HMS L55 Memorial

Summary

A commemorative monument to a naval disaster of 1919, constructed in 1928.

Reasons for Designation

The memorial to HMS L55 is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historic interest: as evidence of the tragic impact of the First World War;
* Artistic value: a restrained and dignified memorial of good-quality, well-crafted materials;
* Group value: for its place in the Royal Naval Cemetery and its relationship with the other listed memorials and the cemetery chapel, and within the wider naval landscapes of Haslar, Gosport and Portsmouth.

History

The HM Submarine L55 memorial dates from 1928 when the remains of the crew were repatriated after almost a decade, following the raising of the sunken vessel the previous year.

The L55 was a British L-Class submarine, built on the Clyde, that had been in service for only a year before being sunk during the Allied intervention into the Russian Civil War. On 4 June 1919 the submarine unsuccessfully attacked two Bolshevik destroyers that were laying mines to protect Petrograd (now St Petersburg) and in so doing suffered damage and was sunk. Although the Bolsheviks claimed responsibility for sinking the vessel there is some doubt, as it sunk in an area heavily laid with British mines.

In 1927 the L55 was raised by the Russians; their policy not to allow British war ships within their waters was upheld, and the remains of the crew were collected by a British merchant ship before being transferred to HMS Champion to make the journey home. 32 coffins were buried in a communal grave on 7 September 1928.

The submarine went on to have a chequered career under Russian control, sinking for a second time, along with 50 men, in 1931. She became a training craft, but was damaged in 1941 and was finally broken up in 1953.

Details

A commemorative monument to a naval disaster of 1919, constructed in 1928.

MATERIALS: the memorial is constructed from dressed limestone.

DESCRIPTION: a screen memorial with a stepped arched head on a shallow rectangular base. The die has a raised border and five raised panels, the central one of which is flanked by the inscription ‘1914-1919’, and incised onto the panel is: ‘HERE ARE RECORDED / THE NAMES / OF THOSE OFFICERS / AND MEN OF / HM SUBMARINE L55 / SUNK / IN THE BALTIC ON / THE 4TH JUNE 1919 / WHO LIE BURIED / IN THIS GRAVE’. The outer four panels bear the names of the 42 victims arranged alphabetically with their ranks and ages.


This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 6 December 2016.

Sources

Websites
The Spectator, 1 September 1928, p3, accessed 5/3/2015 from http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/1st-september-1928/3/the-british-submarine-l55-was-raised-in-russian-wa
Clayhall Cemetery, Haslar Heritage Group, accessed 5/3/2015 from http://www.haslarheritagegroup.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49:clayhall-cemetery&catid=20:the-buildings-of-haslar&Itemid=109
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, ‘Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery’, accessed 5/3/2015 from http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2044620/HASLAR%20ROYAL%20NAVAL%20CEMETERY
War Memorials Register, accessed 06/12/2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/48281
War Memorials Online, accessed 06/12/2016 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/76753

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