Royal Navy veterans launch £15k fundraiser for memorial honouring sinking of HMS Sheffield

HMS Sheffield was sunk almost 40 years ago, after being blasted by an Argentine missile.

Now, the men who served in three Royal Navy ships to bear the steel city’s names intend to create a focal point in the UK to meet and pay their respects.

The HMS Sheffield Association aims to drum up the cash by May, in time for the 40th anniversary of the sinking.

The association – formed nearly 50 years ago to represent sailors of the Second World War cruiser, then the Type 42 and most recently the Type 22 frigate, built to replace the Falklands loss – has already had a scale model of the monument designed.

North End navy veteran Bob Mullen was a 23-year-old Leading Hand (Radar) on Sheffield when she was sunk, on May 10, 1982.

He was desperate for the fundraiser to succeed and has urged everyone in the city to get behind it.

He said: ‘This isn’t just for us, this is for the families as well.

‘This new memorial will keeps a focus on what happened so it’s just forgotten until you come round to the big anniversary.

‘HMS Sheffield was a Portsmouth-based ship – the last British port in the UK it sailed from was Portsmouth.

‘It sailed for six months on a deployment and never made it back. Lots of the families of the people who died are residents in Portsmouth.’

Artist Peter Naylor has designed a stainless-steel bow of a warship, suitably engraved and set in a cast stainless steel dark, rough sea.

If the association hits its target in time, Mr Noble’s maquette will be turned into a full-sized monument to anyone who served in the three ships, which will be erected at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

A cross and memorial cairn already stand to the Shiny Sheff in the Falklands, rising above Sea Lion Island – the closest land to the spot where the destroyer was hit.

A monument in the UK would serve as a focal point for reunions, acts of thanksgiving and a chance to respect all those who’ve served in three generations of Sheffields to date.

To donate, see justgiving.com/crowdfunding/hmssheffieldnationalarboretummemorial

Looking for the latest Royal Navy updates from Portsmouth? Join our new Royal Navy news Facebook group to keep up to date.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to our online coverage, including Pompey, with 70 per cent fewer adverts for less than 20p a day.