Working for the Royal Navy Submarine Service is much more than a job. It’s a demanding and dauntless lifestyle that asks a lot of the brave men and women who serve within it, and their families. Taking care of submariners’ and their families’ mental health is central to the wellbeing of these individuals, their loved ones, and the success of the service as a whole.
Remembering and recognising the submariners who have lost their lives is one of the ways we can help families, friends, and shipmates of the fallen to find peace in the face of tragedy. Since 1945, 450 submariners have died while serving. And in the years before, between, and during the two World Wars, some 5,000 men made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. But there is nowhere dedicated to honouring them, until now.
The Submariner Memorial Appeal was set up to create a fitting tribute to submariners and their families. Working together with the Submarine Service’s mental health project, HMS Oardacious, we are raising £375,000 to fund the creation of an iconic monument at the National Memorial Arboretum. It will be a central place for personal reflection, repair, and renewal, and somewhere for the submarine community to come together as a family in remembrance.
We are hugely grateful to HRH Prince William who as Commodore-in-Chief Submarines supports the appeal and has agreed to open the memorial.
Find out more about us on our website:
How you can help
We plan to raise £300k and need your help to do it. Of course you can donate directly here but you could also multiply your donation by setting up your own event to fundraise for us.
"I recently played the role of Commodore David Russell in the film Kursk: The Last Mission. It tells the tragic story of the Russian submarine, which sank in 2000 taking with it the lives of 118 submariners. In preparing for the film and then playing the role, I came to understand a little of the lives of submariners and their families. Even in peacetime, the hostile environment submarines operate in means that it only takes one small mistake for disaster to strike. That, combined with long periods of separation and the complete lack of communication with loved ones, makes life for those onboard and their partners and kids back home especially hard.
So when the real David Russell told me of the plan to install a new monument at the National Memorial Arboretum to recognise the sacrifice of both those who have lost their lives in the submarine service and their families, who must carry on without them, I wanted to offer my support." - COLIN FIRTH
Submarines have been my life. Despite the fact that my sea-going days are some years behind me and I have done many things since, ask me who I am and I will reply “a submariner”. I know all too well the sacrifices made by our families and how hard it is for them during the long, silent periods when their partners, or parents, or children, are at sea. That this Memorial for the first time recognises families as well makes building it all the more important. I am honoured to be its Patron. - ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET LORD BOYCE KG GCB OBE KSTJ DL
Find out more about us on our website.