Criccieth - Visit of HMS BARHAM 1919.

In the Council Chamber at the old library is a framed photograph of HMS BARHAM. This was presented to the town when the ship visited Criccieth during a tour by part of the British fleet during victory celebrations at the end of the Great War.

Here is the very patronising report from the North Wales Weekly News 25 September 1919 – “The vessels of the Second Battle Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Sir Arthur C.Levenson, flying his flag on the BARHAM, left their anchorage in the Bay of Pwllheli yesterday morning to return to Aberystwyth. Taking advantage of their chance and unofficial visit, crowds from Pwllheli and Criccieth visited the ships on Sunday. Mrs Lloyd George and Mrs Carey Evans boarded the BARHAM and were given a rousing reception. During the evening the sailors provided a magnificent searchlight display, which lit up the countryside as far as Snowdon, while the beams also played on Brynawelon, the Premier’s residence, for a long time. The country people thought the sudden display was a supernatural phenomenon”.

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The BARHAM came to a terrible end. During WW2, while in the Mediterranean, she was struck by a torpedo from a German submarine on November 24th 1942 and blew up in a tremendous explosion. Of her crew of 1258, 862 were killed.