The Allan and Janet Woodliffe Collection of Medals relating to the Reconquest and Pacification of The Sudan 1896-1956

Five: Captain Tristan Dannreuther, Royal Navy, who served as a Lieutenant in H.M.S. Melita and as Harbourmaster at Suakin: a navigation expert who later took part in the hunt for the German cruiser Koenigsberg off the coast of East Africa in 1914, he afterwards became Assistant Director of Naval Intelligence

1914-15 Star (Commr. T. Dannreuther, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals, with M.I.D. oak leaf (Capt. T. Dannreuther, R.N.); Legion of Honour, Chevalier’s breast badge, silver, silver-gilt and enamels; Khedive’s Sudan 1896-1908, no clasp, unnamed, good very fine (5) £1000-1200

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Allan and Janet Woodliffe Collection of Medals relating to the Reconquest and Pacification of The Sudan 1896-1956.

View
Collection

M.I.D. London Gazette 16 September 1919: In recognition of ‘valuable services in the prosecution of the war’.

Legion of Honour London Gazette 15 September 1916.

Tristan Dannreuther was born on 9 September 1872. He entered the Navy as a cadet on 15 July 1885, and trained in H.M.S. Britannia. Appointed Midshipman in November 1887 he went to sea in H.M.S. Garnet which was posted to the East Indies Station. He was in H.M.S. Inflexible in the Mediterranean under the notorious martinet Captain Cherry in 1891, after which he specialized in navigation. From 1892 to 1894 he served in H.M.S. Iris and H.M.S. Foxhound in home waters. Becoming Sub. Lieutenant in March 1893, and Lieutenant in December 1893, he was appointed Lieutenant of H.M.S. Melita in 1894, serving in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, and took part in the Dongola expedition of 1896. For his services as Harbour Master, Suakin, Sudan, April to June 1896, he received the thanks of the Indian Government, 14 December 1896, for ‘Cordial co-operation in piloting and berthing ships landing Indian troops at Suakin’.

In 1899 he received the thanks of the Admiralty for describing a novel method of lighting compasses by electricity, and in July 1901, received from their Lordships an expression of their appreciation of the care and intelligence which he had devoted to the subject of ‘determining compass deviations’. In the years leading up to the outbreak of war, Dannreuther served in battleships and cruisers in the Mediterranean, China and Home stations. He was promoted to Commander in February 1906 and in April 1913 he attended the Royal Naval College for a ‘War Course’.

In 1915 he commanded H.M.S. Kinfauns Castle, armed merchant cruiser, on the Cape of Good Hope station. In December 1914, the German light cruiser S.M.S. Königsberg had sailed from Dar-es-Salaam, German East Africa, for the Gulf of Aden where she sank the new Ellerman ship City of Winchester. H.M.S. Astreae then went in to destroy the wireless station and the locals unwisely sank the floating dock across the harbour mouth. Deprived of her base the Königsberg took refuge in the Rufiji Delta at Satale up the Simba-Uranga tributary from where she raided nearby Zanzibar and sank H.M.S. Pegasus on 20 September. The Kinfauns Castle was part of the force detailed to hunt the German cruiser. In January 1915 she took part in the capture of the German Mafia and Niororo Islands, south of Dar-es-Salaam, before proceeding to Durban where she loaded a scouting aircraft. Based on Niororo Island ,with the Kinfauns Castle as base ship, this aircraft was flown by a civilian with a temporary commission, H. D. Cutler, to look for the German light cruiser. She was eventually found but was out of range of gunfire so the Kinfauns Castle withdrew. The Royal Mail ship Trent towed two monitors, Mersey and Severn, from England and the destruction of the Königsberg commenced on 11 July. After a second attack the Königsberg ceased fire at 13.50hrs and was scuttled at 14.00hrs. The Kinfauns Castle recovered the British wounded and resumed her patrol. From August 1915 Dannreuther was in command of H.M.S. Patuca, Kite Balloon ship, as part of the 10th Cruiser Squadron on convoy escort duties in northern waters. He was promoted to Captain in June 1918. His last appointment was as Assistant Director of Naval Intelligence from 1919 to 1921. He retired on 9 September 1922. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society 1898, and also elected F.R.G.S., Dannreuther died on 10 May 1963.

The National Maritime Museum (DAN/3-276) has a vast collection of Dannreuther’s personal papers on some eight feet of shelving. The papers were presented in 1963 by Rear-Admiral H. E. Dannreuther, and in 1973 by Captain H. M. Dannreuther. The collection contains his naval logs, 1887-91; night order books, 1911-17; notebooks, 1890-91; diaries, 1887-1958; and remarks books, 1893-1912. There are numerous letters from Dannreuther to his mother written between 1885 and 1919, and official documents relating to the ships under his command. In 1977 and 1982 Captain Hubert Harold Dannreuther presented various additional papers to the Museum. Further papers were purchased from J & L Spake in 1984. There is also an unpublished article written by Tristan Dannreuther entitled 'Tales of Gales' which includes the story of why Captain Tristan Dannreuther was awarded the Legion of Honour in 1916. Sold with much other research, including biographical articles written by Dannreuther.