Hebburn Cemetery, headstone for H.M.S. Kelly

HER Number:
11264

District:
S Tyneside

Site Name:
Hebburn Cemetery, headstone for H.M.S. Kelly

Place:
Hebburn

Map Sheet:
NZ36SW

Class:
Religious Ritual and Funerary

Site Type: Broad:
Grave Marker

Site Type: Specific:
Gravestone

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
WW2 headstone formed of three upright panels, the centre one having a curved top, a carved anchor and a dedication. The outer panels show the names of the dead. Central panel reads: "H.M.S. KELLY/ HERE LIE/ THE MORTAL REMAINS/ OF TWENTY MEMBERS/ OF THE SHIP'S COMPANY/ KILLED IN ACTION". "IN RESPECTFUL MEMORY OF/ LORD LOUIS/ MOUNTBATTEN/ LATER ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET/ THE EARL MOUNTBATTEN/ OF BURMA/ CAPTAIN OF H.M.S. KELLY/ WHO WAS KILLED AT MULLACHMORE/ CO. SLIGO, MONDAY 27TH AUGUST 1973". The second plaque reads: "H.M.S. KELLY/ IN MEMORY OF THE 27 MEN/ KILLED IN ACTION WITH "E" BOATS OFF/ THE GERMAN MINEFIELD IN THE NORTH SEA/ IN THE NIGHT OF 9TH MAY 1940/ THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY/ OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE SHIP AND/ WORKMEN OF HEBBURN SHIPBUILDING YARD". The third plaque reads "ALSO NINE OFFICERS AND 121 MEN/ WHO LOST THEIR LIVES WHEN H.M.S KELLY WAS SUNK/ IN THE BATTLE OF CRETE/ 23RD MAY 1941". H.M.S. Kelly was one of four destroyers sunk by bombs during the Battle of Crete in 1941.

Easting:
308

Northing:
638

Grid Reference:
NZ308638

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
North East War Memorials Project (www.newmp.org.uk) H93.01; South Tyneside Library has newspaper cuttings and photos; Newcastle Library Local Studies has a photo of H.M.S. Kelly taken around 1939; "British Vessels Lost at Sea 1939-1945", 1946, HMSO