Selected by Joanne Ruff, Archives Assistant
These photographs are from an official set taken during the Dardanelles Expedition in 1915-16 and form part of the papers of General Sir Ian Hamilton.The ones which I have chosen relate to the sinking of HMS Triumph, which took place on 25 May 1915 when the ship was hit by a torpedo, leading to the deaths of three officers and 75 enlisted men.
What I like about these photographs is that they show how servicemen of all ranks were affected by disasters in wartime. The photograph of the queue of survivors, waiting to give their names to the Naval Patrol petty officers, and the group photograph of the survivors of the sinking of HMS Goliath, HMS Triumph and HMS Majestic show the variety of men who were working onboard these ships, some of whom might not ordinarily have featured in photographs of this kind.
However, my personal favourite of the collection is the photograph of the clerk of sunken battleship HMS Triumph with the ledgers he rescued – a true archival hero!
This collection contains many gems, and it is definitely worth checking out the other photographs available on our Serving Soldier website.
Ref: Hamilton 7/12
www.kingscollections.org/catalogues/lhcma/collection/h/ha30-001