H.M.S. Mars
The HMS Mars Memorial
Charles Strudwick was aboard H.M.S. Mars from 8 Jan 1902 to 6 Jul 1904. His service record suggests that it was his first real posting after training. Boy 1st Class then O.S then A.B. He was training in Gunnery, and eventually became Gun Layer I on the 12" guns of the battleship H.M.S. Barham. In the light of what happened on 14th April 1902 he must have been one of the lucky ones.
HMS Mars visited Queenstown, Ireland (now Cobh, County Cork, Eire) and was conducting gunnery practice off the coast when a turret explosion occurred. The accident killed 12 men, including 2 officers.
Note that one of the officers, Thomas Cyril Miller, was not buried here but was taken back to Dorset.
The men were buried in the Old cemetery Clonmel, Cobh. This cemetery also has graves of some of the crew of the Submarine X5 and many graves of the victims of the Lusitania sinking in 1915.
The Inscription reads on one side:
Sacred to the memory of the Officers and men of H.M. Ship "MARS"
Who lost their lives through a Gun Accident that occurred aboard that ship on the 14th April 1902 whilst at sea off the south west coast of Ireland.
On 14th April 2002, there was a remembrance ceremony held.
For more Information see these sites:
http://www.military.ie/whatsnew/HMS_Mars.htm
http://www.battleships-cruisers.co.uk/hms_mars.htm
http://www.iol.ie/~noelray/cobh/Church.html
Click on the filenames below to download
picture files of the monument:
Please note that each file is about 2.5Mb.
Be prepared for a wait if you have a slow link