Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
A long time ago, a Royal Navy ship called HMS Tiger sank in the sea. This happened in the year 1908.
The ship sank after it crashed into a bigger ship one night. Many sailors on HMS Tiger died that night.
For 118 years, nobody knew exactly where the ship was. Now, divers have found it near the Isle of Wight, in England.
The government will now protect the wreck. This means people must be careful with the old ship and respect it.
- navy
- the part of a country's military that fights at sea
- sank
- went down under the water; the past form of sink
- crash
- to hit something hard by accident
- sailor
- a person who works on a ship
- diver
- a person who swims underwater, often with special equipment
- wreck
- the broken remains of a ship, car, or plane
- government
- the group of people who lead and run a country
- protect
- to keep something safe from harm
Level 2 — Elementary
The wreck of HMS Tiger, a Royal Navy destroyer, has finally been located off the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, 118 years after the ship sank in 1908.
HMS Tiger was cut in two after colliding with a much larger cruiser, HMS Berwick, during a nighttime training exercise. Of the 57 sailors aboard, fewer than half survived.
A team called ProjectXplore spent five years searching through old records and archives to figure out where the ship might be resting on the seabed.
The wreck will now be protected under new legislation being considered by the UK Parliament, which aims to give better protection to military shipwrecks like HMS Tiger.
- destroyer
- a small, fast warship built to protect larger ships and attack enemy vessels
- locate
- to find the exact position of something
- collide
- to crash together, especially of moving objects
- cruiser
- a large, fast warship used for long voyages
- survive
- to remain alive through a dangerous event
- archive
- a collection of historical documents or records
- seabed
- the ground at the bottom of the sea
- legislation
- laws that have been proposed or passed by a government
Level 3 — Intermediate
The long-lost wreck of HMS Tiger, a Royal Navy C-class destroyer built by John Brown and Company in Clydebank, has been located off the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, bringing closure to a mystery that has persisted since the vessel sank in 1908.
Tiger was struck and cut in two by HMS Berwick, a considerably larger cruiser, during a nighttime training exercise, an accident that claimed the lives of more than half of the 57 sailors serving aboard at the time.
Locating the wreck required painstaking detective work: the ProjectXplore team spent five years combing through archival records, historical accounts, and navigational data before narrowing down the likely resting place on the seabed with enough confidence to confirm the find.
The discovery arrives as the UK Parliament considers new legislation intended to strengthen protections for military shipwrecks, a development that will grant HMS Tiger formal legal status safeguarding it from disturbance or unauthorized salvage.
- closure
- a feeling or state of resolution after something unresolved
- considerably
- to a large or notable degree
- painstaking
- done with great care and thoroughness
- detective work
- careful investigation used to uncover facts or solve a mystery
- navigational
- relating to the planning and directing of a course, especially at sea
- confirm
- to establish that something is true or accurate
- safeguard
- to protect something from harm or loss
- salvage
- the act of recovering items, especially from a wrecked ship
Level 4 — Advanced
The wreck of HMS Tiger, a Royal Navy C-class destroyer constructed by John Brown and Company at Clydebank and commissioned in 1901, has at last been definitively located off the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, resolving a maritime mystery that has endured since the vessel's catastrophic loss in 1908.
Tiger was struck amidships and severed in two by HMS Berwick, a substantially larger cruiser, during a nocturnal fleet exercise, a collision whose violence claimed the lives of more than half of the 57 crew members aboard and stands among the era's more sobering illustrations of the hazards inherent in peacetime naval training.
Pinpointing the wreck's precise location demanded five years of meticulous archival reconstruction by the ProjectXplore team, who cross-referenced historical navigational logs, contemporary press accounts, and admiralty records to narrow an extensive search area on the seabed to a site that could be confirmed with reasonable certainty.
The find coincides with the UK Parliament's deliberation over strengthened legislation governing the protection of military shipwrecks, a legal development that will confer formal safeguarded status on HMS Tiger, shielding the site from unauthorized disturbance or salvage and preserving it as a war grave befitting the sailors who perished aboard her.
- commission
- to formally bring a ship into active service
- amidships
- in or toward the middle of a ship
- sever
- to cut or break something apart completely
- nocturnal
- occurring during the night
- sobering
- causing one to think seriously or feel less carefree
- meticulous
- showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise
- admiralty
- the branch of a government responsible for naval affairs
- confer
- to grant or bestow a right, title, or status
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