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 14/01/1883. SON OF THE LATE JOHN HENRY & ELIZABETH WATSON, OF 58, WITTY STREET, HESSLE ROAD, HULL. HIS WIFE MARGARET ANN WATSON LIVED AT 84, EASTBOURNE STREET, HULL. HE FORMERLY WORKED FOR THE GREAT NORTHERN STEAM FISHING COMPANY. HE WAS KILLED BY A MINE EXPLOSION, ON THE TRAWLER 'OTHELLO II', WITH SEVEN OTHER CREW, WHE […]
Able Seaman
BORN LONDON 04/12/1896. STRAND. HIS NAME IS RECORDED ON HULL'S WALKER STREET MEMORIAL. HIS SISTER JANE LIVED IN FLEET STREET, HOLBORN, LONDON. COMMEMORATED ON THE CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL On 22 March 1918, the British sloop HMS Gaillardia, built by Blyth Shipbuilding in 1917, struck a British laid mine in the Northern Barrage, Pentland […]
BORN HULL 1877. A FISHERMAN BEFORE THE WAR. MARRIED AT HULL IN 1896. HUSBAND OF EDITH SIPLING (1877-1913), OF 26 WITTY STREET, HULL (1911 CENSUS). SKIPPER OF THE TRAWLER "COMMANDER FULLERTON" LOST AT SEA ON 12/12/1917, AGED 40. HE LEFT £103 IN HIS WILL TO HIS DAUGHTER, TERCEIRA EMMA MARIE WHELAN. (CWGC RECORDS RECORD HIS SURNAME AS "WHE […]
Engineman
BORN HULL 25/10/1883. SON OF ALFRED WM & SARAH ANN E. WIFE JANE HARRIET (DALBY) ABOVE NB: WHINCUP'S ALL SERVED AT SEA - 33 CLIFTON TERRACE, JANE STREET, HULL. HMT Sapper sank with all hands on a mine laid on December 24, 1917 by the German minelaying submarine UC-71. Per Admiralty records, the explosion was witnessed by both the Ow […]
Petty Officer Stoker
BORN SKIPSEA 29/05/1875. SON OF WILLIAM & GRACE WHITE, OF CHARLOTTE STREET, OF HULL. HE MARRIED IN 1902. HIS WIFE CATHERINE (FEGAN) WHITE, LIVED AT 162 HIGH STREET, SHEERNESS AND AT 44 BRITTON STREET, GILLINGHAM, KENT. DROWNED ON 05/05/1918, AGED 44. HE HELD THE LONG SERVICE AND GOOD CONDUCT MEDAL. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE WITHERN […]
91 , CUMBERLAND STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
31/12/1915
Aged
26
BORN HULL 14/11/1888. TRAWLER ENGINEER. SERVED WITH THE ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE. LOST AT SEA, ON NEW YEARS EVE, 1915, AGED 26. HIS WIFE MINNIE LIVED AT 91, CUMBERLAND STREET, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS) AND 9, JOHN STREET, KINGSTON SQUARE, HULL. HIS PARENTS LIVED 117 WOODCOCK STREET, HULL. HE IS ALSO LISTED AS KILLED, ON HULL'S ENGLISH STRE […]
BORN HULL 23/06/1894. SON OF ALBERT ERNEST WHITING (1873-1926) AND MARY ANN "POLLY" CUNNINGHAM (1874-1936), OF 37, HAVELOCK STREET, HULL. ONE OF TEN CHILDREN. HE MARRIED AT ST JAMES CHURCH, HULL, IN 1917. HUBAND OF ROSE CHORLTON (1899-1984), OF 261, BOULEVARD, HULL. (NAVAL RECORDS ADDRESS). AN ASSISTANT BAKER (1911 CENSUS). HE THEN WO […]
BORN HULL 27/03/1895. WIFE GERTRUDE WHITTAKER. NAVAL RECORDS ADDRESS. COMMEMORATED AT CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL, KENT. The eighth HMS VANGUARD of the British Royal Navy was a St Vincent class battleship, an enhancement of the ´dreadnought´ design built by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness. She was launched in April 1909, commissioned into the R […]
BORN HULL 22/10/1874. SON OF GEORGE WIGG, OF HULL. HUSBAND OF ROSINA WIGG, AT 16 NORTHGATE ST, GREAT YARMOUTH. HMD Ocean Plough, built by Crabtree & Co. Ltd., Great Yarmouth in 1912 and operated at the time of her loss by Royal Navy, was a British navy drifter of 99 tons. On August 27th, 1916, HMD Ocean Plough was sunk by a mine fro […]
Deck Hand
BORN HULL 01/07/1878. SON OF JAMES EXON WILEMAN & SUSANNAH COX (1840-1895). KNOWN AS "YOUNG SCAMP" ON THE HULL FISH DOCKS. HE WAS BROUGHT UP IN THE NEWLAND ORPHANAGE. HIS SISTER SUSSANAH (WILEMAN) WILKINSON LIVED AT 85 , WELLSTED STREET, HULL, (CWGC ADDRESS). HE HAD BEEN AWARDED THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL (DSM) FOR HIS MINESWE […]
Deck Hand
109 LONG WESTGATE, SCARBOROUGH, , NORTH YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
18/06/1917
Aged
32
BORN HULL 01/11/1885. SON OF EDWARD & JANE, AT 139 LONG WEST GATE, SCARBOROUGH. (1911 CENSUS). HIS WIFE MARY LIVED AT THIS ADDRESS, SCARBOROUGH. DECKHAN LOST AT SEA, ON 18/06/1917, AGED 32. The British Navy trawler HMT Bega was torpedoed and sunk on 18 June 1917 by the German submarine U-58 (Peter Hermann) 40 miles North of Muckle Fl […]
BORN DURHAM 1881. WIFE MINNIE & THREE CHILDREN ABOVE AT 1 HERBERT'S TERRACE, SOUTH PARADE AND THIS ADDRESS. SON OF ROBERT WILSON & LATE MARY WILSON. HE WAS WELL KNOW AT QUEENS DOCK WHERE HE SAILED OUT FOR SEVEN YEARS, WORKING FOR HORLOCK SHIPOWNERS HULL AND LONDON. HE ENLISTED EARLY ON WITH MINE SWEEPERS. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED I […]
Boy 1st Class
6 COTTON TERRACE, BARNSLEY STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Area
Died on
15/10/1914
Aged
16
BORN HULL 22/01/1898. SON OF MARY SOUTHWELL & THE LATE GEORGE HENRY WINSHIP ABOVE ADDRESS. LISTED ON THE BARNSLEY STREET MEMORIAL. HE WAS LOST AT SEA, AGED 16. HE HAD BEEN IN THE NAVY FOR FIFTEEN MONTHS AND RECENTLY PROMOTED TO BOY FIRST CLASS. HIS DEATH AND PHOTOGRAPH WERE REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON 26TH OCTOBER 1914. * HMS […]
Able Seaman
BORN HULL 04/04/1871. SON OF LUDWIG FREIDERICH (LOUIS) WITT AND EMMA LAMB. HIS FATHER WAS A SHIP STEWARD, FROM GERMANY, HIS MOTHER, WAS BORN IN HULL. HUSBAND OF GEORGINA DEBNAM WITTY (1876-1925), OF 76 CLARE STREET, BENWELL, NEWCASTLE (PROBATE ADDRESS). HE JOINED THE ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE, ON 15/05/1890. LOST AT SEA, ON 24/01/1918, AGED 47 […]
25 , HAVELOCK STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, United Kingdom
Area
Died on
20/07/1917
Aged
21
Born Hull 1896. Son of William and Mary Wood, of 25, Havelock Street, Hessle Road., Hull. He was lost at sea, on the minesweeper 'Robert Smith', on 20/07/1917, aged 21. His death was reported in the Hull Daily Mail, on 11/08/1917, with his photograph and on 21/07/1919. * HMT Robert Smith, built by Alexander Hall & Co. Ltd., Aberdeen […]
Stoker 1st Class
7 ALPHA AVENUE, NORNABELL STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Area
Died on
27/03/1917
Aged
37
BORN HULL 29/01/1881. SON OF GEORGE WOODHEAD (1854-1927) & ANNIE WHITFIELD (1856-1943), OF 2 HOLBORN TERRACE, HODGSON STREET, HULL. HE WENT TO SEA ON 10/05/1900, AGED 19. WORKED AS A FITTER AT ARGYLL MILLS, HULL. DESCRIBED AS DARK HAIR, HAZEL EYES, SALLOW COMPLEXION, THREE SCARS ON THE SIDE OF HIS HEAD AND TATTOOS ON FOREARM. SERVE […]
BORN HULL 21/12/1887. SON OF WILLIAM WRIGHT (1853-1951) & MINNIE MATTHEWS (1860-1959), AT 173 , ANLABY ROAD, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS) & 136 PLANE STREET, HULL. HUSBAND OF ETHEL MAY WRIGHT. HE WAS KILLED WHEN HIS SHIP WAS DAMAGED BY A MINE, 26/09/1918, AGED 32. HIS NAME IS COMMEMORATED ON CHATHAM HILL NAVAL MEMORIAL. ALSO COMMEMORAT […]
2 JOHNSON'S PLACE, PORTER STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
18/05/1917
Aged
32
BORN HULL 1/4/1886. SON OF CHARLES & ANNA WYSTHOFF OF NORWAY AND HULL. HIS WIFE FLORENCE SIMPSON WYSTHOFF LIVED AT THIS ADDRESS. HE WAS LOST AT SEA ON THE TRAWLER LUCKNOW WHICH WAS MINED 2 MILES FROM PORTSMOUTH ON 18/05/1917. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE CHATHAM NAVAL MONUMENT, KENT, AND LOCALLY ON THE WALKER STREET WAR MEMORIAL. Luckno […]
BORN KENT 1884. MARRIED 24/06/1908. HIS WIFE LILLY (DENTON) & CHILDREN, ARTHUR, CYRIL. ANNIE FLORRIE & LARRIE, LIVED AT 40 ETON STREET, HULL (1918 ABSENT VOTERS). HE DROWNED OFF FLAMBORO' THROUGH A COLLISION. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL, KENT. The Thomas Cornwall was a steam trawler taken over by the Admiral […]
