Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 12

WWII Ship's Bell from the Minesweeper HMS Queen of Thanet, Dated 1941

About the Item

A WWII ship's bell from the Royal Navy minesweeper HMS Queen of Thanet, dated 1941. Pendant number J-30. Diameter: 27cm - 10 ½ inches. Height: 28 cm - 11 inches. HMS Queen of Thanet (J30), formerly HMS Melton, was a Racecourse-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy. She was built by William Hamilton & Company in Port Glasgow, Scotland. Melton was launched in March 1916 with the pennant number 898. During World War I she served with the Auxiliary Patrol. Post-war she was transferred to the Mine Clearance Service. Between the wars Melton was sold to Hughes Bolckow Shipbreaking Co in 1927. She was bought by The New Medway Steam Packet Company in 1929 and converted for excursion work on the River Medway and River Thames. She was renamed Queen of Thanet. For the next twelve years she could be found working from Sheerness and Southend. Regular excursions took her to Gravesend, Margate, Clacton and Dover as well as cross-channel voyages to Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk. In September 1939 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty for minesweeping duties once more and commissioned as HMS Queen of Thanet, pennant number J30. In May 1940 she took part in the Dunkirk evacuation rescuing 4,000 men in four trips. Of that number, 2,000 were transferred from the ex-LNER steamer Prague, after the latter had been damaged by near misses from shells and dive bombers off Gravelines. For Operation Overlord in June 1944 she was stationed at Selsey as the Mulberry Despatch Control Ship. After the war she was returned in 1946 to her owners to recommence excursion work around the Thames Estuary. In January 1949 she was sold to Red Funnel and transferred to Southampton. After refitting at Thorneycroft's yard at Northam she was commissioned in the spring as the company's second Solent Queen. For the next two years she operated excursions from Southampton in the summer. In June 1951 while slipped for survey and repair, she caught fire and was written off as a constructive loss. She was scrapped by Dover Industries Ltd at Dover Eastern Docks in 1951 Literature on HMS Queen of Thanet see: Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships, 1906-1921. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 97.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 11 in (27.94 cm)Diameter: 10.5 in (26.67 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1941
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1190229623722

More From This Seller

View All
US Navy bronze WWII ship's anchor marked: USN 1941
Located in London, GB
A World War II era US Navy bronze ship's anchor, dated 1941. The anchor's flukes are marked: USN and 1941 The stock of the anchor has a removeable shackle and chain. Height of anc...
Category

Mid-20th Century American Industrial Nautical Objects

Materials

Bronze

Ship's bell on a Art Deco bronze circular mount, for the steam ship PIAKO
Located in London, GB
A 1920s ship's bell on a Art Deco bronze circular mount, for the steam ship PIAKO. Steam Merchant ship Piako, built in 1920 by A. Stephen & Sons Ltd, Linthouse, Glasgow, for New Ze...
Category

Early 20th Century Scottish Nautical Objects

Materials

Brass, Bronze

Sailing ship's pulley fiddle block
Located in London, GB
An early 19th century Naval oak fiddle pulley block, with two wood sheaves. Marked with Roman Numerals: XXVIIII In sailing, a block is a single or multiple pulley. One or a number ...
Category

Antique Early 19th Century English Industrial Scientific Instruments

Materials

Oak

Brass Ship's Inclinometer, circa 1910
Located in London, GB
A brass ship's inclinometer, circa 1910. Scale in degrees from the vertical to 40° of tilt/list. An inclinometer, or clinometer, is an instrument used for measuring angles of s...
Category

Early 20th Century English Nautical Objects

Materials

Brass

Ship's taffrail log by Thomas Walker & Son of Birmingham
By Thomas Walker & Son Ltd. 1
Located in London, GB
A "Trident" electric Mark III ship's taffrail log by Thomas Walker and Son, Birmingham, circa 1940 - 1950. With twin Walker Cherub rotators. Mounted on oak display base. For a ...
Category

Mid-20th Century English Nautical Objects

Materials

Brass

Bronze Waterline Model of the Submarine HMS Finwhale
Located in London, GB
A bronze waterline model of the Royal Navy porpoise-class submarine HMS Finwhale (SO5). HMS Finwhale (S05) was the fifth Porpoise-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 21 July 1959 and first commissioned on 19 August 1960. During her first commission she went further under the ice than any other submarine at the time. She was recommissioned on 27 January 1964. In March 1965 on her second Arctic patrol she further eclipsed her first ice patrol, penetrating 95 miles into the ice. The Porpoise class was an eight-boat class of diesel-electric submarines operated by the Royal Navy. This class was originally designated patrol submarines, then attack. They were the first conventional British submarines to be built after the end of World War II. Their design was, in many ways, influenced by the German World War...
Category

Mid-20th Century English Models and Miniatures

Materials

Bronze

You May Also Like

A brass ship’s bell from Peninsular & Orient liner S.S. Ballarat
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
This bronze ship’s bell is incised with the legend ‘Ballarat’ and has a suspension bracket and plaited rope bell-pull. The interior is painted white....
Category

Antique Late 19th Century English Nautical Objects

Materials

Brass

Authentic Ship's Block
Located in Norwell, MA
Authentic ship's block, with rope handle. Dimensions: 8.5 x 5 x 6.
Category

20th Century Nautical Objects

Sold Brass Ship's Searchlight Mounted to a Ship's Decking Pedestal
Located in Norwell, MA
Ship's spotlight with meticulously polished and lacquered finish. Glass lens. Mounted on an iron pole with a mahogany and holly replicated ship's decking. The base weighs over 200 po...
Category

Vintage 1930s Nautical Objects

Materials

Brass

Sailing Ship Model of "HMS Victory, 1805"
Located in LA CIOTAT, FR
A Magnificent Carved Wooden Ship Model of HMS Victory, 1805 This exquisite 20th-century wooden ship model is a stunning replica of the iconic HMS Victory, the flagship of Lord Nelso...
Category

20th Century British Models and Miniatures

Materials

Walnut

Cased Ship’s Boardroom Model of Three Sister Ships
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
A cased ship’s boardroom model of three sister ships, recorded on the label as ‘TSS Dublin’, ‘Edimburgo’ and ‘Mexico’ built and engined by the Caledon ...
Category

Vintage 1910s Scottish Models and Miniatures

Materials

Glass, Wood

Ship's Model Schooner Atlantic
Located in Norwell, MA
Model of the 1903 3-masted schooner yacht "Atlantic". Built at the Townsend and Downey shipyard of New York from a design by Willian Gardner. Commissione...
Category

2010s North American Models and Miniatures

Materials

Wood

Recently Viewed

View All