Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte

The Great War group of three awarded to Lieutenant-Commander R. H. Ransome, Royal Navy, a Dogger Bank and Dardanelles veteran who was killed in action in the destroyer Partridge in December 1917: in his previous command, the Victor, he had acted as escort to the Hampshire on the occasion of her loss, with Lord Kitchener, in June 1916

1914-15 Star (Lieut. R. H. Ramsome, R.N.); British War and Victory Medals (Lt. Commr. R. H. Ransome, R.N.), good very fine (3) £300-350

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Exceptional Naval and Polar Awards from the Collection of RC Witte.

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Reginald Hugh Ransome was born in Winchester, Hampshire in September 1896 and entered the Royal Navy as a Naval Cadet in Britannia in May 1901. Appointed a Midshipman in the cruiser Hogue on the Home Station in September of the following year, he was advanced to Lieutenant in October 1908 and was serving in another cruiser, the Indomitable, on the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914.

He was subsequently present in her at the bombardment of the Dardanelles forts that November, and at Dogger Bank in January of the following year, prior to removing to his first command, the destroyer Victor, in February 1916. And it was in this latter capacity that he was ordered to escort the cruiser Hampshire, with Lord Kitchener embarked, on 5 June - as it transpired, as a result of the strong head sea, Captain Savill of the Hampshire decided it best for the Victor to return to base: a little over an hour later, the cruiser was torn apart by a mine, and Victor was among those to carry out a search for survivors.

Removing to his next command, the Partridge, in the same month, and advanced to Lieutenant Commander in October 1916, Ransome was killed in action on 12 December 1917. A Dictionary of Disasters at Sea takes up the story:

‘The destroyer Partridge was a unit of the force based on Lerwick, Shetland Islands, for the purpose of escorting convoys to and from Scandinavia. On 11 December 1917, the destroyer left the port in company with the destroyer Pellew and the armed trawlers Livingstone, Commander Fullerton, Lord Alverstone and Tokio escorting a convoy of six ships.

At 11.45 a.m. on the 12th, the convoy was S.W. of Bjorne Fjord when enemy ships were sighted to the northward. After signalling the merchant ships to scatter, Lieutenant-Commander J. R. C. Cavendish of Pellew, commanding the convoy, went into action followed by the Partridge, and a wireless signal was sent to the C.-in-C.

The enemy raiders, consisting of four destroyers commanded by Captain Hans Kolbe, formed in one line of three ships with a fourth detached for the purposes of sinking the merchantmen. In a very few minutes Partridge was hit by a shell which severed her main steam-pipe and left her helpless. Her after gun was knocked out and she was struck forward by a torpedo. Under these conditions, her captain, Lieutenant-Commander R. H. Ransome, gave orders to abandon ship. She was hit by two more torpedoes and sank.

The Pellew with only one torpedo tube working, and with her engine room badly damaged managed to keep off the enemy and to avoid further action in a thick rain squall. She was the sole survivor of the convoy and reached Selbjorn Fjord in a very battered condition.

The losses were heavy, Partridge going down with five officers [including Ransome] and 92 ratings, while three officers and 21 ratings became prisoners. Pellew lost three killed and several wounded. British destroyers rescued 10 British and 88 Scandinavian seamen. The crew of the trawler Lord Alverstone (12 in all) managed to escape in one boat. The Germans claimed a total of 50 prisoners including those from Partridge.’