Memorial To Heroes Of The Marine Engine Room

Monument. This memorial was designed in 1916 by Sir William Goscombe John, originally to commemorate the engineers of the SS Titanic. It stands on the west end of St Nicholas Place, Liverpool.

The memorial is a banded granite obelisk, 14.5 metres high, rising from a pedestal that sits upon a tall, square, chamfered plinth. Carved in relief on the east and west faces of the pedestal are life-size figures representing the Engine Room Heroes: stokers are depicted on the east face and engineers on the west. Corner carvings at the base of the obelisk, above the figures, represent Water (northwest), Earth (northeast), Fire (southeast), and Air (southwest). Stylised waves in low relief appear between these carvings, with a rising sun emerging on each face. At the top of the obelisk, on each face, a draped female form symbolises the sea. The figures grasp breech buoys and are grouped beneath a gilded torch flame that crowns the monument. An inscription on the south face reads: "THE BRAVE DO NOT DIE / THEIR DEEDS LIVE ON FOREVER / AND CALL UPON US / TO EMULATE THEIR COURAGE / AND DEVOTION TO DUTY”. The north face bears the inscription: "IN HONOUR OF / ALL HEROES OF THE / MARINE ENGINE ROOM / THIS MEMORIAL / WAS ERECTED BY / INTERNATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION / MCMXVI”.

Originally intended to commemorate the 32 Titanic engineers who remained at their posts to allow passengers to escape, the memorial was subsequently dedicated to all maritime engine room fatalities due to the high loss of life at sea during the First World War. It is considered to have influenced the design of later war memorials, particularly in its portrayal of ordinary people rather than social or military elites, and is thought to be one of the most artistically significant memorials to the Titanic disaster.