An unusual Great War D.S.M. awarded to Deck Hand R. Barber, Royal Naval Reserve, whose rapid reactions on an indicator net drifter resulted in the likely destruction of an enemy submarine

Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (DA. 10171 R. Barber, Dk. Hd., R.N.R., H.M.S. Kestrel, English Channel, 20(sic) May 1917), very fine £400-500

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Small Collection of Medals to the Merchant Navy.

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D.S.M. London Gazette 11 August 1917:

‘For services in action with enemy submarines.’

Richard Barber was decorated for his part in the probable destruction of an enemy submarine off Le Havre on 27 May 1917, while serving in the indicator net drifter Kestrel II, one of seven such vessels under the overall command of Lieutenant H. L. Upton, R.N.R. The drifters worked in pairs with one anchored and one free with about 2,000 feet of 30 feet indicator net between them and if a submarine became entangled in the net its position was quickly revealed by calcium lights that lit up as they hit the surface - thereby pinpointing the target for a larger more suitable armed vessel to attack.

And so it proved on 27 May 1917, when the French torpedo boat 295 went into action with depth charges after the enemy submarine had become ensnared and runaway with the Kestrel’s nets - a fate made possible by ‘Deck Hand Richard Barber, R.N.R. (T.) who, by his prompt action releasing the net warp, was the chief cause of the submarine being entangled in the nets’ (the recommendation for his D.S.M. refers). A very large explosion having followed the detonation of one of 295’s depth charges, throwing water to a height of 40-50 feet, it was Their Lordships conclusion that an enemy submarine had probably been destroyed, not least in view of a four-acre oil slick that was seen shortly afterwards by several vessels; sold with a quantity of research, including a copy of Richard Cornish’s related article, Cut a Rope and Win a Medal.