The wrecks of HMS Aboukir, Cressy & Hogue

The vessels HMS Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue have been designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act – which means that, at long last, the site is a War Grave.

The story of their loss on 22 September 1914 is told here on this blog.  Families of the 1,459 men and boys who died that day owe a great debt to the hard work and commitment of Dutch author Henk van der Linden, without whose dedication it is hard to see how this could ever have been achieved.

This documentary film takes us down to the wrecks, where the grim remains have turned into a small world of colour and life under the North Sea.

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes:
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
                                             Ding-dong.
Hark! now I hear them,—ding-dong, bell.