Location
As of 2011, the memorial forms part of the "No Place Like Pompey" exhibition at the Museum.
TO THE MEMORY
OF
SERGEANT JOHN FRANCIS
AND
GUNNER JOHN HAMMOND
OF THE
ROYAL MARINE ARTILLERY
MEMBERS OF THIS CONGREGATION
WHO WERE DROWNED
WITH FIVE HUNDRED AND FOUR
BRITISH SEAMEN AND MARINES
IN H.M. SHIP "CAPTAIN"
WHICH FOUNDERED
OFF CAPE FINISTERRE ON THE
MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 7TH 1870
"BE YE ALSO READY"
Further Information (From a Plaque above the Memorial)
"Memorial to Sergeant John Francis and Gunner John Hammond, lost on board HMS Captain, 1870. Serving at sea could be dangerous, especially when new types of ship were being tested. HMS Captain was an experimental turret ship and her deck was only 2.4 metres above the water. In a storm Captain rolled over and sank very quickly, only 20 of her crew of about 500 survived. The memorial commemorates two of the 13 Portsmouth men lost in the disaster. It is from the former Methodist Central Hall at Eastney."
There are two further memorials to men of HMS Captain in St. Ann's Church in the Dockyard.
