page_title: HMS Campania (1914)
section_title: Sinking
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Campania (1914) / Sinking
caption_attribution_description: British aircraft carrier HMS CAMPANIA sinking after colliding with HMS Royal Oak at Rosyth.
context_page_description: HMS Campania was a seaplane tender and aircraft carrier, converted from an elderly ocean liner by the Royal Navy early in the First World War. After her conversion was completed in mid-1915 the ship spent her time conducting trials and exercises with the Grand Fleet. These revealed the need for a longer flight deck to allow larger aircraft to take off, and she was modified accordingly. Campania missed the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, but made a number of patrols with elements of the Grand Fleet. She never saw combat and was soon relegated to a training role because of her elderly machinery. In November 1918 Campania was anchored with the capital ships of the Grand Fleet when a sudden storm caused her anchor to drag. With no second anchor being laid, she hit several of the ships and the collisions punctured her hull; she slowly sank, with no loss of life. Her Officer of the Watch had failed to call the Captain, and was dismissed from the ship.
context_section_description: On the morning of 5 November 1918, Campania was lying at anchor off Burntisland in the Firth of Forth. A sudden Force 10 squall caused the ship to drag anchor. She collided first with the bow of the nearby battleship Royal Oak, and then scraped along the side of the battlecruiser Glorious. Campania's hull was breached by the initial collision with Royal Oak, flooding her engine room and shutting off all main electrical power. The ship then started to settle by the stern, and sank some five hours after breaking free. The ship's crew were all rescued by neighbouring vessels. A Naval Board of Inquiry into the incident held Campania's watch officer largely responsible for her loss, citing specifically the failure to drop a second anchor once the ship started to drift.
  The wreck of HMS Campania was initially afforded protection under the Protection of Wrecks Act, being designated in 2000. This designation was revoked in 2013 when the site was re-designated as a Historic Marine Protected Area under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010. The remains of the four Campania aircraft and seven 1½ Strutters that she had on board when she sank are still entombed in her wreck.
caption: Campania sinking, 5 November 1918
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