Oral History Gallery

Incidents and case studies ashore 8 - Explosion on HMS Indomitable

George Hampton

Service: 1949 - 1979

Rate: Warrant Officer Sick Berth Attendant

George joined as a Sick Berth Attendant (SBA) in March 1949 and specialised in operating theatre work. He served in Royal Naval Hospital Portland and also in RNH Bighi in Malta. Whilst serving at Malta he embarked in HMS Daring in order to provide humanitarian relief after an earthquake on the Greek island of Cephalonia.

Listen to George's experiences following an explosion on HMS Indomitable.

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Extract Text (Duration 1:25)

A very disastrous incident which occurred onboard HMS Indomitable, when one of her engine rooms was flooded with boiling water, having fractured one of her boilers. And it was a very, very intense period for us at the naval hospital because we had to deal with over 40 casualties from the Indomitable which were brought in with various degrees of burns, including very, very severe burns. And hmmm... and three died on arrival at the hospital. We allocated the ward nearest to the operating theatres for this incident and staff, certainly in the operating theatres, were kept busy for well into the early hours of the morning, dealing with skin grafts and cleaning the burns and caring for the patients, resuscitation. It was a very, very traumatic experience.