HMS Caroline – the last surviving warship from the greatest battle ever fought in European waters – will be preserved for the nation in her native Belfast – and hopefully returned to her Great War glory.
The Jutland veteran, which served as the headquarters for naval reservists in Northern Ireland for more than eight decades, has been donated to the National Museum of the Royal Navy, kick-starting an ambitious fund-raising project to restore her.
Pictures: PO Robbie Hodgson, HMS Caroline
THE last surviving warship of the Battle of Jutland will be preserved for the nation in her native Belfast – and hopefully returned to her Great War glory.
Cruiser HMS Caroline is the only one of 151 Royal Navy ships which clashed with the Kaiser’s High Seas Fleet in the North Sea on May 31 1916 still with us, serving as home to Belfast’s naval reservists for more than 85 years.
Now the goal is to make her one of the centrepieces of the city’s Titanic Quarter after the Ministry of Defence donated the 98-year-old warship to the National Museum of the Royal Navy – which means it can bid for funding to preserve and restore her.
The Northern Ireland government has already set up to £100,000 aside to begin immediate remedial work with the aim ultimately of allowing the Belfast public to look around her as a tourist attraction – and a reminder of the age of dreadnoughts and the Grand Fleet.
Caroline under way in 1914
The cruiser earned the reputation as the ‘lucky Caroline’ during the Great War. Twice during the fighting at Jutland she was in the thick of the action, including carrying out a torpedo charge against the lines of German warships.
In the ‘peace dividend’ after the war, the ship was paid off before being reactivated as the headquarters of the Ulster Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve – forerunner of today’s Royal Naval Reserve – in 1924.
That was a duty performed until the end of March last year, when she was finally decommissioned, since when reservists have met in Lisburn on the edge of Belfast.
As for Caroline, she’s stayed in Alexandra Dock, just 500 yards from where Titanic was built, while her fate was determined.
Caroline’s tiller flat – the ship’s emergency steering position – is unchanged from her active days
There was talk of moving her to Portsmouth to join other famous vessels in the Historic Dockyard, but in the end the decision was taken to keep her in Belfast – something welcomed by the province’s Enterprise, Trade and Investment Minister Arlene Foster.
“HMS Caroline is part of the fabric of Belfast and she is also an integral part of our maritime history. The ship is of outstanding national significance and has huge potential as a visitor experience,” she said.
“The announcement is great news as it means we will be able to begin the process of bringing HMS Caroline back to her former glory.
“Fully restoring and preserving the ship will require significant funding and, to that end, we have had positive discussions with the Heritage Lottery Fund.”
The engine room still houses the turbines which once propelled the cruiser through the sea at speeds up to 29kts
Caroline has undergone some modifications in her RNR roles – classrooms and a drill shed aft of her three funnels, the forward boiler room is a ladies’ gym, and the cruiser’s guns were removed – but much of her innards hasn’t changed much since her fighting days.
Veterans’ minister Mark Francois said given her history, Caroline had to be saved – hence the decision to donate her to the museum.
“This is one of the most historic fighting ships in the world, one which played a role in a battle which was decisive in the outcome of World War 1,” he said. “It was critical that the ship was preserved and made accessible to the public.”
Director General of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Professor Dominic Tweddle, added: “We are grateful to the MOD for gifting the ship to us and to the Northern Ireland Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment for the spirit of partnership, the enthusiasm it has shown and the commitment it has made to the vessel’s restoration and eventual presentation to the public.”
