Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Eight: Captain D. C. Hamilton, Merchant Navy, whose ships were torpedoed or mined on several occasions during the two World Wars

British War and Mercantile Marine War Medals (Douglas C. Hamilton); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star; Italy Star; Burma Star; War Medal 1939-45, the last six in their original card forwarding box, together with Board of Trade silver bullion “Torpedo Badge”, generally good very fine (9) £250-300

Douglas Craig Hamilton, who was born at Rothesay in Scotland in September 1899, served as an Apprentice in the Mercantile Marine during the latter stages of the Great War, a brief period of active service that witnessed his ship being torpedoed on at least one occasion, as evidenced by his entitlement to the Board of Trade’s “Torpedo Badge”.

Returning to more peaceful employ with the Ellerman Line, Hamilton gained his certificates for 2nd Mate in June 1921, 1st Mate in May 1924 and Master in April 1927, qualifications that stood him in good stead for the conflict ahead: in an accompanying letter, his son states that on one occasion Hamilton ‘was swimming in the water off the North of Scotland in December for 12 hours before being picked up. He was a very good swimmer!’ and that on a different occasion ‘he was torpedoed while asleep and only managed to grab his alarm clock before abandoning ship. He clung on to the clock until rescued and taken to Liverpool, where someone stole it!’

Board of Trade records certainly reveal that Hamilton was aboard the City of Kobe on 19 December 1939, when she struck a mine near the Cross Sand lightship, off the River Humber, a mine that had been among a batch laid by the U-60 under Kapitain Georg Schewe two days earlier. In his official report, the City of Kobe’s Master describes how his ship had a crew of 68 men, and was bound from Hull to Alexandria when disaster struck:

‘A heavy explosion occurred close to the ship on the port side ... The port lifeboat was completely shattered ... The vessel listed to port ... There was a hole in the deck of the vessel, but not in the side ... The four main lifeboats aft were lowered and all the crew got into their respective boats, everyone being in their stations except one man. We pulled away from the ship ... I did not see the ship go down, as there was a strong tide running, and we had drifted away from it, but the last I saw of her the fo’c’sle head was awash and she was listing heavily to port ...’

In this same report, the Master also described how his ship had been attacked by a Heinkel 48 hours before hitting the mine - it dropped three bombs, two landing on the port quarter and one to the port bow, the nearest being about 100-150 yards from the ship. His Chief Officer - Hamilton - noted that there was a definite delay between the splashes and the actual explosions, while his skipper was thankful that the Heinkel did not return to machine-gun his vessel.

Interestingly, Hamilton’s next appointment, in January 1940, was to the City of Cardiff, which steamship was torpedoed by the U-566, commanded by Kapitain Gerhard Remus, on 28 August 1942, while on a voyage from Freetown to Manchester: family sources suggest that Hamilton had the misfortune to be aboard five vessels lost to enemy action in the two World Wars, so this incident was most probably another of them.

He died in Sydney, Australia in December 1958, while in command of the City of Newcastle.

Sold with original Board of Trade ‘Authority to Wear’ certificate for the British War and Mercantile Marine Medals (dated March 1920) and certificate of issue for the Board of Trade’s “Torpedo Badge” (dated April 1920).