Memorial To William Richard Leggett, Hull Western Cemetery

680-1/0/10107 CHANTERLANDS AVENUE 29-JUL-05 Memorial to William Richard Leggett, H ull Western Cemetery

II Grave memorial, 1904 by unknown mason, for William Richard Leggett. White limestone pedestal monument with double plinth and cornices in the form of roofed pointed arches, capped by a sculpture of an anchor and chain resting against a rock. Inscriptions in black on the east face: 'In loving memory of my dear son William Richard Leggett, who was killed on the ill fated Trawler Crane by the Russian Baltic Fleet in the North Sea Octr 22nd 1904 Aged 28 years. In the midst of life we are in death. Erected by his loving mother' On the upper plinth on the east face is a finely inscribed side view of a trawler at sea. HISTORY: William Leggett was Second Mate to Captain Smith of the Trawler Crane. They were the two men killed by the Russian Baltic Fleet during the Dogger Bank Incident. Also known as the Russian Outrage, this incident occurred when the Russian fleet fired on the Hull Gamecock fishing fleet, mistaking the trawlers for Japanese torpedo boats. The incident nearly led to war between Britain and Russia. The monuments to the two men are of identical general design but with slight differences to the sculptural elements.

The memorial is of special historical interest for its connection with the 1904 Dogger Bank Incident. It is a human scale reminder of the tensions between the great imperial powers in the years leading up to the First World War, marking an incident involving ordinary people, which nearly led to war between Britain and Russia.