The Vernon Mine Warfare and Diving Monument
RAISED AND UNVEILED ON TUESDAY 17TH MARCH 2020. DEDICATED ON FRIDAY 15TH JULY 2022
The bronze Monument commemorates HMS VERNON and all those who served there, both ashore and afloat. It consists of a moored mine and two divers. The mine component of the statue honours those involved in mine design, minelaying, sweeping, hunting or who served in mine countermeasures vessels, past and present. The two divers, in Clearance Diving Breathing Apparatus, are a tribute to those involved in naval and military diving as well as bomb and mine disposal. It was raised and unveiled on 17th March 2020 and a Dedication Ceremony was held on 15th July 2022.
The statue, by Mark Richards FRSS, provides a commemorative monument to all those who served at HMS VERNON and acts as a fitting memorial to those who died while engaged in mine warfare and diving operations.
The Monument is located in a seawater pool at Gunwharf Quays adjoining a waterway known historically as “Vernon Creek” which originally serviced the King’s Mill, once located some four hundred metres to the east. Gunwharf Quays was built on the site of the old HMS VERNON.
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HMS VERNON
HMS VERNON was the home to a wide range of underwater warfare specialist organisations and it stood on this site before Gunwharf Quays. Over the years, training at VERNON included Torpedoes and Anti-submarine Warfare; Mine Warfare, including Mine Laying, Minesweeping, Mine Hunting; Diving, including Clearance Diving and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Bomb a and Mine Disposal).
In the 20th Century HMS Vernon was an operational Naval base and the seaward end of the Creek provided a regular berth for a range of Royal Navy, Royal Naval Reserve and Auxiliary vessels, including Minesweepers, Mine Hunters and Diving Tenders. Read more about HMS VERNON.
Ton Class Minesweepers and Hunters alongside Marlborough Pier, Vernon Creek and the Maintenance Jetty c1970. Read more about the Ton Class.
HMS VERNON as a Naval Base
