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There was hardly a cloud in the sky on the morning of Thursday 27 May, 1915 when the Princess Irene exploded whilst anchored off the Isle of Sheppey – killing everyone on board apart from one lucky survivor, David Wills.

The ship, which had been originally built for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, had been requisitioned in 1914 as a minelayer with her sister ship the Princess Margaret.

On the morning of the tragedy her crew and a party of 76 local dockworkers from Sheerness were priming 500 mines in readiness for her third mine-laying expedition. Nearly 300 died, although one man – David Wills – had a miraculous escape. He was rescued from the water by a tug but was badly burnt.

He recovered and went back to sea in the Merchant Navy but suffered the physical and mental effects of the experience for the rest of his life.

The explosion blew the vessel apart shaking homes and shattering windows as far as Maidstone – whilst ship parts and dismembered bodies were scattered across the local area.

One little girl was killed by a fragment of the vessel as she was playing in her garden on the Isle of Grain.

A hastily convened inquest looked into rumours of sabotage but it is thought the ship exploded after one of the mines detonated whilst being primed.

The spring-loaded primers being used at the beginning of the war were considered unstable and in the process of being replaced by a safer version

Sara Parker interviewed John Hendy; author of ‘Blown to Eternity – The Princess Irene story’ and Chris Newman from the Blue Town Heritage Centre with readings from local newspaper reports at the time.

Location: Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey ME12 1RQ
Image: Princess Irene at anchor in the River Medway, courtesy of Puget Sound Maritime Historical Association

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