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On 6 August 1914, HMS Amphion became the navy’s first loss of the war. Most of its crew were west country men. Their mothers, sisters and wives were the first to lose their sons, brothers and husbands.

During World War One, Devonport was a Royal Naval Dockyard refitting ships for the Grand Fleet. It was also a naval manning port and vital to the protection of transatlantic shipping routes.

The town was home to naval families and to single sailors. The Sailors’ Rest (Aggie Weston’s) in Fore Street was home to one of the first casualties of war. His name was Henry Copland, a stoker.

The first name on the Amphion’s casualty list is Carl Henry Bowden Adams. He lived in Devonport too. His wife became one of the first WW1 widows.

How did the naval community of Devonport cope with the loss of the Amphion and its west country crew? How did the navy support the families of the lost at sea?

Location: Fore Street, Devonport PL1 4DW
Photograph of men on HMS Amphion courtesy of Victoria Ingles from the Royal Navy Museum, Portsmouth
Presented by Laura Rowe from the University of Exeter

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