Members of the City of Edinburgh branch of the Royal Naval Association will be attending the church service at Canongate Kirk on Sunday 1 May at 10:30.
Shipmates, friends and family are welcome to attend.
This year is a significant year for the branch, as 2 May marks the 80th anniversary of the scuttling of Town-class cruiser HMS Edinburgh.
The ship was on her way back to the UK from Murmansk as cover for Convoy QP11 when she was struck by a torpedo fired by German submarine U-456 on 30 April, two days out of Murmansk.
Swift action by her ship’s company in closing off watertight bulkheads prevented the flooded, listing warship from sinking completely, but a second torpedo from the same U-boat smashed Edinburgh’s steering gear and left her with little engine power.
Taken into tow on several occasions, Edinburgh limped along at walking pace with escorting destroyers HMS Forester and HMS Foresight and four minesweepers, HM Ships Gossamer, Harrier, Hussar and Niger attempting to protect her, but she suffered constant attacks from the air and by German large destroyers as she tried to make the 250-mile journey back to Murmansk.
With her towline cast away, she circled aimlessly while still firing accurately with her guns, badly damaging one of the German ships, but a third torpedo strike all but broke her in two.
With Edinburgh abandoned, the British escort ships attempted to scuttle the cruiser with gunfire and depth charges, but it took one final torpedo, this time from a British ship (HMS Forester) that finally sent her to the sea bed – and 78 men went down with her.
And she took with her more than four tons of gold, part of the payment by the Soviet Union for war materiel and equipment from Western allies, which would today be worth in excess of £150 million.
It was not until the early 1980s that a serious attempt was made to salvage the gold from the floor of the Barents Sea – the wreck was found in April 1981, 250m deep and around 150 miles off the coast of the Soviet Union and Norway.
Salvage work on behalf of the British government was carried out that autumn, and more than 90 per cent of the gold was recovered, with further gold being raised in 1986.
In all, 460 of the 465 ingots that went down with the ship have been recovered.
Back to 2022 – standards will be paraded at the service at Canongate Kirk, so if you wish to parade your Standard, please be at the church for 1000 for a quick briefing.
