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RN Visit Cork
HMS Richmond is due in Cork this weekend.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/pport/w...aewFBADppk.asp
07/02/05
Huge British frigate to pay a visit to Cork
By Peter Levy
ONE of the largest ships in the British Royal Navy is to call to Cork on Thursday to commemorate a tragedy which took place in Cork Harbour 100 years ago.
The frigate, HMS Richmond, is to berth at the city’s North Custom House Quay.
Security is expected to be tight for the arrival of the ship. Royal Navy vessels have docked before, but this is the largest ship to call to Cork for some time.
The tragedy being commemorated took place when six men were killed on one of the earliest submarines which was being tested off Haulbowline on February 16, 1905.
John Gregory, secretary of the Royal Naval Association in Cork, said that the accident off Haulbowline, which was then the main British naval base in Ireland, took place when the submarine was being refuelled.
“A spark from an electric fan used to vent the submarine set off an explosion,” he said.
Of the six men killed, five are buried in Cobh and one man, an officer, was buried in England.
A joint commemoration, involving members of the Irish Naval Service and the Royal Navy, will take place at the Old Clonmel Cemetery in Cobh.
A commemorative dinner takes place on Friday at the Rochestown Park Hotel.
A church service follows at Christchurch, Rushbrooke, at 9.45am on Sunday, followed by the wreath-laying ceremony in the Old Clonmel Cemetery in Cobh.
Present will be the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Sean Martin, a representative from the British Embassy and representatives from the Irish Defence Forces.
The Irish Naval Service has donated a granite block which will be carved into a memorial for the event.
The submarine A5 was one of the first to be built for the Royal Navy, based on the design of the inventor of the modern submarine, Co Clare man John P Holland.
HMS Richmond is one of 16 ships that are the mainstay of Britain’s modern surface fleet.
Huge British frigate to pay a visit to Cork
By Peter Levy
ONE of the largest ships in the British Royal Navy is to call to Cork on Thursday to commemorate a tragedy which took place in Cork Harbour 100 years ago.
The frigate, HMS Richmond, is to berth at the city’s North Custom House Quay.
Security is expected to be tight for the arrival of the ship. Royal Navy vessels have docked before, but this is the largest ship to call to Cork for some time.
The tragedy being commemorated took place when six men were killed on one of the earliest submarines which was being tested off Haulbowline on February 16, 1905.
John Gregory, secretary of the Royal Naval Association in Cork, said that the accident off Haulbowline, which was then the main British naval base in Ireland, took place when the submarine was being refuelled.
“A spark from an electric fan used to vent the submarine set off an explosion,” he said.
Of the six men killed, five are buried in Cobh and one man, an officer, was buried in England.
A joint commemoration, involving members of the Irish Naval Service and the Royal Navy, will take place at the Old Clonmel Cemetery in Cobh.
A commemorative dinner takes place on Friday at the Rochestown Park Hotel.
A church service follows at Christchurch, Rushbrooke, at 9.45am on Sunday, followed by the wreath-laying ceremony in the Old Clonmel Cemetery in Cobh.
Present will be the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Sean Martin, a representative from the British Embassy and representatives from the Irish Defence Forces.
The Irish Naval Service has donated a granite block which will be carved into a memorial for the event.
The submarine A5 was one of the first to be built for the Royal Navy, based on the design of the inventor of the modern submarine, Co Clare man John P Holland.
HMS Richmond is one of 16 ships that are the mainstay of Britain’s modern surface fleet.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/pport/w...aewFBADppk.asp
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