here. You can also view their video Diving on the Velox.