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Auction: 8016 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 59

Naval General Service 1793-1840, three clasps, Trafalgar, 1 Nov Boat Service 1809, 2 May Boat Service 1813 (D.R. Syer, Midshipman.), traces of mounting to edge at left and right of suspension claw, this neatly polished, and claw re-affixed, otherwise extremely fine Estimate £ 7,000-9,000 Dey Richard Syer served as Midshipman in H.M.S. Prince (98 guns) at the battle of Trafalgar, 21.10.1805, during which she engaged the Spanish ship Principe de Asturias (112 guns) and the French ship Achille, ´´when the latter was on fire and her mast had been cut in two by one of the broadsides of the Prince, and her dangerous situation was apparent, the boats of the Prince at great risk saved many of the French crew. Her own damages consisted of a shot in her bowsprit, three shots in her foremast, and the same in her mizen-mast.´´ (The Trafalgar Roll, The Officers, The Men, The Ships, by Colonel Robert Holden Mackenzie, refers); Syer served as the same appointment in H.M.S. Tigre, when boats (including hers) from Captain Benjamin Hallowell´´s squadron captured or destroyed a French convoy which consisted of five warships and a number of merchant vessels in Rosas Bay, of the north-east coast of Spain, 1.11.1809; Syer served as Lieutenant in H.M.S. Volontaire, when the marines from the Repulse, Volontaire and Undaunted, under Captain Michael Ennis RM, were landed and destroyed some newly erected works near Morgiou, Toulon, while the boats from the same ships, under the command of Lieutenant Isaac Shaw of the Volontaire, covered by the launches and H.M.S. Redwing, brought out six laden merchant vessels, 2.5.1813. Approximately 48 ´´2 May Boat Service 1813´´ clasps claimed. Commander Dey Richard Syer (1788-1867), born in Suffolk; entered the Royal Navy (under the protection of the late Vice-Admiral James Richard Dacres) as First Class Volunteer, 23.6.1803; nominated as Midshipman in H.M.S. Prince, January 1804, and whilst serving in this capacity was employed in the blockade of Brest and then off Cadiz; after participating in the battle of Trafalgar he removed to H.M.S. Tigre (Captain Benjamin Hallowell); whilst with the latter he took part in a variety of detached services including: accompanying the expedition to Egypt, 1807, when he assisted in landing the troops through a heavy surf to the eastward of Marabout, commanded the launch in an attack upon some of the enemy´´s forts, and had charge of a gun-boat on Lake Mareotis; he was in command when a Turkish corvette was captured in the inner harbour of Alexandria, he was later sent in her on a cruise off Rosetta; after a brief return to England for a ship refit, Syer was once again posted with the Tigre, this time off the Texel, where he was employed under the Master in surveying the different shoals; the Tigre proceeded to the Mediterranean Station, taking part in the boat action in Rosas Bay in November 1809, during which Syer was severely wounded in the head and cut down on the quarter-deck of the Lamproie (London Gazette 1809, p1903), having been one of the party that boarded the French armed store-ship; during the latter Hallowell´´s squadron suffered 15 men killed and 55 wounded; Syer was immediately promoted Lieutenant by Lord Collingwood to a death vacancy in H.M.S. Volontaire (Captain Charles Bullen); he was severely wounded again by a musket ball in the right leg, at the cutting out of some merchant vessels and privateers under the batteries of Pomegue, near Marseilles, May 1810; on another occasion, having been secreted among the rocks of Cape Creux for six nights, Syer assisted Lieutenant Shaw in capturing a large French xebec; at the fall of Tarragona, June 1811, he was active in rescuing the inhabitants from French troops; whilst still serving in the Volontaire he participated, in company with H.M.S Perlen, in a long running battle against three French ships-of-the-line and two Frigates, all from the Toulon Fleet, 22.11.1811, the British ships managed to successfully escape from the overwhelming enemy numbers; he was mentioned in his commanding officer´´s despatch (London Gazette 1813 p1148) for another boat affair in the harbour of Morjean (or Morgiou), 31.3.1813, when, ´´the boats under Lieutenant Syer, though elsewhere opposed by two field batteries, brought eleven vessels out laden with oil, and destroyed one other loaded, and two empty, which were aground´´; On this occasion it appears, despite Lieutenants Shaw and Syer´´s bravery, that no one recieved a promotion, and as a consequence of this a ´´boat service clasp´´ was not sanctioned. However, as was often the case whilst squadron´´s were on blockade duty, another boat action almost identical in result, involving the same ships, the same officers and in the same location took place, 2.5.1813, and for this a clasp (which Syer recieved) was sanctioned; the following year H.M.S. Volontaire transported a number of French prisoners from Pampeluna to England, and she was subsequently employed off the north coast of Spain, along the Italian shores and off Marseille until she was paid off in December 1815; on the latter date Syer was placed on half pay, having not been on shore for more than two months from the time of his entering the Navy in 1803; Commander 1849.

Sold for
£9,000