British and World Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Able Seaman S. A. Wilson, Royal Navy, who was killed in action when H.M.S. Hogue was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-9 on 22 September 1914

British War Medal 1914-20 (S.S.2446, A.B., R.N.); together with memorial plaque (Samuel Olson Wilson) nearly very fine (2) £100-120

Able Seaman Samuel Olson Wilson was killed in action on 22 September 1914 whilst serving aboard H.M.S. Hogue and his name is commemorated on the Chatham Memorial.

The Aboukir, together with her sister ships the Hogue and Cressy, part of the 7th Cruiser Squadron, were engaged in blockade and patrol duties in the southern part of the North Sea. At 6.30 on 22 September 1914 the Aboukir was torpedoed by the U-9. Believing that the ship had struck a mine, the Hogue and Cressy stopped to rescue the survivors, oblivious of the danger lurking beneath the waves. Shortly afterwards torpedoes from the U-9 sent the Hogue and then the Cressy to the bottom. The loss of life in this disaster was heavy, with some 1,400 men being lost from the three ships.