It is so often the case that regulations and safety checks we now take for granted were only changed after a tragedy and the unnecessary loss of life.

Following last week's look back at 'forgotten' tragedies which have hit the county over the decades, we take a look at some of the terrible events which caused such pain and heartache that their impacts continue into this day through memorials and changes in working practices.

Boat explosion

The loss of almost 750 people on the HMS Bulwark as it was moored off Kingsnorth, on Hoo, in November 1914, was a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. Yet, remarkably, just six months later a ship would follow it to a similarly traumatic watery grave.

The HMS Princess Irene was built in Scotland to be an ocean liner taking passengers between Canada and the US. But the outbreak of hostilities saw it requisitioned for use in the First World War.

It was used as a minelayer in and around the Channel. On the morning of May 27, 1915, it was moored at Saltpan Reach, 400 yards off Port Victoria on the Isle of Grain.

It had been loaded up with mines for its third mission. The ship was a hive of activity as dockyard staff worked to strengthen its improvised gun decks. But then disaster struck.

At 11.14am a huge explosion ripped through the ship - more powerful than that on the Bulwark - and completely destroyed the vessel.

Witnesses said flame 300ft high shot into the sky and after the smoke cleared the ship was gone, along with two barges moored alongside it.

Some 352 people were killed - including 273 crew and 76 dockyard workers. Others were killed by falling debris which was blown up to 20 miles away. People in Sittingbourne were hurt and body parts found across the surrounding area.

An officer on a nearby vessel said of the sight: "She did not go down she simply went up and distributed her remains over an area of a score of miles."

An investigation into the tragedy discovered it was most likely caused by a faulty primer on one of the mines and that their priming was being carried out quickly by untrained personnel.

Bodies of those killed are buried at Woodland Cemetery in Gillingham. The shattered remains continue to lie in the water of the Medway estuary.

Bridge tragedy

For generations, hop-picking was part of their lives - a harvest which provided plenty of work given Kent's vast acreage grown to feed the brewing business. It was hard work, often done by families who could enjoy the outdoors while also earning a fair wage.

The days leading up to October 20, 1853, had seen torrential rain hammer the county. So much so that the River Medway had burst its banks in many areas making the route to and from work a treacherous one for those working the fields.

As the hop-pickers finished their day at a field in Hadlow, near Tonbridge, the landowner arranged for a covered wagon pulled by two horses to transport them back to their homes in Tudeley, on the other side of the swollen river. Such were the numbers needing transport the carriage made one trip over the bridge at Hartlake and then returned to take some 40 more.

Men, women and children, packed the wagon as it was pulled through the floodwaters. But as it reached the crest of the wooden bridge a tragic string of events unfolded.

One of the horses stumbled, spooking the other which veered to one side. The wagon swerved dangerously and crashed through the wooden barriers spilling all those onboard into the turbulent cold waters.

The Illustrated London Times reported at the time: "The horse broke free and tried to escape, clambering over women and children who were also being pulled under by the raging current and wagon debris.

"For a few moments the scene must have been so horrific with people shouting and screaming as people were being swept below the water. Some pickers managed to climb to safety and tried to help the many cries for help, from their loved ones that they were with only seconds ago."

Some 30 people died. Victims were aged between two and 59. The jury returned a verdict of accidental drowning entirely brought about by the state of the bridge. The coroner recommended that the structure be ripped down and replaced by a stone or brick one.

The victims were buried in the graveyard of St Mary's Church, Hadlow. A memorial stone was erected to remember the dead in December 1853 and still remains to this day.

Fete inferno

Ninety years ago last summer, a fete saw a fun-filled fire-fighting display turn into a blaze which would deprive 15 people - among them many children - their lives.

It should have been the climax to a happy annual event, staged in Gillingham Park to raise money for St Bart’s Hospital on July 11, 1929.

The highlight was what was known as the Fireman's Wedding. Throughout the afternoon, Frederick Worrall, 30, a driver for Gillingham Council, had joked with visitors dressed as a bride.

The culmination of the fete was to be his 'wedding' to fireman Arthur Tabrett, 45, and the reception in a mock house – a tall, temporary wooden structure, from which the 'guests' would all be rescued after it caught fire.

The plan was to first simulate fire using a red glowing light and smoke. Only when everyone was safely out, would shavings on the ground floor be set alight, and the house – constructed of poles and tarpaulin – burned down for real.

Somehow, the real fire was started too early. Everyone inside, including nine children, perished. Some were burned to death, others were injured when they leapt from the top of the structure.

At first, the hundreds of people watching thought the fire was all part of the fun. Laughter and cheers accompanied the roar of the flames and the screams of those inside.

It was not until little Molly Cheesman, aged six, screamed: “Eric’s burning, Eric’s burning,” that they realised things had gone disastrously wrong. Molly’s brother was among the 'wedding guests' inside.

Efforts to extinguish the blaze proved too little, too late. The boys who died ranged in age from 10 to 14. An inquest recorded a death by misadventure. It was not able to be proved who had lit the shavings or why. It also heard a message of condolence sent by King George V. A memorial to those who perished is in the park.

Walkway collapse

At around 1am on September 14, 1994, foot passengers started to board a cross-Channel ferry, the Ostend Line's Prins Filip - which was operated with Sally Lines - at the Port of Ramsgate.

They were heading to Ostend and were using a covered walkway to reach the deck of the vessel - then one of the biggest cross-Channel ferries.

But as they did so the walkway collapsed. Passengers fell 30ft, tumbling to a floating steel pontoon below. Five people died instantly - a sixth later in hospital. Some seven others received serious injuries - many multiple lower limb fractures.

Among the dead were two British men, two French tourists and others from Belgium and Italy.

Emergency crews found the darkness and difficulty in accessing the pontoon a real problem as they tried to free those trapped in the wreckage.

A major investigation was launched into the tragedy.

It discovered the walkway was held in position by a single steel pin. Designers had not allowed for the impact wind, tides and traffic would have. They rocked at one end causing the entire weight to shift to just two of its four feet.

The prosecutor in the criminal case said: ''The design was inherently unsafe and it has to be said that this was a design that was both inept and incompetent.

''It was an accident waiting to happen and it happened earlier rather than later because of poor welding.''

The port operators were found guilty of failing to ensure the safety of passengers along with two Swedish companies which manufactured and installed the gangway.

They were fined a total of £1.7million - the largest fine, at the time, in the UK for breaching health and safety laws.

The Prins Filip is now operating as the DFDS ship the MS Calais Seaways, between Dover and Calais.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent