Gosport forges friendship with Chilean city Coronel after wartime Royal Navy tragedy
More than 1,400 sailors perished in the First World War battle
A century-old tragedy at sea has brought together two communities which are thousands of miles apart.
Gosport Borough Council has unanimously backed plans to form a friendship link with Coronel in Chile, where 1,418 British sailors were killed in a naval battle in 1914.
The move will recognise the Chilean community’s continued remembrance of those who died aboard HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth during the Battle of Coronel on November 1, 1914.
The proposal was put forward by Cllr Graham Burgess and seconded by Cllr Lesley Meenaghan at a full council meeting on October 14.
It follows a journey to Coronel by Richard Dickson, whose grandfather James Johnston Dickson was among those who lost their lives.
Mr Dickson said his earliest memory of his grandfather’s story came when he was six or seven and saw the “Death Penny” which had been presented to his family following his death.
He had wanted to visit Coronel for many years but became a full-time carer for his partner Roberta, known as Bobbie, after her health deteriorated in 2019.
Following her death in June 2025, he decided to make what he called his “Journey of Remembrance”.
Mr Dickson travelled to Coronel earlier this year and met its mayor, Boris Chamorro.
He said it was Mr Chamorro who suggested Coronel and Gosport could come together to remember the events of November 1, 1914.
Reflecting on the council’s decision, Mr Dickson said: “To witness every Gosport councillor united, and thoroughly embrace the Link of Friendship we have now achieved between our two communities, is something that I’m very proud to have contributed to.”
Coronel holds a remembrance service on November 1 each year honouring those who died in the battle.
Under the motion, Gosport Borough Council will now extend an invitation to the residents of Coronel to form the friendship link in recognition of their continued remembrance.
A letter from the council is due to be presented to Mayor Chamorro on November 1.
The motion said the link could also provide a focal point in the UK for descendants of those who died aboard HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth, including families with connections to Gosport.