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.
Stoker 1st Class
BORN HARTLEPOOL, DURHAM, 10/07/1886. SON OF MARY JANE (DOLLY) LINCOLN, AT 8 OAK AVENUE, SUBWAY STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). SERVED AS A SEAMAN, FROM, 03/12/902. DROWNED ON 11/11/1917, AGED 31, OFF THE COAST OF PALESTINE. HMS Staunch was an Acron class destroyer of the British Navy. On November 11th 1917, she was torpedoed by the German […]
3 GARDEN PLACE, RAIKES STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
30/12/1915
Aged
18
BORN HULL 26/02/1897. SON OF JOHN BURNS ABOVE. COMMEMORATED ON THE CHATHAM NAVAL MEMORIAL, KENT, UK. HMS Natal, British, Warrior class Armoured Cruiser, blew up and sank at her moorings in the Cromarty Firth, Scotland. Over 400 lives lost. The cause was speculated about at the time and there were conspiracy theories; sabotage was feared […]
Stoker
2 NEVILLS TERRACE, VAUXHALL GROVE, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Area
Died on
22/09/1914
Aged
46
BORN BOSTON, LINCS, 26/05/1869. SON OF GEORGE ROBERT & HANNAH BURSNALL. MARRIED SCULCOATES. HULL, 1895. CATHERINE ELIZABETH FIELDING WHO DIED IN 1896. THEY HAD A DAUGHTER ISOBEL. HIS SECOND WIFE ELIZABETH CLAPHAM AND SON JAMES LIVED AT THIS CWGC ADDRESS. FRANCIS BURSNALL SERVED IN THE SOUTH AFRICA WAR. HE WAS A REGULAR ROYAL NAVY STO […]
8 ASH GROVE, EASTBOURNE STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
04/05/1916
Aged
21
BORN HULL 18/03/1896. SON OF WILLIAM COULSON & ANNIE ELIZABETH LUSBY WILSON. HIS MOTHER HAD REMARRIED AFTER HER FIRST HUSBAND JOHN BUTLER HAD DIED IN 1896. STANLEY WAS KILLED BY A MINE EXPLOSION OFF THE COAST OF MALTA. HIS HALF BROTHER WILLIAM HENRY COULSON BUTLER WAS ALSO LOST AT SEA IN 1918 AND IS BURIED IN IRELAND. BOTH BROTHE […]
Telegraphist
BORN HULL 020/6/1899. SON OF MINNIE W & TOM R BUTTERWICK. ENLISTED IN THE ROYAL NAVY. BEFORE THE WAR, WORKED AS A TELEGRAM MESSENGER, AND MEMBER OF THE WELLINGTON TROOP SCOUTS, WHERE HE WAS A KING'S SCOUT AND PATROL LEADER. HE SERVED AS A TELEGRAPHIST. HE HAD JUST TURNED 18 WHEN HE WAS KILLED IN THE HMS 'VANGUARD' EXPLOSION, ON 0 […]
Able Seaman
BORN HULL 04/09/1885. SON OF ANNIE AND JOSEPH CHAPMAN, OF 13, ALASKA STREET, HULL (WAR PENSION ADDRESS). BEFORE JOINING THE MINE SWEEPING SECTION IN SEPTEMBER 1916, ALBERT WORKED ON HULL DOCKS. HIS WIFE ETHEL M. CHAPMAN & TWO CHILDREN LIVED AT 9, MIDDLETON AVENUE, RENSBURG STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). HIS THREE BROTHERS ALL SERVED IN […]
BORN HULL 05/01/1890. SON OF SAMUEL (RNRT) HMS 'WALLINGTON' & SOPHIA CHORLTON, OF 4 LONDESBOROUGH TERRACE, MARMADUKE STREET, HULL AND 261 NORTH BOULEVARD, HULL. A SINGLE MAN. HE HAD A FIANCEE, MARY. HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE HULL GARDENER SOCIETY AND A FISHERMAN, WITH THE GREAT NORTHERN STEAM FISHING COMPANY. HE WAS LOST AT SEA, ON A […]
BORN HULL 30/07/1887. WIFE WILHEMINA LIVED AT 6 ALMA TERRACE, ETON STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). HIS NAME IS LISTED ON THE ETON STREET MEMORIAL, HESSLE ROAD. 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 O […]
Stoker, 1st Class
Greenland, Patrington, Hull, UK
Died on
15/10/1914
Aged
24
Born Kilnsea, 29/12/1890. Son of Francis John Clubley (1848-1933) and Fanny Melinda Billany (1851-1943), of Greenland, Patrington, Hull. He had five brothers and one sister. Joined the Royal Navy, on 28/11/1910. Served as Stoker, 1st Class, lost when HMS "Hawke" was torpedoed in the North Sea, on 15/10/1914, aged 24. He is commeorated […]
Chief Petty Officer
BORN SCARBOROUGH 30/5/1877. ELDEST SON OF THE LATE HENRY COCKERILL & SARAH ANN COCKERILL, OF 41 BUCKINGHAM STREET, HULL. HE JOINED THE NAVY, AGE OF 15 AND SPENT 24 YEARS IN THE SERVICE. HE HAD COMPLETED HIS TERM TWO MONTHS AGO, BUT WHEN WAR CAME HE WAS RETAINED. HE A CHIEF PETTY OFFICER, IN THE ROYAL NAVY AND WAS HIGHLY RESPECTED B […]
BORN HULL 25/01/1898. HIS BROTHER HARRY, LIVED AT 15 NELLIES TERRACE & HIS MOTHER, SARAH ANN COLBY, LIVED AT 9 ALBERTS TERRACE, GILLETT STREET. NAVAL RECORDS ADDRESS. On February 12th, 1920, the British drifter LEONARD, built in 1900 and owned by British Royal Navy, left Inverkeithing for Dundee, and reported in distress, off the mou […]
Stoker 2nd Class
Stoker 2nd class Royal Navy: Service number k/37221: British War Medal, Victory Medal. The 1911 census shows Albert working as a Waggoner at Bishop Burton; the family had been brought up at Halfpenny gate cottage on the Risby estate and had lived in Walkington for most of the nineteenth century. He attended school in Little Weighto […]
Engineman
2 HUMBER AVENUE, SCARBOROUGH STREET, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
27/02/1917
Aged
32
BORN HULL 19/06/1885. SON OF EDWARD CONWAY (1844-1885) & MARY HEALAS (1853-1895), OF HULL. CHIEF ENGINEER AT THE GREAT NORTHERN STEAM FISHING COMPANY. HUSBAND OF SUSANNAH LILLIAN CONWAY & TWO CHILDREN AT THIS NAVAL ADDRESS. AND LATER 48 QUEENS AVENUE, BARTON ON HUMBER, LINCS. A ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE ENGINEMAN. HE SERVED ON THE MINE […]
CATFIELD, GREAT YARMOUTH, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
05/11/1916
Aged
26
BORN NORFOLK 29/10/1890. SON OF CHARLES JOSEPH COOK (1860-1954) & CHARLOTTE ELIZA HANNANT (1863-1948), CATFIELD, GREAT YARMOUTH. HIS NAME IS LISTED ON ST MARY'S, LOWGATE ROH. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL, ON 26/08/1918. Cantatrice, built by Cook, Welton & Gemmell, Ltd., Beverley in 1915 and hired at the time of […]
Able Seaman
BORN HULL 19/01/1899. SON OF JAMES & HARRIET COOK AT 48, TADMAN STREET, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). KILLED AT SCAPA FLOW, ON 09/07/1917, AGED 18. HIS NAME IS LISTED ON HULL'S WALKER STREET MEMORIAL, THE HULL TECHNICAL COLLEGE WW1 MEMORIAL AND THE PORTSMOUTH NAVAL MEMORIAL.. The eighth HMS Vanguard of the British Royal Navy was a St Vince […]
Ship Skipper
BORN HULL 26/08/1880. SON OF GEORGE EMMANUEL COOK (1846-1917) AND JANE SANDERSON, OF HULL. HE MARRIED KATE DANIELS (1883-1905), IN HULL, IN 1901. THEY HAD THREE CHILDREN, LYDIA, GEORGE AND ARTHUR. HE MARRIED FLORENCE LOUISA LEE (1884-1958) AND HAD ANOTHER SON, THOMAS ANDREW COOK. HE SERVED IN THE ROYAL NAVAL RESERVE, AND WAS SKIPPER […]
Stoker First Class
BORN HULL 01/11/1882. SON OF ROBERT HAYLETT COOPER (1851-1910) AND HARRIET CLARK (1852-1930). HE HAD THREE BROTHERS AND THREE SISTERS. HIS FATHER DIED IN 1910. HE WAS SERVING AS A ROYAL NAVY, STOKER, AT CHATHAM DOCKS, KENT (1911 CENSUS). DIED ON HMS "HOGUE, 22/09/1914, AGED 32. HIS WAR PENSION WENT TO HIS FOSTER MOTHER MRS PHOEBE ANN […]
2nd Engineer
BORN HULL 28/07/1890. WIFE ETHEL (HILL) & DAUGHTER ABOVE. SON OF THE LATE JOHN & ELIZABETH COULSON -12 WOOLSEY GROVE, STAMFORD PLACE, HULL. THE ONLY BROTHER OF MRS G A NEWTON, 12 WOLSELEY TERRACE, SOUTH PARADE. HIS DEATH WAS REPORTED IN THE HULL DAILY MAIL ON 7TH & 14TH FEBRUARY 1917 WITH HIS PHOTOGRAPH. * JACAMAR was an Admi […]
Engineman
, PORTLAND PLACE, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Died on
30/04/1917
Aged
32
BORN HULL 16/08/1885. WIFE JENNIE LIVED 24 WEST BAY, CHESWELL, PORTLAND. The Arfon was built in 1908 in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire. It worked out of Portland Harbour Naval Base during the First World War, sweeping mines laid by German U-boats along the inshore shipping lanes off the Dorset coast for three years before striking a min […]
1, NEWTON ENTRY, SALTHOUSE LANE, HULL, EAST YORKSHIRE, UK
Area
Died on
30/12/1915
Aged
19
BORN HULL 06/01/1897. PARENTS JOHN THOMAS & ANNIE ELIZABETH CROPPER, OF, 1, NEWTON ENTRY, SALTHOUSE LANE, HULL. HE ENLISTED IN THE ROYAL MARINE LIGHT INFANTRY. WAS ATTACHED TO HMS 'NATAL, WHICH EXPLODED IN DOCK, KILLING 400 MEN. HE DIED ON 30/12/1915, AGED 19. HIS BODY WAS NEVER FOUND AND HE IS COMMEMORATED AT THE CHATHAM NAVAL MEMO […]
