Plans for Royal Navystatue at Ebrington

THE Londonderry Royal Naval Association (RNA) has submitted plans for a monument to be erected outside the proposed new Maritime Museum at Ebrington in memory of those who died during the Battle of the Atlantic.
By Kevin Mullan
Published 10th Mar 2013, 15:33 BST

An image of the proposed tribute to the ‘Universal Mariner,’ which will sit on a granite plinth outside the Maritime Museum and will be the first thing people see on the left hand side when they enter Ebrington Square from the Peace Bridge, has been lodged with the planners.

Cast in bronze and mounted on a mixed granite and concrete base it will be modelled on a similar memorial known as the Sailor Statue, which is located in Halifax, Canada.

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Planning documents say it will be situated just over 100 metres North East of the Peace Bridge.

Last year the Sentinel reported how Ilex had agreed the project in principle.

Although, in early 2011 the Ilex Board was cautioned that the ‘Universal Mariner’ project was “a sensitive issue where a number of aspects have to be fully considered.”

In March 2011 Ilex agreed that the location at Ebrington “might be the way forward, if related conditions were acceptable” and later wrote to the RNA outlining the conditions for the statue’s location at Ebrington and “in particular the need to ensure that the shared space principles were fully adhered to.”

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During WW2 when Londonderry played a pivotal role in the Battle of the Atlantic Ebrington was the intended target during a botched bombing raid by the Luftwaffe.

The former army base was taken over by the Royal Navy in December 1940 and renamed HMS Ferret. It became the main base for all naval operations covering the Western Approaches and was to become the main Royal Navy base for anti-submarine operations during the Second World War.

In 1947 it was decided that the Base would become a Joint Anti-submarine Training Base along with the Fleet Air Arm.

The local RNA now wishes to replicate the Atlantic Chief and Petty Officers’ Association of Canada’s Sailor Statue at Halifax in the former naval base in Londonderry with a provisional unveiling to take place during May in Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013.

The RNA will be holding its annual Battle of the Atlantic commemorations in Ebrington over May 10 and May 12.