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Auction: 5019 - Orders, Decorations, Campaign Medals & Militaria
Lot: 458

A Submarine Baltic Casualty Group of Three to Leading Seaman F.C.F.J. White, Royal Navy 1914-15 Star (J.3791, F.White L.S., R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (J.3791 F. White. L.S. R.N.), good very fine, together with Bronze Memorial Plaque (Frederick Charles Francis James White), Identification tag (F. White A.B. J3791 C.E.), and the following documents &c: - Torn Telegram reporting F. White "Lost" - Hand-written letter from F. White addressed H.M. Submarine E.18 to White´s parents: ´...again my gramophone has never arrived...´ - Four Photographs, two of the submarine, with her crew, in icy waters; one of White; and one of White´s sister - H.M. Submarine E.18. Naval Cap Tally. (4) Estimate £ 300-400Frederick Charles Francis James White served in H.M. Submarine E18, serving in the Baltic. Torpedoed the German Destroyer V-100 23.5.1916. Lost without trace 24.5.1916. Commemorated on the Chatham Naval Memorial, Kent. The Mystery of H.M. Submarine E18 The fate of H.M. Submarine E18 is something that has baffled naval historians for the past ninety years. Commissioned 6.6.1915, and based at Harwich, she was sent to join the Baltic Flotilla in September 1915, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Robert Crosbie Halahan, RN. On 23.5.1916 she torpedoed the German Destroyer V-100, blowing off its bows, resulting in the destroyer being forced to limp back to port. The following day Halahan sent a report by radio detailing the torpedo attack. This was the last contact that the submarine made with the outside world. Despite unconfirmed reports of gunfire from the German ´Q´ Ship K in the area, the fate of H.M. Submarine E18 remains unclear, and will probably never be resolved. What is likely though is that the three officers and 28 crew on board all perished with their vessel on 24.5.1916, and not on 11.6.1916, as is sometimes stated.

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