Sacrifice of silent service remembered at submariners memorial commemoration

Submariners past and present from navies both home and abroad have gathered to pay their respects to those who have served throughout the decades.

A service has been held at the International Submariners Memorial in Dundee to remember those who've lost their lives while on duty.

This year's commemoration coincides with the 125th anniversary of the Royal Navy's submarine service, with a series of events held throughout 2026 to mark the occasion.

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International Submariners Association secretary Ronald Rietfeld said: "It is always very important to commemorate our old colleagues, of course.

"Don't forget we are here because they led their lives down for us and we need to remember that all the time, especially now, I think, in a time with a lot of conflict.

"We think back about these guys and what work they did for us and we hope we can commemorate them properly in that sense.

"We come over here to Dundee where we have this fantastic monument to do that."

The International Submariners Memorial was created in Dundee to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.

The city was the home of Royal Navy's 2nd Submarine Flotilla and was the base of 9th Submarine Flotilla that included vessels from Poland, the Netherlands, France and Norway during the Second World War, as well as those from Russia in 1944.

The memorial was dedicated in 2009 to remember the 296 sailors who sailed from the River Tay and lost their lives in operations during the conflict.

Former submariner James Greensmith said: "It is an absolute pleasure and a privilege to attend this monument annually.

"It really denotes the fact that we're all grateful to the submariners, and especially the ones that left here, in Dundee.

"It is an absolute privilege, as I say, to honour those people that lost their lives at that time.

"The submariners are generally a very close -knit family at sea, and we all live together in a very close-knit community, and form a camaraderie that is never before seen anywhere else in either surface ships, aircraft, wherever you may see.

"We are a very close-knit community who look after each other, support each other, now and in the past."