St Margaret Pattens Church

Contents

HOME PAGE
ABOUT US
Our Name
What is a Guild Church?
Our Ministry
Services & Talks Schedule
Sermons & Addresses
The "Friends"
The Livery Companies
The Busoga Trust
Music at St Margaret's
Choir
Other Activities
Tour of the Church
History & Church Records
How to find us
Links
Contact us by email

     

The Guild Church of St Margaret Pattens

 

The K4 Disaster

 

A Time Line of the Events of 31st January 1918

  1. A flotilla of nine K-class submarines, including K4, accompanied by a large convoy of warships of various kinds sets sail from Rosyth naval base in the late afternoon of 31st January 1918 for a night exercise 13 miles off the Fife coast near May Island.

  2. The vessels have been ordered to maintain radio silence and extinguish navigation lights.

  3. It is now dark and there is a light mist.

  4. K22, at the head of the column, suddenly changes course in order to avoid a group of minesweepers that cut across her path, not knowing of the fleet operation in progress.

  5. K22's rudder jams, sending it into K14 and killing two of K14's crew members.

  6. HMS Inflexible then hits K22, sheering off the submarine's ballast tank and bending her bows round 90 degrees.

  7. The cruiser, HMS Fearless, strikes K17 and sinks the submarine in eight minutes.

  8. The crew of K17 escapes but are mown down by a following destroyer.  Nine crew members survive, but 48 perish.

  9. K6 tries to avoid K12 and ploughs into K4.

  10. K4 sinks with her entire crew of 105 men.

  11. 2 submarines are lost and 3 are damaged.

  12. Details of the tragedy are kept secret by the Admiralty.