Orders, Decorations and Medals Including five Special Collections

A Great War D.S.M. group of four awarded to Leading Seaman Alexander Wilson, Royal Navy, for services in the ‘Q’ Ship Penshurst when she sank the German submarine UB.37 in the English Channel

Distinguished Service Medal, G.V.R. (200036 A. Wilson, Lg. Sea. English Channel. 14 Jan. 1917); 1914-15 Star (20036 L.S. R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (20036 L.S. R.N.) two minor official corrections to the first, otherwise extremely fine (4) £1800-2200

D.S.M. London Gazette 23 March 1917.

The ‘Splendid Penshurst’ was one of the most famous and highly decorated Q-ships of the Great War. Her two captains during her successful career as a decoy ship, Francis Grenfell and Cedric Naylor, both received multiple decorations, Naylor being the most highly decorated Naval officer of the Great War, with three D.S.O’s and two D.S.C’s, all for service in Penshurst.

During November 1916, Penshurst had two encounters with submarines, one of which she sank on the 30th. In the English Channel on 14 January 1917, she sighted a submarine off the Isle of Wight. It was the UB.37, commanded by Kapitanlieutnant Günther, sent out to replace the UB.19 which had been sunk by the Penshurst the previous November. The U-boat opened fire immediately and Penshurt’s captain, Grenfell, ordered the usual ‘abandon ship’ tactics to be carried out. Slowly the UB.37 closed in until she was 700 yards off the Q-ship’s starboard bow. Twice in succession Penshurst was hit by shell fire and several members of her crew, who were waiting in concealment for the order to ‘Open fire’, were killed or wounded. At first Captain Grenfell anticipated that Günther would take UB.37 around to the Q-ship’s boats off Penshurt’s port quarter and that such action would afford the opportunity of decreasing the range, but it soon became obvious that Günther had no intention of closing in and Grenfell decided to reveal his true colours and commence an action. At 4.24 p.m. Penshurst hoisted her White Ensign and her apparently deserted decks became alive with activity as the screens concealing her armament were lowered and her guns opened a rapid fire on the submarine. The first shell from Penshurst’s 12-pounder struck the base of UB.37‘s conning tower and when the black smoke which resulted from the violent explosion had cleared away, it was observed that a part of the U-boat’s conning tower was missing. A second shell caused further damage to UB.37‘s hull and at least four more hits were registered on her conni9ng tower before she sank to the bottom with all hands. To ensure the U-boat’s destruction, Penshurst steamed over the position where she had disappeared and dropped depth-charges before returning to Portland.

Just over a month later Penshurst engaged U.84 in an indecisive action off the south coast of Ireland, and on 2nd July and 19th August she was in action with other U-boats, but on Christmas Eve, 1917, Penshurst was herself sunk by the U.110 in the Irish Sea. All these exciting actions are described in detail in Q-ships and their Story by E. Keble Chatterton. Sold with copy of service record.

Sold with copies of Admiralty reports on actions of Q-7 on 14 Jan, 22 Feb, 8 and 30 Mar 1917, in all of which Wilson took part. On 29/30 March he is identified as the Trainer of the 12-pounder gun which claimed two hits on a German submarine