HMS Barham

Sailor

Beside the nave altar in Westminster Abbey are two standard candlesticks given in memory of those lost when the battleship HMS Barham was torpedoed during the Second World War with the loss of 868 of its crew. It was the only British battleship to be sunk by a U-boat during the war. A pair of smaller matching candlesticks stand on the altar itself.

The carved and gilded oak candlesticks were designed by Sir Charles Peers and made by Robert Thompson of Kilburn in Yorkshire. The carver's traditional mouse emblem can be seen carved at the base. The standard candlesticks were dedicated on 10th February 1943 and the inscription on the brass plate reads:

May this gift ever preserve the memory of a gallant company: Captain G.C. Cooke, the officers, warrant officers and men in HMS Barham lost in the Mediterranean November 25 1941

The altar candlesticks are by the same artists and were dedicated on 25th November 1943.

All were commissioned by Constance Cooke (died 1966), widow of Captain Geoffrey Cooke, on behalf of the families of those men and boys who died. She also commissioned the Roll of Honour, shown in a case mounted on the wall at the opposite end of the nave. This illuminated book was executed by M.C. Oliver and presented in 1946.

The first HMS Barham in 1811 was named after Admiral Charles Middleton, 1st Lord Barham. The fourth vessel of this name was present at the battle of Jutland in 1916, and saw service at the battle of Matapan in the Second World War.