Overlooking the town of Chatham in Kent is the Chatham Naval Memorial. It commemorates more than 8,500 Royal Navy personnel of the First World War and over 10,000 of the Second World War who were lost or buried at sea.
More than 45,000 men and women lost their lives while serving with the Royal Navy during the First World War. After the Armistice, the naval authorities and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission were determined to find an appropriate way to commemorate naval personnel who had no grave.
KEY FEATURES
Chatham Naval Memorial is one of three naval memorials in the UK. The others are at Plymouth and Portsmouth
All three memorials were designed by Sir Robert Lorimer with sculpture by Henry Poole. Each design is the same with an obelisk of Portland stone surmounted by a copper sphere The memorial commemorates more than 8,500 Royal Navy personnel of the First World War and over 10,000 of the Second World War
The Second World War extension was designed by Sir Edward Maufe
It is made of Portland stone with bronze plaques
The memorial was unveiled on 26 April 1924 by the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VIII). The extension was unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh on 15 October 1952.
BORN HULL 30/06/1888. SON OF JONATHAN STEPHENSON (1843-1919) & JOHANNA ESKRETT STEPHENSON (1845-1906), OF 35 TRINITY HOUSE, CARR LANE. HE HAD TEN SIBLINGS. EMPLOYED AS A MARINE STOKER. HE MARRIED AT HULL, IN 1909. HIS WIFE JESSIE (1883-1963), LIVED AT 7, WILLIAM STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). THEY HAD A SON, ALEXANDER AND ONE DAUGHT […]
BORN HULL 07/10/1891. SON OF MARY CLAPPISON (1857-1934) & WILLIAM STOCKTON (1855-1904), OF 107, HAVELOCK STREET, HULL (1911 CENSUS) AND 35, TYNE STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). HE HAD SEVEN BROTHERS AND ONE SISTER. EMPLOYED AS A MARINE TRIMMER. LOST AT SEA ON THE TRAWLER, "COTSMUIR", 22/02/1917, AGED 26. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE […]
Stoker
3 ASH BROOK, BUCKINGHAM STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
02/05/1917
Aged
41
BORN BIRMINGHAM 1876. WIFE MARTHA STOKES. JOINED RECKITTS 0N 5/2/08. HIS SHIP HIT A MINE IN THE CHANNEL. PHOTO. HULL GARDENER SOCIETY. FIREMAN. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL, KENT, UK. HMS Derwent, built by Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Ltd., Newcastle in 1903 and owned at the time of her loss by Royal Navy, was a Briti […]
BORN HULL 31/10/1876. SON OF GEORGE AND SARAH ANN STRIDE. A SEAMAN, WITH HIS BROTHERS, WALTER AND THOMAS. HE MARRIED IN 1901. HIS WIFE, SARAH ANN POTTER (1881-1953), LIVED AT 2 HOPE TERRACE, WALKER STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). HE HAD 5 CHILDREN. SERVED ON THE TRAWLER, "SPEETON". LOST AT SEA, ON 31/12/1915, AGED 39. TWO DAUGHTERS, IVY AN […]
Able Seaman
BORN SYRACUSE, NEBRASKA, USA, 20/02/1885. SON OF THOMAS SUGDEN (1849-1922) AND ALICE AGNES JOHNSON (1852-1894). SON OF A SEA CAPTAIN. HIS PARENTS MOVED TO AMERICA, IN THE 1880'S, AND RETURNED TO ENGLAND. HE JOINED THE ROYAL NAVY ON 10/10/1901. TRAINED AT CHATHAM. HE LIVED IN SKIPTON AND BRADFORD. MARRIED LILY FLOWERS, AT GOLCAR, YORKS, O […]
Engineman
5 THE AVENUE CRESCENT, ALBEMARLE STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Area
Died on
22/03/1918
Aged
27
BORN KNOTTINGLEY, YORKSHIRE, 30/03/1890. SON OF JAMES THOMAS SWAN (1861-1913) & SARAH ELLEN STANHOPE (1864-1936), OF 285 BOULEVARD, HULL. ONE OF TEN CHILDREN. MARRIED AT SCULCOATES, HULL, IN 1912. HUSBAND OF WIFE ELIZABETH (LODIGUS) SWAN, OF 5 THE AVENUE CRESCENT, ALBEMARLE STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). THEIR DAUGHTER IRENE WAS BORN […]
BORN GRIMSBY 04/11/1892. SON OF WILLIAM HENRY TAYLOR & JESSIE TAYLOR, AT 4 ST ANDREW'S TERRACE, GILLETT STREET, HULL. HIS WIFE MINNIE LIVED LIVED AT 111 HAVELOCK STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS) & 3 ALMA TERRACE, ELM STREET, QUEENS ROAD, HULL. HE WAS LOST AT SEA, ON THE TRAWLER, 'KING EMPEROR', ON 04/02/1916, AGED 23. HE IS BROTHER, T […]
6 BRUNSWICK AVENUE, LIVERPOOL STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Area
Died on
17/02/1917
Aged
45
BORN BRADFORD 1872. WIFE MARTHA TENNANT ABOVE ADDRESS. HIS PARENTS LIVED AT 36 ALDBOROUGH TERRACE, SCOTT STREET. BEFORE THE WAR HE SERVED ON HULL CUTTER AND RESIDED WITH HIS PARENTS AT THIS ADDRESS. JOHN WAS INVOLVED IN A TRAIN DE-RAILMENT AT NEWARK IN 1915 AND WAS AWARDED A SILVER WATCH BY THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY COMPANY FOR RESCUI […]
Deck Hand
9 RICHMOND TERRACE, STRICKLAND STREET, HULL, UK
Died on
20/01/1917
Aged
33
BORN HULL 31/01/1884. HE MARRIED ADA LOISE BRUCE, AT HULL, IN 1915. HIS WIDOW, ADA LOUISA THOMPSON, OF 5 ROSE STREET, PETERHEAD, UK (CWGC ADDRESS) AND 9 RICHMOND TERRACE, STRICKLAND STREET, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS). HE SERVED AS ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE, DECKHAND, ON THE TRAWLER "RAVEN". DIED AT SEA, ON 20/01/1917, AGED 33. ACCIDENTALLY DR […]
BORN HULL 30/09/1883. MOTHER HARRIET LIVED AT 122 YORK STREET, HULL. DIED AT SEA ON 28/02/1916, WHEN HIS TRAWLER WAS MINED. From Admiralty report ADM137 / 376 in the National Archives. On Monday the 28th February H.M.A.T. 'WEIGELIA' No. 153, was mined in Lat. 51.8' 30" N. Long. 1.27' 35" E. At the time she was attempting to destroy a m […]
ABLE SEAMAN
Died on
05/02/1917
Aged
19
SON OF GEORGE HENRY TODD (1866-1944) & ELIZA ANN ROUGHTON (1871-1926), OF 70 , COURTNEY STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). SON A CEMENT WORKS WAGGONER. HE WORKED AS A FLOUR MILL LABOURER (1911 CENSUS). HE HAD FIVE BROTHERS AND ONE SISTER. ABLE SEAMAN, HERBERT LILY TODD, Z6985, RNVR, WAS ACCIDENTALLY KILLED ON HMS "VALLIANT", ON 05/02/1917 […]
BORN HULL 23/01/1890. SON OF GEORGE TREVOR (1835-1893) & ANNIE ELIZABETH WOOLAS, OF 182, WATERLOO STREET, HULL. (WAR PENSION & NAVAL RECORDS ADDRESS). On May 1st, 1915, the British iron minesweeper COLUMBIA, built in 1887 by Matthew Pearse & Co. Ltd. and operated at the time of her loss by British Royal Navy, Admiralty, Rn, […]
BORN BOSTON, LINCS, 1893. SON OF CHARLES TUCKER (1867-1931) & ROSE ANN FERRAND (1869-1935), OF 6 LAURA GROVE, TYNE STREET, HULL. DECKHAND ON THE MINESWEEPER TRAWLER, 'ROBERT SMITH'. DROWNED ON 20/07/1917, AGED 25. UNMARRIED. HIS FATHER AND TWO BROTHERS CHARLES & WILLIAM ALSO SERVED, ON MINESWEEPERS. HE LEFT SIX SISTERS. HIS DEATH […]
Able Seaman
4 RICHMOND TERRACE, STRICKLAND STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, United Kingdom
Died on
17/10/1917
Aged
26
BORN BRIGG, LINCOLN 01/12/1890. SON OF CHARLES & MARY E HALES, OF 4 RICHMOND TERRACE, STRICKLAND STREET, HULL. WIFE EDITH LIVED EAST GRINSTEAD. HMS STRONGBOW, British, R class Destroyer. Whilst escorting a convoy from Norway they were attacked by the German cruisers Brummer and Bremse in the North Sea. The German cruisers went on t […]
Stoker 1st Class
6, TORQUAY VILLAS, ROSMEAD STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Area
Died on
15/10/1914
Aged
38
BORN HULL 17/2/1876. SON OF WILLIAM HENRY UPFOLD (1850-1908), A ROYAL MARINE COLOUR SERGEANT & HIS WIFE MARIA DURHAM (B. 1859) , ST PAUL'S STREET, HULL. WILLIAM WAS AN ONLY CHILD AND THE FAMILY MOVED FREQUENTLY AS PART OF HIS FATHER'S ROYAL MARINE DUTIES. THEY WERE LIVING IN GILLINGHAM,KENT (1891), HULL (1891), STANLEY, YORKS (1901) […]
3 CRYSTAL AVENUE, SUBWAY STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Area
Died on
08/06/1916
Aged
29
BORN HULL 13/06/1887. SON OF WILLIAM HENRY USHER (1840-1900) AND MARGARET MOVERLEY (1845-1908). MARRIED MARY ALICE ALCOCK (1889-1953), AT HULL, ON 12/08/1911. THEY HAD TWO SONS. SERVED AS AN ENGINEMAN ON THE TRAWLER "KAPHREDA". KILLED BY MINE EXPLOSION, IN THE NORTH SEA, ON 08/06/1916, AGED 29. HIS BODY WAS NOT RECOVERED AND HE IS COMMEM […]
Deck Hand
BORN HULL 16/06/1887. SON OF ARABELLA SELLERS & THE LATE JOSEPH ALFRED WALKER(DIED 1896). ONE OF NINE CHILDREN AT THIS ADDRESS. THEY MOVED TO CLEETHORPES ROAD, GRIMSBY. SERVED AS DECKHAND, ON THE PADDLE MINESWEEPER, 'BRIGHTON QUEEN'. LOST AT SEA ON 06/10/1915, AGED 27, WHEN THE SHIP WAS MINED OFF NIEUPORT. COMMEMORATED ON THE CHATHAM […]
Ship Skipper
BORN WORKSOP, 1870. SON OF ROBERT H. WALKER ABOVE ADDRESS. HUSBAND OF THE LATE HARRIET A WALKER. Lord Roberts, built by Earle's Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd., Hull in 1907 and operated at the time of her loss by Royal Navy, was a British navy trawler of 293 tons. On October 26th, 1916, Lord Roberts was sunk by a mine from the G […]
Stoker 1st Class
10 ELIZAS PLACE, WALKER STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
22/09/1914
Aged
34
BORN THORNE 14/6/1880. HIS PARENTS LIVED AT 10 ELISA'S PLACE, WALKER STREET, HULL . HE WAS MARRIED WITH 4 CHILDREN. (HDM 09/10/1914 & NAVAL RECORDS ADDRESS). HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL TIMES, WITH HIS PHOTO ON 12TH OCTOBER 1914. * HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL, KENT, UK. HIS BROTHER, E. WALKER, WAS ALSO […]
Able Seaman
5, ST GEORGES GROVE, WOODCOCK STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Area
Died on
23/02/1918
Aged
33
BORN FOLKESTONE 20/11/1884. SON OF JOHN HILIER WARMAN & ESTER STANDING. A SHIPS CARPENTER. SERVED AS A DECK HAND ON THE NAVAL TRAWLER 'MARION'. LOST AT SEA ON 23/02/1918, AGED 33, WHEN THE SHIP STRUCK A MINE OFF MALTA. SIX CREW WERE LOST. HIS SISTER, ESTHER CALEY LIVED AT 5, ST GEORGES GROVE, WOODCOCK STREET, HULL (CWGC NAVAL ADDRES […]
