On Thursday morning, on the 26th of November 1914, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Bulwark was moored at No. 17 buoy at Kethole Reach in the River Medway, in the south east of England, about four and a half miles west of Sheerness, having been transferred from the south coast of England in anticipation of a German invasion.
The ship had been a hive of activity throughout the morning, with men loading hundreds of shells and explosive charges, but at about seven minutes to eight, with many of those on board having breakfast and others going about their duties, a sudden explosion ripped through the ship and tore it apart. The explosion was so powerful that it was heard for dozens of miles around, and threw debris up to six miles away. A cloud of smoke could be seen and more explosions were heard – after the smoke eventually cleared the HMS Bulwark had vanished.
In all about 750 men died in the explosion, with only about a dozen initial survivors; it remains the second deadliest accidental explosion in British history, second only to the explosion of the HMS Vanguard which sank at Scapa Flow in 1917.
A naval enquiry held a few days later concluded that some of the charges had been placed too close to one of the boiler room walls, which would have been increasing in temperature as the ship was getting up steam for the day. One of these charges must have ignited, causing a chain reaction of detonations in the hundreds of explosives stacked on board.
Among those on board the Bulwark were three men from the Western Isles – Murdo MacRitchie, son of Murdo MacRitchie and Ann MacKenzie of 37 Swainibost; Norman MacLeod, son of John MacLeod and Janet Murray of 13 Brue; and Malcolm MacKenzie, son of Donald MacKenzie and Christina MacKenzie of 5 Portvoller.
At the time of the 1911 census, Murdo MacRitchie was working on the paddle steamer Neptune, as part of Glasgow & Southwestern Railway’s steamboat fleet, before he joined the Bulwark as part of the Royal Naval Reserve. Murdo MacRitchie was 30 years old when he died, and was not married.
Norman MacLeod was living at 13 Brue at the time of the 1911 census, with his father and mother, and two older siblings – Catherine and Malcolm. He and his brother were both fishermen, and they also worked the croft with their sister. He was also called up to the Bulwark as part of the Royal Naval Reserve, and was 35 years old when he died. He was not married.
We have not yet been able to trace Malcolm MacKenzie at the time of the 1911 census – he was employed in the merchant service, and the likelihood is that he would have been away at sea at the time. In Glasgow in 1914 he married Mary MacKinnon, whose father was from Harris and whose mother was from Argyll, before he also joined the Bulwark as part of the Royal Naval Reserve. Mary gave birth to their first son, Kenneth, on the 21st of November 1914, five days before Malcolm’s death – he was 29 years old when he died. Mary remarried, and came back to live in Harris, where their son Kenneth also later married and had a large family, with many descendants still living in the island.
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This is just one of many interesting stories we come across at Hebrides People in the course of researching the histories of the families of the Western Isles. If you would like to find out more about your island family history, please get in touch with us today to see how we can help uncover your past.