Memorial service held for HMS Dasher victims
A memorial service was held outside the Brodick ferry terminal on Saturday morning in memory of the 379 men that lost their lives when HMS Dasher sank in 1943 between Arran and Ardrossan.
The service, which was conducted by the Reverend Angus Adamson, was made all the more poignant due to a large warship in the bay and a large contingent of Royal Navy members from the HMS Dalriada Reserve Unit in Govan who came to pay their respects on behalf of the Royal Navy.
Members of the HMS Dasher Association, including David Hodkinson whose father drowned in the tragedy, joined members of the Arran British Legion in the exhortations which included the words: ‘At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them.’
Among those attending the service was David Craig who worked as a radio officer on SS Dover Hill which served with HMS Dasher and who lost many friends while serving in the Royal Navy during the war.
A service takes place on the top deck of the Arran ferry every year with the assistance of CalMac which sails the ship over the exact spot, five miles from the Cumbrae lighthouse, where the ship went down. The crew turn off the engines, hold a service and throw wreaths into the sea.
When the ship arrived in Brodick the group held another short service at the Dasher memorial plaque at the ferry terminal after Ian Clarke piped the two flag bearers off the ship. A minute’s silence was also held.
The service takes place every year on the Saturday closest to March 27, when in 1943 at 4.40pm a huge explosion ripped HMS Dasher apart and sunk the vessel within eight minutes, taking with it 527 men. There were only 149 survived.