The Bacchante class or Cressy class of armored cruisers were laid down in 1898 and 1899. At the beginning of the First World War, the Royal Navy brought back the old Cressy class ships, including the Cressy, Sutlej, Aboukir, Hogue, Bacchante, and Euryalus, into service. They were assigned to patrol the Broad Fourteens, a patch of the southern part of the North Sea off the Dutch coast. They were tasked to support Commodore Tyrwhitt's destroyers and Commodore Keyes's submarines in blocking any German surface force attempting to attack transports carrying the British Expeditionary Force to the continent. However, since these ships were elderly and slow, they were not deemed fit to operate with the Grand Fleet. As the calendar turned to fall, the seas would get worse, and any accompanying destroyers would return to port, leaving the cruisers to patrol alone. On September 22nd, 1914, the three ships - Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy - were sunk by a German U-boat, U-9, within the span of one hour. Over 1,400 sailors lost their lives in the incident, including many who were middle-aged family men. The sinking of these cruisers was a significant blow to the Royal Navy and was a warning of the devastating power of submarines in modern naval warfare. As a disclaimer the map animations are not entirely accurate and are there as a visual aid to give you a general idea of where the ships were.

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