Amazing new statue honouring Royal Navy sailors unveiled at Portsmouth's Gunwharf Quays
A STUNNING statue honouring the Royal Navy’s heroes of the deep has finally been unveiled to the world after a 12-year fundraising quest was completed.
The bronze monument was unveiled amid the coronavirus crisis during a scaled-down service at Portsmouth’s Gunwharf Quays shopping centre on Tuesday.
Featuring a one-and-a-quarter life size model of a sea mine and two divers, the tribute has been crafted to immortalise the memory of former naval base HMS Vernon, which once dominated the shopping centre site.
More than £250,000 has been raised since 2008 to design, build and fit the installation, which now stands pride of place in one of Gunwharf’s pools.
Rob Hoole, who has been part of the Vernon Project scheme since it started, said the memorial was designed to honour all those involved in mine warfare, diving and bomb and mine disposal – past, present and future.
The former naval mine clearance specialist of Waterlooville, who was based at HMS Vernon before it closed its gates for the final time on April 1, 1996, said: ‘We’re all really pleased that it is finally there. We’re bitterly disappointed that we had to scale back the unveiling but it was the most sensible thing to do.’
The monument was unveiled by Commodore Jeremy Bailey, commander of Portsmouth Naval Base.
He was supported by specialists from the navy’s elite Fleet Diving Squadron.
‘We wanted something to show the naval heritage of HMS Vernon because there was nothing there,’ added Mr Hoole. ‘The only memorial was a small one commemorating the army’s Royal Corps of Transport that shared the base.’
The statue was designed by sculptor Mark Richards and took a full day to install.
Mr Hoole said: ‘It gives you a sense of movement and likeness of the divers. It looks like they’re floating above the water.
‘People in Gunwharf are stunned by it. They think it’s beautiful.’
Yvonne Clay, senior marketing manager at Gunwharf Quays, said the shopping hub had a ‘rich and unique naval history’ and added: ‘We’re delighted to have been able to provide a fitting and authentic home for the new monument.’
A public unveiling ceremony is planned to take place after the coronavirus crisis has subsided.