A gathering to mark the 100th anniversary of a Sheerness naval tragedy will include a visitor from Australia.

Peter Galea is travelling from his Sydney home to attend a remembrance ceremony next month at the town centre war memorial.

It’s to commemorate the centenary of the HMS Princess Irene disaster in which 273 crew and 76 dockyard workers were killed.

Peter said he is making the 20,000-mile round trip to pay respects to his father’s cousin, also called Peter Galea, a seaman who died when the minelayer exploded three miles out at sea.

Prior to the memorial on Wednesday, May 27, Blue Town Heritage Centre is staging Sheppey Remembered – The Princess Irene Disaster, an exhibition featuring artefacts from the doomed ship such as a cigarette case made from its mast.

“At the moment, those workers are just names carved into the town’s war memorial” - Centre trustee Chris Newman

Archive pictures and reports of the disaster will also be available, along with a presentation by a historian. The display will remain in place for a reception being held at the centre on the day of the memorial.

There is an appeal for relatives of those killed in the blast to help provide a personal background of the Island victims.

Centre trustee Chris Newman, who is leading the memorial project, said: “We’re quite pleased with the response we’ve had so far.

“But we’d still like more photos or any artefacts and biographical material.

“Two of Irene’s crew lived on Sheppey and we’ve managed to get photographs of them, but we haven’t got many of the actual workers.

“At the moment, those workers are just names carved into the town’s war memorial.”

Mr Newman said of the 76 dockyard workers killed in the explosion, eight lived in Berridge Road, Sheerness.

“This gives you some idea of the devastation it brought to a little terraced road, and the Island in general,” he said.

As part of next month’s memorial, Sheerness Lifeboat crew will lay a wreath at the spot where the ship blew up on May 27, 1915.

Wreckage from the blast fell up to 20 miles away from Sheerness.

The exhibition takes places at the centre in Blue Town High Street at 3pm on Sunday, April 26.

Anyone with information relating to the tragedy or its victims should call 01795 662981 or email Mr Newman: cbtinfo@btconnect.com