The ship struck a German naval mine off the northern coast of County Donegal, Ireland, early during the First World War.

Even though American tourists aboard one of the rescuing ships photographed and filmed the sinking battleship, the Admiralty embargoed news of her loss in Britain to prevent the Germans from taking advantage of the weakened Grand Fleet.

[4] Audacious carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 5,910 nautical miles (10,950 km; 6,800 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[3] Like the Orion class, the King George Vs were equipped with 10 breech-loading (BL) 13.5-inch (343 mm) Mark V guns in five hydraulically powered twin-gun turrets.

The squadron departed for gunnery practice off Tory Island, Ireland, on the morning of 27 October and Audacious struck a mine at 08:45, laid a few days earlier by the German auxiliary minelayer SS Berlin.

The light cruiser Liverpool stood by, while Jellicoe ordered every available destroyer and tug out to assist, but did not send out any battleships to tow Audacious because of the supposed submarine threat.

Having intercepted the stricken dreadnought's distress calls, the White Star ocean liner RMS Olympic arrived on the scene.

The ship had covered 15 miles (24 km) when the rising water forced the abandonment of the centre and starboard engine rooms and she drifted to a stop at 10:50.

[16] Liverpool and the newly arrived collier SS Thornhill then attempted to take the battleship in tow, but the lines broke before any progress could be made.

[17] Vice-Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, commander of the 1st Battle Squadron, arrived on the scene in the ocean boarding vessel Cambria and took over the rescue operation.

Upon learning that two ships had been mined in the area the day before, and that there was no threat from submarines, Jellicoe ordered the pre-dreadnought battleship Exmouth to sail at 17:00 for an attempt to tow Audacious.

[22] A Royal Navy review board judged that a contributory factor in the loss was that Audacious was not at action stations, with water-tight doors locked and damage-control teams ready.

[23] Naval historian John Roberts stated that the incident revealed the design flaws in the Royal Navy's damage-control plans for the King George V–class battleships and the other recent dreadnought classes.

Furthermore, the ship's auxiliary machinery was almost entirely steam powered, which meant that the steering, hydraulics and primary electrical systems were all disabled as flooding progressed in Audacious.

The programme featured an investigation of the wreck and the circumstances of its loss by nautical archaeologist Innes McCartney and naval historian Bill Jurens.

The diveable wreck lies upside down at a depth of 58–68 metres (190–223 ft) in clear water at 55°32′16″N 7°24′33″W / 55.53778°N 7.40917°W / 55.53778; -7.40917, some 17 miles (27 km) north-east of Tory Island.