Dated: The Dardanelles, 1915.
Description: Albumen print, 45 x 70mm, manuscript caption in old hand verso.
Condition: a little faded, but very good.

Unpublished photograph taken after the loss of HMS Triumph at Gallipoli

A remarkable small snapshot of the survivors of HMS Triumph being taken on board a Royal Navy destroyer, thought to be HMS Chelmer.

On 25 May the famous German submarine U21 (Lieutenant Commander Otto Hersing) torpedoed and sank the Triumph while it was just off Anzac Cove, guarding the shore transports. General Birdwood described how it “suddenly turned just like a fish diving, and went straight to the bottom. It was really rather an awful sight and most solemn” (online resource). 500 of the crew were rescued by Chelmer, and given the known lines of the ship, with the raised front deck and twin funnels, it is most likely that which is pictured here, with sailors crowding every available space.

The photo can be compared to one in the AWM collection (P02934.021).

References: AWM.