A memorial has been unveiled in Upnor to commemorate and honour the training ship the Arethusa and the teenagers who learned their seamanship skills on it..

The unveiling was held on Saturday at the Arethusa Venture Centre, in Lower Upnor, and was organised by the Arethusa Old Boys’ Association.

Vice Admiral Peter Woodhead unveiled the memorial, which was funded by donations from various sources and collected by the old boys.

Chairman of the association, Kevin Wells, said: “I was determined to get a memorial put up and with the with the help of others and the charity, Shaftsbury Homes, I spent three years and a lot of hard work to get it erected.”

The very first training ship was called the Chichester and it was given to Lord Shaftsbury by the admiralty in the 1860s, and run by the Shaftsbury Homes charity.

It was docked at Greenhithe and in the 1870s the charity introduced a second ship, the Arethusa.

After several years the Chichester became surplus to requirements and was disposed of.

The charity’s name was then changed to Shaftsbury Homes and Arethusa.

After almost 60 years as a training ship, in 1933, she was broken up and replaced by the Peking, a four-mast German barque, which was berthed at Upnor.

It was later agreed the ship would be renamed the Arethusa.

She remained a training ship until 1974 and is currently housed in a museum in New York where she is being restored.

Mr Wells added: “I must thank Shaftsbury Homes and Arethusa for giving us the site.

“I’d also like to thank the Upnor Residents' Association who contributed to the cost of the memorial, they obviously care about the Arethusa and its connection with Upnor.

“It was a proud moment for me to see it unveiled and now we have somewhere to remember the dead who have an association with the ship on Remembrance Sunday.”

The next project for the association is to restore the ships’ figurehead, which is also still in Upnor.

Mr Wells added: “We have a real friendship with the Upnor Residents Association, they have told me they want to help out with getting the figurehead restored back to its former glory.”

If you would like to find out more about the Arethusa Old Boys’ Association, then call Kevin Wells on 07725 077303