Submariners' Memorial

An obelisk memorial to a submarine disaster, 1904, with later inscriptions to three subsequent submarine tragedies.

MATERIALS and PLAN: it is built from dressed Portland stone and stands on a square stone base.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is in the form of an obelisk. It has a slightly tapered pedestal upon which are the inscriptions in applied metal lettering. A moulded cornice with reeding, filleting and chamfering forms the junction with the shaft, and below is a dressed and chamfered plinth.

The four faces of the monument are inscribed thus:

‘THIS OBELISK HAS / BEEN ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THOSE / OFFICERS AND MEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES / IN HM SUBMARINE A1 / ON THE OCCASION OF HER FOUNDERING / AFTER COLLISION ON 18TH MARCH 1904 / OFF THE NAB LIGHT VESSEL’ followed by the names of 11 officers and crew ordered by rank.

‘ALSO IN MEMORY OF / THOSE OFFICERS AND MEN / WHO WERE KILLED BY AN EXPLOSION / ON BOARD HM SUBMARINE A5 / AT QUEENSTOWN 16TH FEBRUARY 1905’ followed by the names of six officers and crew ordered by rank.

‘ALSO IN MEMORY OF / THOSE OFFICERS AND MEN WHO LOST THEIR / LIVES IN HM SUBMARINE A8, WHICH / ACCIDENTALLY FOUNDERED OFF PLYMOUTH / ON 8TH JUNE 1905’ followed by the names of the 15 officers and crew ordered by rank.

‘ALSO IN MEMORY OF THE / OFFICERS AND MEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES / IN HM SUBMARINE BOAT A3 / WHICH FOUNDERED AFTER COLLISION / OFF THE ISLE OF WIGHT / FEBRUARY 2ND 1912’ followed by the names of 14 officers and crew ordered by rank.