The ship’s company of HMS Pembroke recently paid tribute to the crew of HMS Isis, a Royal Navy Destroyer that was sunk during the Second World War.
On the 26th March, the Sandown class Mine Counter Measures vessel visited the wreck in French waters just north of the Normandy coast, where she conducted a short service of remembrance and a wreath laying ceremony.
Pembroke divers descended on the wreck of the ‘I’ class Destroyer which had sunk in only 21 meters of water.
For the ship’s PO Diver Les Cockerton, the visit was significant as his great grandfather Henry Augustus Mannerings had been serving onboard when she was struck by multiple torpedoes.
On the wreck the divers paid their respects and conducted an underwater ceremony of their own.
While on the surface, the ship’s company gathered to remember the lost sailors at their unmarked resting place on the seabed.
HMS Isis (D87) was stationed in Singapore when war in the Far East broke out.
She played an important role in the raid on Genoa, forced the surrender of the lead German merchant Leander, and sunk the German U-Boat U562.
Isis struck a mine off the Normandy landing beaches on 20 July 1944. She sank in a matter of minutes with all 155 hands lost, just 5 miles from the shore.
Image: Royal Navy