On the
afternoon of Saturday 27 March 1943, the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Dasher
was sailing in the Clyde Estuary between Ardrossan and Arran. At 4.40 pm, there
was an enormous explosion. Within a short time, the ship sank. Of the 528 men
on board, 379 were killed by the blast or drowned.
In
commemoration of the tragedy, a memorial stone and plaque were unveiled in the
Sunken Gardens on South Beach across from the Church on 27 March 1993, the fiftieth
anniversary of the tragedy. Another plaque was installed on a sea-facing wall
of the Church in 1996.
The
photograph shows the dedication ceremony for the Church plaque in 1996. Father
Michael Lynch is at the left. The man in the centre is John Steele, researcher
and author on HMS Dasher.
Every year since 2000, there has been a commemoration
service in the Sunken Gardens followed by tea and coffee in Saint Peter's Parish
Centre. It takes place on the Sunday of or before 27 March.
Other
photographs of the HMS Dasher Memorial may be seen on the Pictures
page.