NGSM Persian Gulf with 1915 Trio. Scott. Camberwell. One of 70 survivors of the sinking of HMS Hawke. October 1914.

Naval General Service medal correctly named 185859 WC Scott LG SEAN HMS PERSEUS

Trio correctly named 185859 WC Scott LS RN

Pair correctly named 185859 WC Scott PO RN

William Colin Scott was born in 1897 in Camberwell.

He was drafted onto HMS Thunderer in 1897.

He served aboard HMS Perseus which was a part of the East Indies Fleet. It was to patrol the Persian Gulf due to the high trade in arms trafficking from 1909.

From 1913, he served aboard HMS Hawke.

In October 1914, the 10th Cruiser Squadron was deployed further south in the North Sea as part of efforts to stop German warships from attacking a troop convoy from Canada. On 15 October, the squadron was on patrol off Aberdeen, deployed in line abreast at intervals of about 16 km. Hawke stopped at 9:30 am to pick up mail from sister ship Endymion. After recovering her boat with the mail, Hawke proceeded at 13 knots without zig-zagging to regain her station, and was out of sight of the rest of the squadron when at 10:30 a single torpedo from the German submarine U-9 (which had sunk three British cruisers on 22 September), struck Hawke, which quickly capsized. The remainder of the squadron realised something was amiss only when, after a further, unsuccessful attack on Theseus, the squadron was ordered to retreat at high speed to the northwest, and no response to the order was received from Hawke. The destroyer Swift was dispatched from Scapa Flow to search for Hawke and found a raft carrying twenty-two men, while a boat with a further forty-nine survivors was rescued by a Norwegian steamer.[28][29][30] 524 officers and men died, including the ship’s captain, with only 70 survivors (one man died of his wounds on 16 October).

He was to continue serving and later served aboard HMS Courageous.

He was demobilised to a pension in 1919.

Unfortunately, for two years, his character fell below the standards of very good which prevented him earning his LSGC.

The medals are swing mounted on a clasp with original silk ribbons.