The Forgotten Hero of Trafalgar - Collingwood Monument

The Collingwood Monument is a Grade II* listed monument in Tynemouth, England, dedicated to Vice Admiral Lord Cuthbert Collingwood. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Collingwood attended the Royal Grammar School and joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer at the age of 12. After serving in the British Naval Brigade at the Battle of Bunker Hill, he was commissioned in 1775 as a lieutenant. His first major command was HMS Sampson, and during the Battle of Trafalgar Collingwood assumed command of the British fleet after the death of Lord Nelson, transferring to HMS Euryalus.

Collingwood then led the fleet and completed the battle plans that he and Nelson had created together. For his role in the battle Collingwood was given the thanks of both houses of Parliament and awarded a pension of £2,000 per annum, as well as being promoted on 9 November 1805 to Vice-Admiral of the Red and raised to the peerage as Baron Collingwood, of Caldburne and Hethpool in the County of Northumberland. In 1805 Collingwood was appointed to the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet.

After requesting to be relieved of his command the government stated that it urgently required an admiral of his calibre to lead against the dangers of the French and her allies, and that his country could therefore not dispense of him. However, in 1809, his health declined and he was granted leave. In 1810 Collingwood died of cancer on board HMS Ville de Paris as he sailed for England. He was laid to rest beside Lord Nelson in St Paul's Cathedral.

During his career he had served in the American Revolutionary War, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, and had been awarded three Naval Gold Medals, making him one of only three people to share the distinction of earning a total of three. The Collingwood Monument was erected to commemorate Collingwood and his connection to North Shields. The monument's base is by John Dobson and the statue is a work of the sculptor John Graham Lough. It is situated just off Front Street in Tynemouth and overlooks the mouth of the River Tyne.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons