REMEMBRANCE Day will take on an extra meaning for sailors serving on the city's adopted warship HMS Southampton.
Currently on exercise in the eastern Mediterranean, the ship - the sixth to be commissioned bearing Southampton's name - will conduct a moving wreath-laying ceremony tomorrow to commemorate the loss of its predecessor during the Second World War.
Eighty-one members of the ship's company died when it came under attack from divebombers while defending the Malta convoys on January 11, 1941.
Despite staving off a prolonged aerial assault, Southampton was devastated by two 500lb bombs. The subsequent explosions caused extensive damage and immediate loss of life.
Crewmen battled to extinguish a fire that raged below decks but after three and a half hours it was clear the ship could not be saved.
REMEMBRANCE DAY SPECIAL: See the Review section of today's Daily Echo.
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