Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

An H.M.S. Vindictive brass boiler plate, 230mm x 120mm, inscribed, ‘Vindictive. Makers Maudslay Son & Field. Tested to 450 lbs per square inch. Boilers new July 1897. After thorough repair at Chatham Yard tested to 450 lbs per square inch November 1904. After renewing 16 upper thin tubes in each element & thorough repair at Chatham Yard tested to 450 lbs per square inch February 1910.’, mounted on a wooden base, good condition and a rare relic from one of the most celebrated ships of the Great War £1,000-£1,500

Provenance: Sold by order of the family of a member of H.M.S. Vindictive’s crew, who was awarded the D.S.M. for the Second Ostend Raid, 10 May 1918.

H.M.S. Vindictive, a 5,750 ton Arrogant-class cruiser, was built at Chatham Dockyard and was launched on 9 December 1897. She was refitted in 1909-10, and in 1912 she became a tender to the training establishment H.M.S. Vernon. Already obsolete by 1914, she played a limited role for the majority of the Great War, before being fitted out in early 1918 for the Zeebrugge Raid. She played a celebrated role during the raid on 23 April 1918 and, although badly damaged, successfully landed the shore party: her Captain, Alfred Carpenter, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry during the raid, and a famous painting of the action hangs in the Royal Naval College Britannia.

Vindictive was again in action during the Second Ostend Raid on 10 May 1918, where she was deliberately sunk as a blockship. She was raised on 16 August 1920, and was subsequently broken up: her bow section has been preserved in Ostend harbour as a memorial to those of her crew who lost their lives, and one of her guns is in the collection of the Imperial War Museum.