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Dive Team fundraising campaign to remember the crew of HMS Exmouth
21 January 2025
Eighty-five years to the day they were lost at sea, divers hope the crew of a wartime destroyer will sail again.
They want the naval family to support fundraising efforts to honour the men of ill-fated HMS Exmouth – and help the RNLI at the same time.
All 190 men were lost when the destroyer was torpedoed by German submarine U-22 off Wick in northern Scotland.
A team of divers returned to the wreck last summer to survey the remains of Exmouth and ‘raise’ the White Ensign for the first time since January 21 1940.
They were so moved by the experience that they wanted the names of her crew to live on.
With the RNLI in the process of building a new lifeboat for the namesake Devon town, the charity’s ‘Launch a memory’ initiative allows just that (and helps offset the £2.2m cost of the Shannon-class lifeboat).
The names of the Royal Navy men will be added to the numbers and letters on the wheelhouse, so each time the lifeboat crew launches, HMS Exmouth’s crew will there above them.
This is great initiative and it really strikes a chord with me.
“This is great initiative and it really strikes a chord with me,” said Lieutenant Commander Jen Smith, project leader, who serves at Northwood.
“There’s just something very special about the thought of the names of those sailors once again ‘going to sea’, while at the same time helping to save lives at sea today. Out of a tragedy has come hope and it’s as if the sailors are still fulfilling their duty of helping others.
“When I first approached the RNLI, they were incredibly moved by the story of HMS Exmouth and our efforts to ensure the ship and her crew were not forgotten. They were delighted for us to team up with them for this really moving tribute.”
The aim is to raise £9,500 – £50 for each man lost - but donations of any amount are most gratefully welcome.
So far the divers have raised just over £3,500, and with the campaign due to close in April, they are pushing hard to reach their target in the next few months.
You can support the campaign via: https://www.justgiving.com/page/hms-exmouth