On 30th Of August 1915, 26 boys were having a sailing lesson under the instruction of Mr E Lane, Officer in Charge. The weather was squally, the tide in flood and flowing with considerable force. The cutter was almost at a standstill when a gust of wind seemed to turn it into the wind and heel it to port. At this point a lookout saw a tug heading towards them with apparently no one on deck. The tug came straight on cutting deep through the sides of the small boat, which sank in a few minutes.

Most of the sixteen boys who drowned were caught and dragged under. They were remembered in a service by the local Sea Cadets on August 30th.

The grave of the boys who died is to the left of the picture above.The Officer in Charge also died in the incident and is buried in grave overlooking the boys grave just out of shot of the picture.
The grave was dug by 10 boys from the ship as a mark of respect for those that died.The funeral was attended by 3000 people including 80 family members and an Admiral of the navy.
As a mark of respect the streets were lined by local people and the funeral procession was a mile long.
There will be service and a plaque unveiled at St Clements this year on the weekend of the 5/6th September (exact date tbd)to commemorate the centenary of the incident.
A copy of the plaque to be unveiled is shown below