HMS Princess Irene Explosion: 25th May 1915

HMS Princess Irene was an ocean liner built in 1914 for the Canadian Pacific Railway. With the outbreak of the war, she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy, and converted to a minelayer. In the spring of 1915, she was involved in laying a minefield to the north west of Heligoland, but spent much of her time in and around the Thames Estuary.

On the morning of 27^th May 1915, the Princess Irene was moored in the Medway Estuary and was being loaded with mines in preparation for a mission. At 11:14am, she exploded and disintegrated, taking two neighbouring barges with her. Wreckage from the blast – which was bigger than that of the HMS Bulwark (although with less loss of life) – was scattered up to 20 miles, with debris landing as far afield as Bredhurst, Rainham and Sittingbourne.

A total of 352 people were killed, including 273 crew and 76 dockworkers who were also on board. On the nearby Isle of Grain, a nine-year-old girl was killed by falling debris, and a farmhand died of shock.

An inquest was held, and ruled that the priming of the mines was carried out hurriedly and by personnel who had not been adequately trained. A faulty primer was judged to be the cause of the explosion.

The bodies of the dead were laid in a mass grave in the Naval section of Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, or, where they had been identified, were laid buried in marked graves there.