Today marks 105 years since the K13 disaster. The Submariners held their annual ceremony this morning at the recently restored K13 memorial.
The memorial is one of a number of such monuments commemorating the lives of those lost when the fatefully named HMS K13 steam-propelled First World War submarine sank during sea trials in the Gareloch in January 1917. Raised and re- commissioned as HMS K22, it had been built at the Fairfield Shipyard in Govan. Memorials were erected at Faslane on the Gareloch and even New South Wales, Australia; the small obelisk in Elder Park being funded by “officials, foremen and employees” of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in honour of the six colleagues and twenty-six naval men lost in the disaster.
The granite monument was in a poor condition prior to this restoration work having shifted on its foundation, displacing panels. There was algae buildup, chips and scratches, and graffiti sprayed on it. During the Elder Park entranceway improvement works it has been respectfully and carefully cleaned and restored, giving it a new lease of life, and the dignity that the original memorial funders intended.