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Auction: 13001 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals and Militaria
Lot: 19

A Second World War Ship´s Bell from H.M.S. Spey
A fine-quality large brass Ship´s Bell, engraved ´H.M.S. Spey 1942´, 310mm in height, 320mm in diameter, complete with top support hangers, but missing clapper

H.M.S. Spey (1,371 tons), a River-class frigate, and the sixth ship of the Royal Navy to bear this name, was built on the Tees by Smiths Dock Company in 1941, and Commissioned on the 19th May 1942. She served during the Second World War in anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic, and amongst her notable achievements was the sinking of the German submarines U.406 and U.368, 18-19.2.1944. In 1945 she joined the Eastern Fleet, and was employed in convoy defence and support in the Bay of Bengal. Following the Surrender of Japan she returned to home waters and was paid-off into the reserve, before being sold to the Egyptian Navy in 1948 and renamed Rasheid; she remained in service with them until 1990.

In 1985 a seventh H.M.S. Spey was launched, a River-class Minesweeper based in Faslane and assigned to the Northern Ireland Squadron, where she patrolled the Province´s waterways and participated in counter-terrorist operations in support of the Army and the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Between 1996 and 1998, when she was sold to the Brazilian Navy, the Seventh H.M.S. Spey carried aboard the Ship´s Bell from her Second World War predecessor, on loan from the present owner.

Note: In view of the size and weight of this lot, the buyer will be responsible for its collection.

Sold for
£550