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Auction: 23112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 130

A wreck of the Sybille Q.S.A. awarded to Chief Engine Room Artificer W. C. Williams, Royal Navy

Queen's South Medal 1899-1902, no clasp (W. C. Williams. Ch: E.R.A. H.M.S. Sybille), heavy edge bruising, contact wear, nearly very fine

W. C. Williams is confirmed on the roll of H.M.S. Sybille as Chief Engine Room Artificer, he is believed to have later been commissioned Engineer Lieutenant although this is unconfirmed.

H.M.S. Sybille was a protected cruiser serving on the Africa Station during the Anglo-Boer War. She was anchored off Saldanha Bat in January 1901 while her captain and crew aided the citizens of Cape Colony in organising resistance to the Boer Invasion of the province. As the weather grew increasingly rough on 16 January she made for open seas but the heavy swell pushed her back into Lambert's Bay, north of Saldanha Bay. The supply ship City of Cambridge took the crew off before disaster struck but despite this one seaman was still lost overboard. The Sybille struck a rock 300 yards from the shore and caught there, soon being totally wrecked by the heavy waves. She was the only Royal Navy vessel to be lost during the war; sold together with a copied medal roll and an extract from the Dictionary of Disasters at Sea During the Age of Steam 1824-1962.

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Sold for
£220

Starting price
£60