HMS Natal ( 1905 ) HMS " Natal " was a armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century . She escorted the royal yacht in 1911 – 1912 for the newly crowned King George V ' s trip to India to attend the Delhi Durbar . During World War I the ship was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet , but did not participate in any battles . " Natal " was sunk by an internal explosion near Cromarty on 30 December 1915 . Most of her wreck was slowly salvaged over the decades until the remnants were demolished in the 1970s so they were no longer a hazard to navigation . Description . " Natal " displaced as built and fully loaded . The ship had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . She was powered by four - cylinder triple - expansion steam engine s , driving two shafts , which developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The engines were powered by 19 Yarrow water - tube boilers and six cylindrical boilers . The ship carried a maximum of of coal and an additional of fuel oil that was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate . At full capacity , she could steam for at a speed of . Armament . Her main armament consisted of six BL Mark X guns in single Mk V turret s distributed in two centerline turrets ( one each fore and one aft ) and four turrets disposed in the corners about the funnels . Her secondary armament of four BL Mark II or Mark V guns in single Mk II turrets was carried amidships , between the wing 9 . 2 - inch guns . Twenty - six Vickers QF 3 - pounders were fitted , ten on turret roofs and eight each on the forward and aft superstructures . The last four ships of the cruisers had a secondary armament of turreted 7 . 5 - inch guns rather than the guns in open barbette s of the first two ships ; these latter four were sometimes referred to as the " Warrior " class . Because of the extra topweight of the turrets in comparison to their half - sisters their stability was reduced which made them very good seaboats and steady gun platforms . The ship also mounted three submerged torpedo tube s , one of which was mounted in the stern . Service . " Natal " was ordered as part of the 1903 – 04 naval construction programme as the second of four armoured cruisers . She was laid down on 6 January 1904 at Barrow - in - Furness by Vickers , Sons & Maxim . She was christened on 30 September 1905 by Louisa Cavendish , Duchess of Devonshire and completed on 5 March 1907 at the cost of £1 , 218 , 244 . Her name was assigned because the funds required to build her came largely or completely from the inhabitants of Colony of Natal . Like her sister ships , she joined the 5th Cruiser Squadron in 1907 , and was later transferred to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in 1909 . Captain William Reginald Hall assumed command after the premature death of Captain F . C . A . Ogilvy in December 1909 and remained in command until June 1911 . She escorted the ocean liner in 1911 – 1912 while the latter ship served as the royal yacht for the newly crowned King George V ' s trip to India to attend the Delhi Durbar . " Natal " also had the duty of carrying the body of the U . S . Ambassador to Great Britain , Whitelaw Reid , back to New York in December 1912 . After completing this mission , her crew gave her the nickname of " Sea Hearse " . World War I . At the outbreak of war , she joined the Grand Fleet and in January 1915 was refitted at Cromarty . " Natal " spent much of 1915 uneventfully patrolling the North Sea until she began a brief refit at the Birkenhead shipyard of Cammell Laird on 22 November . On 5 December the ship rejoined the 2nd Cruiser Squadron at Scapa Flow . Twelve days later the squadron sailed to Cromarty Firth . Sinking . On 30 December 1915 , " Natal " was lying in the Cromarty Firth with her squadron , under the command of Captain Eric Back . The captain was hosting a film party aboard and had invited the wives and children of his officers , one civilian friend and his family , and nurses from the nearby hospital ship " Drina " to attend . A total of seven women , one civilian male , and three children were in attendance that afternoon . Shortly after 15 : 25 , and without warning , a series of violent explosions tore through the rear part of the ship . She capsized five minutes later . Some thought that she ' d been torpedoed by a German U - boat or detonated a submarine - laid mine , but examination of the wreckage revealed that the explosions were internal . The divers sent to investigate the ship reported that the explosions began in either the rear 9 . 2 - inch shellroom or the 3 - pounder and small arms magazine . The Admiralty court - martial in the causes of her loss concluded that it was caused by an internal ammunition explosion , possibly due to faulty cordite . The Admiralty issued a revised list of the dead and missing that totaled 390 in January 1916 , but did not list the women and children on board that day . Losses are listed from 390 to 421 . With her hull still visible at low water , it was Royal Navy practice on entering and leaving Cromarty right up to the Second World War for every warship to sound “ Still ” , and for officers and men to come to attention as they passed the wreck . After numerous attempts , much of the ship was salvaged . The remainder was blown up in the 1970s to level the wreck so that it would not be a hazard to navigation . Legacy . A memorial to the ship was erected in Durban in 1927 , and there is a memorial plaque to Captain E . Back RN in the Officers ’ Mess in HMS " Excellent " , Whale Island , Portsmouth . There is also a memorial plaque in Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral . A garden called Natal Gardens has been created at Invergordon which contains a commemorative plaque remembering " Natal " . The wreck itself is now designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 .