Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A ‘Volturno Disaster’ Sea Gallantry Medal group of five awarded to James Maginnis Coates, Fourth Officer of the steamship Minneapolis of Belfast, later Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve

Sea Gallantry Medal, G.V.R., silver (James Maginnis Coates, “Volturno”, 9th October 1913); 1914-15 Star (Lieut. J. M. Coates. R.N.R.); British War Medal 1914-20 (Lieut. J. M. Coates. R.N.R.); Mercantile Marine War Medal 1914-18 (James M. Coates); Victory Medal 1914-19 (Lieut. J. M. Coates. R.N.R.) mounted as worn, very fine (5) £500-£700

James Maginnis Coates, Fourth Officer of the S.S. Minneapolis, of Belfast, was awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal in Silver and binocular glass on the occasion of the Volturno disaster of 9/10 October 1913. The Volturno, a British steamer, chartered by the Uranium Steamship Co. of Rotterdam, and bound thence to New York, was engulfed by fire in mid-Atlantic during a heavy gale. Of the 657 on board, 521 were saved by a fleet of eleven steamers that sped to her aid. Heavy seas interfered with the launching of boats, but the difficulty was eventually overcome by the use of oil; those who perished were mostly lost in the boats. The hull of the Volturno was eventually found by a Dutch steamer and scuttled as a dangerous derelict.

Numerous awards were made for this famous rescue, including 78 Sea Gallantry Medals in Silver to crew members of the six British vessels. Twenty-one Sea Gallantry Medals were awarded to the Minneapolis, as well as binocular glasses to her First, Third and Fourth Officers. In addition the Board of Trade also awarded 152 silver Sea Gallantry Medals (Foreign Services) to the crews serving on foreign vessels at the rescue.