VETERANS have honoured the memory of those who died in one of Britain’s worst peacetime submarine disasters at a ceremony on Portland.

Two survivors of the catastrophe that sunk the HMS Sidon on June 16 1955 came to the annual ceremony held at Portland Heights yesterday.

Bryan Simpson, 82, was a 21-year-old leading seaman aboard the submarine moored in the island's harbour when a torpedo exploded in the loading bay killing 12 people.

Another seaman, temporary surgeon lieutenant Charles Eric Rhodes, died later when taking part in the rescue attempt.

Mr Simpson laid a wreath at the memorial stone, as a gathering watched on in respectful silence.

He said: “I think we are about the last surviving seamen that were on board the HMS Sidon when it happened.

“I come down here every year, 276 miles from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.

“I was on AUWE (Admiralty Under Water Establishment who were testing new torpedoes), with the responsibility for loading the torpedoes when the explosion happened all forward of the control room were killed

“Out of those that survived, most of them went back to service on submarines afterwards.

“Only one that I know of went back to general service.”

HMS Sidon was testing a new type of torpedo fuelled by high test peroxide, a highly volatile substance which ignited by accident causing the explosion.

Norman Deacon, a telegraphist aboard the submarine, was also present at the ceremony.

He was discharged after the accident, spending six months in hospital recovering.

The service was a short and informal affair, organised by members of the Portland Royal Naval Association and the Dorset Submariners Association.

During a minute’s silence veterans lined up on either side of the memorial lowered banners in honour of the dead.

Brian Hodder, one of the association’s committee members, brought many of the survivors together when they unveiled the new memorial in 2005.

He said: “The explosion happened at about 8.25am on June 16, 1955.
“You can’t see the actual site from Portland Heights but we thought that this was the best place for the memorial.

“At the end of the day, 13 people died and many others injured, not just physically but psychologically.

“This ceremony is very informal, that’s the submariners way of doing things.

“This is one of the biggest losses of life we’ve had in a submarine accident – we’ve had others but nothing of this kind of scale.”

Sandy West, mayor of Portland, said: “It was a beautiful service, short but to the point.

“When there are wars people are expected to die, but this was a peace time thing.

“It will never be forgotten and I want the children of this island to come and learn about Portland’s history.”