{"id":7044435,"date":"2026-08-23T00:34:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T00:34:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/aerospace\/shipwreck-hunters-discover-the-ruins-of-a-british-destroyer-that-split-in-half-during-a-tragic-peacetime-accident-118-years-ago\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T00:34:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T00:34:30","slug":"shipwreck-hunters-discover-the-ruins-of-a-british-destroyer-that-split-in-half-during-a-tragic-peacetime-accident-118-years-ago","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7044435","title":{"rendered":"Shipwreck Hunters Discover the Ruins of a British Destroyer That Split in Half During a Tragic Peacetime Accident 118 Years Ago"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Minutes after it collided with a 10,000-ton cruiser, the HMS \u201cTiger\u201d sank to the bottom of the English Channel. Divers and historians have spent the past four years searching for the Royal Navy vessel<\/h2>\n
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\n \"Ellen\n <\/div>\n
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Ellen Wexler<\/a><\/p>\n

| Writer and Special Projects Editor<\/span><\/p>\n

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A Whitehead torpedo tube located on the bow of the HMS Tiger<\/em>
\n Steffen G. Scholz<\/span>
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On a moonless night in 1908, a group of Royal Navy ships sailed into the darkness during a training exercise in the English Channel. To simulate a torpedo attack, one of the vessels set off a flare.<\/p>\n

The bright flash was \u201cexceedingly dazzling,\u201d Cecil Vinning, an engineer-lieutenant on the HMS Tiger<\/em><\/a>, later recalled. Because the night was so dark, \u201cit was impossible to see anything afterwards for a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

As his eyes adjusted, he realized that the Tiger<\/em>, a torpedo boat destroyer, <\/em>had unexpectedly cut into the path of the Berwick<\/em>, a 10,000-ton cruiser. When the ships collided, the Tiger <\/em>split in two. \u201cThe portion on which I was standing sank to the level of the water,\u201d Vinning said, \u201cand I was enveloped in the wave which came over the side.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The\u00a0Tiger\u00a0<\/em>sank on April 2, 1908.<\/p>\n

Royal Navy<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One segment sank immediately, while the other stayed afloat for roughly three minutes. More than half of the 57 crew members died on the night of April 2. Vinning was one of only 22 survivors. When the Royal Navy searched the area for the wreckage, the Tiger <\/em>was nowhere in sight.<\/p>\n

Now, 118 years later, divers and historians from ProjectXplore<\/a> have finally identified the wreckage of the missing destroyer. The Tiger<\/em>\u2019s final resting place is south of the Isle of Wight and 200 feet below sea level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been the privilege of a lifetime to research, discover and document the wreck of HMS Tiger<\/em>,\u201d Leo Fielding and Dan McMullen, co-organizers of ProjectXplore, say in a statement<\/a>. \u201cWe sincerely hope that our work will ensure that HMS Tiger<\/em>, her story and the memory of those connected with her endure for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Stern section where the vessel was cut in half<\/p>\n

Steffen G. Scholz<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The exact causes of the wreck have always been a mystery. In court-martial proceedings held weeks after the accident, some witnesses suggested that the flares may have impeded visibility. Even so, \u201cthe court made no specific finding on this point,\u201d according to ProjectXplore\u2019s report<\/a>. As one naval officer told journalists<\/a>, \u201cI do not suppose that the mystery will ever be cleared up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The day after the collision, Edward VII<\/a> sent a telegram to Britain\u2019s first lord of the Admiralty expressing his sympathy \u201cto the widows and families of those who lost their lives in the Tiger<\/em> disaster.\u201d The wreck made headlines, with the Daily Telegraph<\/em><\/a> <\/em>describing how the men tried to \u201csave themselves as best they could by clinging to oars, spars and pieces of wreckage.\u201d As a crew member from a nearby ship recalled, \u201cThe Tiger <\/em>had as much chance as a sardine tin against a railway engine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Quick facts: Other Royal Navy wrecks<\/p>\n