The bell from HMS Kelly, the ship commanded by Lord Louis Mountbatten from 1939 until it sank at the Battle of Crete in 1941, is to be auctioned at Bonhams, New Bond Street as part of The Marine Sale on 24th March at 2pm.
The bell (estimate £2,500 – 3,500) was saved when HMS Kelly was decommissioned for seven months in May 1940.
A variety of Nelson-related memorabilia also features in the sale, including a washstand that belonged to his friend and fellow Commander at the Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood. Attracting a pre-sale estimate of £6,000 – 8,000, it comes to auction 200 years after Collingwood’s death.
An engraved presentation silver urn (estimate £7,000 – 9,000) given by Nelson’s bereaved mistress, Lady Emma Hamilton, to her chemist, Thomas Field Savory, is an important lot, as is a George III gold and enamel mourning ring (estimate £12,000 – 15,000), one of 58 distributed at Nelson’s funeral in 1805.
Another highlight is the silver trophy presented to racing legend Sir Malcolm Campbell to commemorate his first world water speed record (126.33mph) on Lake Maggiore, 1st September 1937 (estimate £35,000 – 50,000).