The tragic sinking of the submarine K13 looks set to be commemorated in the heart of Helensburgh.
Some 32 submariners and dockyard personnel lost their lives when the K13 sank in the Gareloch in January 1917, while 48 people were rescued.
Now the Submariners’ Association has submitted plans for a plinth marking the event in Helensburgh’s ‘outdoor museum’ in Colquhoun Square.
On Thursday Argyll and Bute Council’s Helensburgh and Lomond area committee will be recommended to provide £3,000 toward the installation, with the submariners group paying the remaining 51% of the cost.
A report by officials states: “Helensburgh’s award winning outdoor museum displays a collection of treasured objects brought forward by local residents/organisations in the town to depict stories of local, national and international significance, and makes them available to the people of Helensburgh, Scotland and beyond.
“The museum has been very well received by the local community, visitors to the town, and by the arts, heritage and culture bodies.”
The proposed design features a bronze profile model of the submarine, the date of her accident, the Submariners Association crest and a chart of the Gareloch showing the location of the accident, in the vicinity of the former Shandon Hydro Hotel.
The report adds: “The applicant advises the proposal is designed in bronze which will not deteriorate due to extremes of generally cold, maritime climate but will patinate, exhibiting colour variance and shadow.”
The association’s application stresses that the plinth is not intended to be a memorial, since these already exist in Govan and at Carlingford in New South Wales.
A second application, by the Arts Society, is also recommended for approval and funding of £540 – it would feature the interwoven letters ‘A’ and ‘S’ and would be galvanised and painted.
It would feature the wording:
The Arts Society Lomond and Argyll, Enriching Lives through the Arts
This Plinth, showing the Logo of The Arts Society marks the 20th Anniversary in 2018 of The Arts Society Lomond and Argyll.
The Society has around 300 members with a shared curiosity for the arts and our artistic heritage
It organizes monthly lectures in Helensburgh, Study Days, Educational Visits and Cultural Holidays
The Arts Society is a global network of 90,000 people, appreciating and ENJOYING the arts
Its Volunteering Activities include Church Recording, Heritage Volunteers and Young Arts so enabling members to Discover, Preserve and Support the Arts of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
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